These days, just about anything can be turned into an aesthetic or trend simply by adding ‘-core’ to the end of a word. We’ve recently witnessed the rise of ‘Barbiecore,’ ‘Dadcore,’ and ‘Cottagecore,’ and the latest to explode online is ‘Britishcore.’ TikTok revealed last week that #Britishcore is set to be one of Autumn’s biggest trends, but what exactly is it? According to the social media platform, it’s riding the wave of the Britpop resurgence this summer and is all about embracing everything quintessentially British – from our fashion and local history to the weather and even the experience of going to a large supermarket.
It’s not just Brits who are creating videos about Britishcore. People in the US have also jumped on the bandwagon, romanticizing cups of tea, pub lunches, tweed, and even chicken shops (thank you, Amelia Dimoldenberg!). Food is a major talking point for the trend, with many reducing British food to a handful of stereotypical, beige dishes, with Greggs sausage rolls being the pinnacle. Jokes about scotch eggs, fry-ups, beans on toast, and scones being the epitome of British cuisine are rampant. While these foods undeniably hold a place in Britishcore, focusing solely on them would be a major oversight.
These dishes represent a nostalgic feast from the 90s, a hangover from the somewhat unfortunate reputation of British food post-war. They’re not an inaccurate depiction of British food – we do love a roast dinner and a hearty pudding – but Britishcore misses the mark by failing to capture the full and vibrant reality of British cuisine.
Britain is one of the most multicultural countries in Western Europe, home to multiple generations of diverse communities who have brought their own culinary traditions with them. These traditions have become a central part of British cuisine, albeit with a twist. Take Tikka Masala, for instance. It’s one of the nation’s favorite dishes, but it now has more Glasgow in it than Bangladesh. Then there’s the British version of Carbonara, which would make Italians shudder (rightfully so), and the Friday night chippy dinner, originally a gift from Jewish refugees. Even the most British of drinks, tea, doesn’t originate from Britain. But does that make it any less British? Quite the opposite, actually.
I’m not the only one who believes Britishcore gets our food wrong. Noël Wolf, a cultural expert at Babbel, told Metro.co.uk: “Trends on social media tend to smooth out nuance and promote easily digestible, simple ideas, so it’s no surprise that Britishcore hasn’t got the country’s approach to food quite right. ‘Britishcore paints a vision of the country that is all about supermarket meal deals and scampi fries. There’s a tendency when caricaturing Britain to make it all about beige food and no spices — but that could actually not be further from the truth. ‘In reality, thanks to Britain’s incredible multiculturalism, the food offerings across the country, much like its people, are astonishingly diverse. In London alone, that diversity is on full display: whatever you have a craving for, you can find varied cuisines from Korean BBQ, curried goat and jerk chicken, South-Asian curries. Even pubs, the most British of institutions, will more often than not in London be found to be serving Thai food. ‘But that doesn’t mean we can’t also enjoy the cliché of chicken nuggets and onion rings, known ironically online as “British tapas,” every now and again.’
Ben Slater, a food stylist at Jamie Oliver, adds: ‘Britishcore is really, just Nostalgia-core in a Union Jack coat. It means so many things to so many people. Personally, I’m not sure enough people are talking about village fete cakes made with salted butter or Butterscotch Angel Delight!’
He continues: ‘I adore how most “British” foods aren’t really British at all. Bangers came over with the Romans and your mash was probably made with turnips before the Spanish brought potatoes over around 500 years ago. The consistent movement of people to our otherwise isolated island nation and the resultant diaspora have made our “quintessential” British food culture so fabulous.’
So yes, stodgy beige meals account for one side of British cuisine, while the mixed-up multicultural medley is the missing half that makes it whole. Combine the two and at the cross-section is where you’ll find the absolute peak of Britishcore food. Because honestly, can you think of anything more #Britishcore than taking a crisp sarnie and dipping it in some of last night’s leftover curry sauce?
