[Pseudoscience-is-malarkey (OP)]

Being that you guys ruled a fourth of the planet, that brought a lot of influence to your food. Butter chicken, tikka masala, shrimp vindaloo, fish fry, British jerk chicken, lamb rogan josh, etc. All of which are unhealthy and great in my opinion. Your full English breakfast is the best in the world.

"Britisches Essen ist Scheisse"
"La bonne nourriture n'est pas l'interet primordial des britanniques."

Edit: Maybe it' the names you give them. Spotted Dick, Welsh Rarebit (the "rarebit" is often misread as "rabbit"), eton mess, toad in the hole (Toad!), etc.

[paul cotter]

Not in my opinion. The London curry is the best in the world and although it is referred to as Indian cuisine, it is an English invention pioneered by Bangladeshi immigrants in the east end, as far as I remember. The thought of a London vindaloo has my mouth watering.

[Petrochemicals]

Here is what one French person on quora replied when I googled your French quote.

The stereotypes have a hard life. England has changed a lot since my first trip in 1969. At that time, "good" eating was not the primary interest of the British, only food. The GB was still in full reconstruction after having provided a gigantic war effort. Do not forget that after the war, this country suffered from rationing much longer than in France. Homes made do with what they could find. You don't develop a culinary art that way. With my student budget, the diet of fish and chips and sandwiches was already depressing after 3 weeks and I became a "subscriber" to Chinese and Indian restaurants. After my studies, I came back and things were improving. Late 70s, I was always amazed by the quality of the products sold in the markets but not by the result on the table of the families who invited me to eat. I'm also not a fan of many of their traditional recipes. Having traveled a lot in Europe, I can say that they have with France the best meats and the best dairy products. In the meantime, the great English travelers have brought home food habits from the countries of southern Europe, of which they are particularly fond, without forgetting the cuisines of the Commonwealth communities. I have never seen so many cooking shows like on British TV channels. You can go to any city in the UK, and you will always find a restaurant where you can eat well.

As for your German, I am at a loss as to why. Most British food is unhealthy but tasty, fried fish, fried bacon fried mars bars, something to do with the climate requiring a high fat content.

[Pseudoscience-is-malarkey (OP)]

Not in my opinion. The London curry is the best in the world and although it is referred to as Indian cuisine, it is an English invention pioneered by Bangladeshi immigrants in the east end, as far as I remember. The thought of a London vindaloo has my mouth watering.

Indian immigrants become doctors and Bangledeshians became cooks.

[alancalverd]

Different circumstances. There was a long tradition in the days of Empire of single, selected Indian students staying and entering the professions, but the more recent arrivals were whole families displaced from Uganda, with an immediate need to make a living, typically as shopkeepers or in the food business, whence some of the children remained in the family business and others studied for the professions.

Sanjeev Bhaskar neatly summed up an entire society in an interview:   I told my dad that I wanted to be an actor.  He said "In our culture, it is pronounced dentist."

[Bored chemist]

Indian immigrants become doctors and Bangledeshians became cooks.

Not really- not least because, at the time when a lot of them came here, Bangladeshis were Indians or east Pakistanis.
Bangladesh didn't gain independence until 1971

[Petrochemicals]

Not in my opinion. The London curry is the best in the world and although it is referred to as Indian cuisine, it is an English invention pioneered by Bangladeshi immigrants in the east end, as far as I remember. The thought of a London vindaloo has my mouth watering.

Indian immigrants become doctors and Bangledeshians became cooks.

Indian are hindus hindus are vegetarians who venerate cows, Bangladeshi peoples of Islamic faith would cook us tasty beef madras, chicken vindaloo and lamb bhuna. "Indian" in regional orientation is the Indian subcontinent of any faith, possibly running to Burma too. East India is even broader. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Indies

[alancalverd]

Not all hindus are vegetarian, but the majority of muslims do not drink alcohol, so the British tradition of washing down a lamb jalfresi with IPA (India Pale Ale) requires a degree of cultural flexibility on the part of the restaurateur.  A lot of business is about compromise!

If you put your name down at birth, you may eventually get a table at Johney Gurkha, Aldershot. Not sure if it is still the case, but it used to be staffed by off-duty cooks from the Regiment, and from time to time the waiters would entertain with demonstrations of knife skills - mindblowing food and the best-behaved customers!

The British characteristic of culinary selfdeprecation extends well beyond Eton Mess and Turd in the Hole. Traditional Indian Balti was definitely a Birmingham* invention - essentially, student curry cooked in a raw iron pan so it tastes like Irn Bru. Apparently "balti" means "slop bucket" or worse.

*some say Glasgow.

[Bored chemist]

Indian are hindus

Not really.
About 1 in 7 is Muslim and about 1 in 40 is Christian.

Mainly, this thread is making me hungry.

[paul cotter]

Yes, it is making me hungry too. Going for a veg vindaloo with pilau rice and a roti tomorrow, yum yum. BC, you are quite right about Bangladesh, I should have used the term Bengalis.

[Petrochemicals]

Not in my opinion. The London curry is the best in the world and although it is referred to as Indian cuisine, it is an English invention pioneered by Bangladeshi immigrants in the east end, as far as I remember. The thought of a London vindaloo has my mouth watering.

Indian immigrants become doctors and Bangledeshians became cooks.

Also they did not "become" in the UK, they already where, that was the idea of immigration after the wars. In 2 generations the UK lost a considerable amount of man power and had considerable vacancies.

[Bored chemist]

I don't think anyone has actually tackled the question yet; here goes.
"Why does British cuisine have such a bad rap?"
Spam fritters.

[alancalverd]

Spam fritters.

American, not British. It's the permanent legacy of WWII. 

I play lots of 40's Revival gigs - Miller, Ellington, Basie, etc., and folk like to dress up and dance in period costume, but nobody ever buys a spam fritter or cold fizzy beer.

[Bored chemist]

Spam's an American product, but a British icon.

[alancalverd]

You pray to it?

Or do you have a spam icon on your computer?

[Bored chemist]

icon

"a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol "

[Origin]

Spam fritters.

Oh good lord!?!

[Bored chemist]

Spam fritters.

Oh good lord!?!

I rather doubt that He was involved...

[alancalverd]

But if you are going to worship Him by praying before an icon, His Holy Presence will have sanctified the spam fritter

Transubstantiation  is the essence of Communion. Pink flesh inside a brittle yellowy skin is indeed the embalmed body of Jesus. Which is why we don't eat pork.

[paul cotter]

I call the communion wafer the "holy poppadum". How about the deep fried and battered mars bar? Scottish invention but by definition of Great Britain, it is obviously British. I don't know which concept nauseates me the most, spam fritters or deep fried mars bars.