Daily Junction.mobi portalNews · September 15, 2026 · The Conversation · 6 min
The King’s table was full of flavours from the British empire and beyond.
<div class="theconversation-article-body"> <figure> <img alt="King George III enjoying a meal. " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/759593/original/file-20260914-60-14xaam.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&rect=0%2C37%2C2000%2C1125&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" /> <figcaption> King George enjoying a meal by James Gilray (1792). <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/392548">The Met</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span> </figcaption> </figure>
<span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lisa-smith-283711">Lisa Smith</a>, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-essex-1291">University of Essex</a></em> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rachel-rich-744052">Rachel Rich</a>, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/leeds-beckett-university-1315">Leeds Beckett University</a></em></span>
<p>The stereotype of bland British food is notorious, and people mock the horrors of jellied eels and overcooked vegetables. Even roast beef and pudding are seen as uninspired compared to the cuisines of other nations. But British food is and has historically been complex, multicultural, and flavourful.</p>
<p>It was wartime rationing that damaged <a href="https://dailydish.co.uk/why-does-british-food-have-a-bad-reputation/">Britain’s culinary reputation</a>. With our co-authors, digital humanities scholar Adam Crymble and historian Sarah Fox, we looked at the age of George III (1760 to 1820) in our book, <a href="https://uk.bookshop.org/a/15793/9781806550852">The King’s Dinner</a>. </p>
<p>We found surprisingly diverse flavours, as well as evidence of Britain’s growing global power as it took on cooks and ingredients from across the globe and appropriated their tastes into the emerging <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/food-260">national cuisine</a>. </p>
<h2>1. Cornucopia of vegetables</h2>
<figure class="align-center "> <img alt="Painting of fruit and vegetables." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/759604/original/file-20260914-50-39bkxy.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/759604/original/file-20260914-50-39bkxy.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/759604/original/file-20260914-50-39bkxy.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/759604/original/file-20260914-50-39bkxy.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/759604/original/file-20260914-50-39bkxy.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/759604/original/file-20260914-50-39bkxy.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/759604/original/file-20260914-50-39bkxy.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"> <figcaption> <span class="caption">A variety of vegetables from around the world could be found on the King’s table. Still Life of Vegetables by Pieter Andreas Rijsbrack (1800s).</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APieter_Andreas_Rijsbrack_-_Still_Life_of_Vegetables%2C_a_Pineapple_and_Other_Fruit_with_a_Silver_Platter_on_a_Ledge.jpg?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Wikimedia</a></span> </figcaption> </figure>
<p>Everyone thinks of roast beef when they think of British food, but there were plenty of vegetables available to grow or buy, and the King and his family ate lots of them. Monthly account books for King George III’s household at Kew (1794-1799) show 32 types of vegetables and fruits that were regularly purchased. </p>
<p>These items ranged from relatively recent introductions such as broccoli (originally from Italy), potatoes from America and cucumbers from Asia, to long-established ones such as samphire, cabbage and artichokes.</p>
<h2>2.European-inflected</h2>
<p>George was the first of the Hanover monarchs to be born in England – previously they had all been born in Germany. His wife Charlotte, however, was from Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Their meals at Kew were comparatively heavy on fish and vegetables, similar to the foods eaten in Germany.</p>
<p>Eighteenth-century Britain was home to many migrants who had fled religious persecution or the French revolution. In the era of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815), some people thought <a href="https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10225541/1/The-Kings-Dinner.pdf#page=112">French food was unpatriotic</a>, but fashionable Brits loved French cuisine. Lots of other European imports were sold in London shops, ranging from smoked sausages and reindeer to Parmesan cheese and olives. </p>
<p>In 1815, the Four Nations eating house in London’s Soho served German, Italian, French and English dishes. The appetite for European flavours and ingredients in the British diet reflected the multicultural nation, and its royal family.</p>
<h2>3. Indian food</h2>
<p>Recipes for Indian-style curries started to appear in the 18th century. Curry was widely and rapidly adopted in British cuisine, in large part because of the significant number of returning employees from the East India Company. </p>
<p>In 1810, Deen Mahomet – an Indian immigrant and, later, shampooing surgeon (an anglicisation of the Hindi word <em>chámpná</em>, which means to knead or vigorously massage) to Prince George in Brighton – set up the Hindostanee Coffee House, which served Indian-style food.</p>
<p>It closed in 1812, partly because of the stiff competition from the nearby Norris Street Café, which had offered curries alongside other fare since 1773.</p>
<figure class="align-center "> <img alt="The first advert for Indian curry powder from 1784." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/759606/original/file-20260914-50-ejkg4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/759606/original/file-20260914-50-ejkg4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/759606/original/file-20260914-50-ejkg4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/759606/original/file-20260914-50-ejkg4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/759606/original/file-20260914-50-ejkg4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/759606/original/file-20260914-50-ejkg4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/759606/original/file-20260914-50-ejkg4k.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"> <figcaption> <span class="caption">The first advert for Indian curry powder from 1784.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASorlie%27s_Curry_Powder_advertisement_1784.jpg?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Wikimedia</a></span> </figcaption> </figure>
<p>The royals don’t seem to have eaten many curries, but – like many people in Britain – they may have enjoyed Indian-style pickles. Cookbook writers such as <a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/gj2exjxf">Eliza Smith</a> included recipes “to mango cucumber”, which was an Indian pickle. Mango, cucumbers or similar foods were hollowed out, stuffed with spices associated with India, including turmeric, ginger, cloves, mace and mustard, then put in vinegar. The Prince Regent was served pullet (a young female chicken) with India pickle on at least one occasion. </p>
<p>By 1800, such goods were readily purchased from specialist dealers’ warehouses. Warehouse no. 42 advertised piccalilli (made from chopped and pickled vegetables and spices) in the East Indian style and Skill’s Warehouse claimed to sell exotic foods such as Indian pickles to several royals.</p>
<h2>4. Roast beef, or turtle?</h2>
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