Global cooking: how specialist ingredients became a British staple

In January 2018, we commissioned some research to look at the cuisines people were cooking at home. While Italian food remains hugely popular (regularly cooked by 42% of people in the UK), it was clear that French food was falling from grace with less than 10% of us cooking it regularly. Particularly amongst foodies, however, there is a growing interest in Asian cuisines with Indian, Chinese and Thai food all being cooked at home regularly.

Gradually, the UK population (particularly the UK’s foodies) is recognising that there is a lot of complexity in each of these cuisines and it is worth digging below the surface. While in the past we might have been happy with Anglicised takes on international fare, we’re now hungry for authenticity, seeking out recipes for regional Chinese dishes, information about far-flung flavours and even exploring almost unknown cuisines such as East African.

Of course, to cook these international cuisines at home, we need the right ingredients; substitutions just won’t do if we’re chasing authenticity. A quick look in the average foodie’s store cupboard proves we’re going to specialist shops and embracing the ever-growing availability of specialist products. For example, 27% of ‘Committed Foodies’ have fish sauce in their cupboards (compared to 14% nationally), 12% have udon noodles (compared to 5% nationally) and 41% have coconut milk (compared to 23% nationally).

This increasing demand for international ingredients has an effect on more common products, too. Brands like Lee Kum Kee, which produces soy sauce (in 61% of Brits’ cupboards) and oyster sauce (in 11% of Brits’ cupboards) now take up whole sections of supermarket aisles instead of being only found in Asian food stores. Japanese brand Yutaka is also enjoying a growing presence in retail; something that’s perhaps being pushed forward by food halls such as Japan Centre in London’s Westfield.