>>I commented on that months ago. When has HE ever eaten with the common folk, and not at 10 Downing St. or Buck House. So how would HE know what we're all scoffing in out own kitchens. Besides, the French I've known whilst on holiday all seem to be stuffing themselves with french-fries by the bucket-load. :-)
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>While it's been some years since my last visits to the UK, I got the feeling the spread between the quality of high priced and low priced restaurants is more marked and somewhat shifted in the UK. You can get great food at prices not horrendous, but elevated - especially if you decide to try something other than pig. But the other food can be horrendous to continental taste buds which are used a lot of things from all over the globe:

And did you eat with an ordinary household? That was my comment on Chirac. When has he ever eaten in a budget restaurant?

>at a fish and chips shop the chips were fried in the fish oil.

Are you sure? They're generally in veg. oil. Used to be in animal fat. But fish oil? You'd have to squeeze a lot of cod to get that. Good for the health, I'd imagine, but lousy on taste.

>Seeing the propriator frying the chicken the next guy ordered in the same oil made me reconsider any plans to eat something there <g>.

Chippies are chippies. They hardlyt represent the epitome of haute cuisine in teh UK.

>Or a pizza consisting of nothing but sauce bolognese and some cheese in the middle.

Sounds like you did all your eating in a semi-suburban parade of working class shops.

>Even in the chinese and indian food shops the quality difference between "good" and "lousy" felt more marked than in other countries.

I'd agree that there can be a big difference. Not that I've seen such a large no. OF Chinese & Indian rest's in other countries. There are many here cos of the Empire (then Commonwealth) and Honng Kong

I'd be interested to know what marks Germany as a gourmet capital of the world. Saurkraut? pumpernickel? (spellings?). The last time I ate from a German chef I got something called "I car of dirty" which turned out to be a small wooden wheelbarrow of extremely grisly, chewy, disgusting hunks of an indeterminate meat - took me hours to get half through and left me with jaw ache.
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>my 0.02 EUR
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>thomas