The UK has become a nation of foodies, with increasingly sophisticated tastes and an appetite for world cuisines. Witness all the TV food programmes and cookery books, the celebrity status of many chefs, the popularity of farmers’ markets and regional food fairs, the trend in food related travel and the money we spend on doing up kitchens. Jamie Oliver won massive support for his campaign for improved standards in school dinners and Gillian McKeith had phenomenal success from her ‘you are what you eat’ approach to eating. And yet, we are also labelled a bad food nation.

    The ready meal boom

    The UK eats the most ready meals in Europe. Pizza, pasta, oven chips all quickly re-heated and no messing. Supermarkets and convenience stores display a dazzling range ? the more exotic the better. Julia Michna, head of ‘meal solutions’ at Marks and Spencer observes that ‘Britain’s multiculturalism [means] ethnic cuisines, which people are often scared of cooking from scratch, are far more popular. One quarter of chilled meals are Indian, and nearly one in five is Chinese’. Only 18% of sales are for traditional British food. We want a tastier, spicier variation on the bland, standard UK diet.

    Taste, time, trends ? and talent

    Why do ready meals seduce us? Convenience certainly; people commonly say they are too busy; they don’t have enough time to cook. Other relevant trends in the ready meal boom are social; as more people live alone they are less motivated to cook from scratch. Families often eat apart, and ready-meals allow them more flexibility. Lloyd, 26, from Devon, says ‘I think ready meals are okay. They do what that say (give you a fast food fix). My favourite is Marks and Spencer jacket potato with cheese.’ Ashleigh, 22, from Downpatrick, says ‘My favourites are pizza and frozen meals which I have about twice a week.’

    Culturally of course, some people would say that the main problem is that the average British person has no talent for cooking; our passion for ready meals is all a disguise of our basic incompetence and confusion in the kitchen. What do you think?

    英國已成為飲食之國，人們的品味越來越挑剔，世界各國的佳肴越來越現諸街頭。看看所有那些電視飲食節目和烹飪書籍、許多大廚的名譽和聲望、農村市場和地區食品交易會的流行、食品游的趨勢以及我們裝修廚房的花費。杰米?奧利佛（Jamie Oliver）發動了學生飲食標準改良運動并獲得了大眾支持。吉莉安?麥基斯主張“你怎么吃，就長什么樣”，這一提法看上去很成功。盡管如此，我們還被標榜為名不副實的飲食之國。

    即食品高峰

    英國是歐洲最大的即食品消費國。比薩、意大利面條和烤薯條都可以速熱即食，無需復雜準備。超市和便利店陳列的食品系列令人眼花繚亂－越是不同尋常越好。瑪莎百貨集團（Marks and Spencer）飲食解決方案部主管朱莉亞?米奇納認為：“英國的多元文化主義〔意味著〕民族烹飪風格，人們常常害怕從零開始做飯，這一現象越來越普遍。四分之一的冷卻食品來自印度，將近五分之一來自中國。”傳統英國食品的銷售額僅為18%。我們希望溫和的常規英國飲食更加可口、更加辛辣。

    品味、時間、趨勢和天份

    即食品為什么吸引我們？原因當然是便利。人們往往說他們太忙、沒時間做飯。即食品高峰的其他趨勢則是社會性的。越來越多的人選擇單獨居住，他們沒什么做飯的動力。家庭成員往往分開吃飯，即食品則極具靈活性。德文郡26歲的勞埃德（Lloyd）說：“我認為即食品還可以。它們的說明是什么，就可以給你提供什么（迅速為你確定食品）。我最喜歡吃瑪莎的奶酪帶皮馬鈴薯。”唐帕特里克（Downpatrick）22歲的艾施利（Ashleigh）說：“我最愛吃比薩和凍肉，基本上一星期吃兩次。”

    當然，有些人會說主要問題在于英國人幾乎沒有烹飪天份，我們對即食品的熱衷實際上掩蓋了我們對廚房的無能為力和一片混雜。你覺得呢？