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Britons 'spending longer in the kitchen than French'
Britons now spend longer in the kitchen than the French and cook a wider range of cuisine, a new survey reveals.
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But the French prefer dining out and sticking to home-grown family recipes, the cross-Channel study found.
The BBC Olive magazine collaboration with French title Madame Figaro suggests Britons have a more worldly approach to eating, with 72% regularly cooking Italian food, 45% making Indian food and Chinese (31%) and French (26%) also favourites.
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The only food the French will cook with any regularity other than their own is Italian (41%), with the next being Moroccan and Spanish (11%), according to the survey.
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It also found 40% of French readers find ideas from family recipes compared with 20% of Britons.
Britons spend longer in the kitchen, with 50% spending more than 30 minutes cooking each night compared with 27% of French readers.
However during this time the French tend to produce more, with 47% preparing two courses or more compared with 18% of Britons.
The French remain slightly more confident in their cooking ability awarding themselves an average of six out of 10 compared with Britons who rate themselves at 5.6 out of 10.
And while Britons specialise in making bread, the French are superior at jointing chickens and making souffles.
When it comes to dining out provenance and seasonality are more important to the French than the British, who favour ethics, health benefits and price.
The French are also less likely to let the economic climate affect their eating out with 42% having visited a Michelin-starred restaurant in the past year compared with 14% in the UK.
Olive magazine readers voted 70s classic crepe suzette the dish that best symbolised French cuisine while the French said veal.
French readers named the classic British dish as Christmas pudding - rather than "le rosbif". However the roast dinner accompanied by Yorkshire pudding was voted the best British dish by Britons, followed by fish and chips and the full English breakfast.
Olive editor Christine Hayes said: "Although the French have an enviable food heritage, it's fascinating to see how much British people have embraced home cooking and international cuisine over the past few years."
* The survey questioned 2,061 readers of BBC Magazines and 1,345 readers of Madame Figaro in January.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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