'˜Foreign' food tops British fare

A poll of 2,000 people found the average adult will tuck into 14,175 international dishes between the ages of 18 and 81 - almost double the 7,812 traditional British meals they will consume. Italian is the most popular choice, with Mediterranean cuisine typically on the menu once a week - or 3,276 over an adult lifetime. Brits will also consume 819 Mexican spreads, 756 Spanish plates and 252 African dinners. The study, by Giraffe World Kitchen, also found more than one in 10 have just one traditionally British meal a week, with 2.5million Brits never eating one. And eight in 10 reckon they eat more international cuisine than ever before. 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. Greek recipes account for 567 of our meals over a lifetime while the average adult will also tuck into 378 Middle Eastern favourites and 189 Peruvian dishes. We’ll also eat 378 meals from Japan and 315 Turkish dinners. 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 per cent) and people are becoming more experimental with cooking and in the kitchen (41 per cent). Eighty-two 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 most popular world cuisines 1. Italian 2. Chinese 3. Indian 4. American 5. Mexican 6. Spanish 7. Thai 8. French 9. Greek 10. 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