A new study has revealed the different cuisines that Brits eat over a lifetime. It’s goodbye to roast beef and roll on Rogan Josh as Indian, Chinese and Italian tops the list of world cuisines the typical Brit will tuck into every year.
A poll of 2,000 adults released today by restaurant chain Giraffe World Kitchen reveals that the average adult will eat 14,175 international dishes between the ages of 18 – 81 – almost double the 7,812 traditional British meals they will consume.
Italian is the most popular cuisine with Brits tucking into pizza and pasta at least once a week but the study reveals that Brits are also looking further afield for cuisine. 819 Mexican meals, 378 Japanese dishes, 252 African dinners and 189 Peruvian dishes are consumed over the average lifetime.
Alex Meyer from Giraffe World Kitchen said: “As a nation, we are travelling the world more than ever and experiencing more exotic and international cuisines and this is being reflected on our dinner tables and in the meals we choose when eating out.
“Italian, Chinese and American cuisines are even consumed so much in the UK, that many consider them to be British meals, with people becoming fans of food of more exotic places such as Peru, the Middle East and Africa.
“It’s fantastic to see we are as passionate about world food as all of us at Giraffe World Kitchen are, and just like us, going out into the world, travelling, discovering dishes and broadening our taste buds more than ever before!
“Every menu we create is a curation of world taste and we have noticed an ever increasing hunger for both dishes from further afield as well as, a trend we believe is set to grow, a greater curiosity into the authenticity and regional dishes of the countries whose culinary style we already love.
“To this end we have adapted our Autumn menu to include Steamed Duck Gua Bao Bun and Indo-Coco Curry.”
The study found that the average Brit will consume 2,079 American meals over the average lifetime, along with 630 French and 567 Thai dishes.
But as a result of the increase in international cuisine we are now consuming, six in 10 think British dishes are in danger of being wiped off the nation’s dinner tables by more exotic meals.
The study also found that more than three quarters put the new found love of international cuisine down to it being more readily available in supermarkets and shops, while 40 per cent think people are more willing to try new flavours and ingredients.
Other reasons include people travelling more and experiencing different foods abroad (41%) and people are becoming more experimental with cooking and in the kitchen (41%).
82 per cent say they are becoming more adventurous with dishes they have for dinner – both at home and when eating out.
Seven in 10 even said they are more likely to go to a restaurant which serves world cuisine when they dine out, while 60 per cent would opt for an international dish over a British meal on a menu.
Keen to spread more world food fun, Giraffe World Kitchen are on a mission to recruit a candidate for the best weekend job in the world and become Giraffe’s ‘World Food Weekender’ – winning a month of weekend dish discovering for the spring collection of world food which will be served up in Giraffes across the UK next year, for details see giraffe.net #giraffekitchentravels
Top 10 popular world cuisines
- Italian
- Chinese
- Indian
- American
- Mexican
- Spanish
- Thai
- French
- Greek
- Japanese
Breakdown of meals eaten across a lifetime
Per year Per lifetime (63)
Italian 52 3,276
Chinese 27 1,701
Indian 30 1,890
American 33 2,079
Mexican 13 819
Thai 9 567
French 10 630
Greek 9 567
Spanish 12 756
Middle Eastern 6 378
African 4 252
Japanese 6 378
Turkish 5 315
Peruvian 3 189
Caribbean 6 378
International 225 14,175
British 124 7,812
