Anglobilia all about England

England's Culture

England has a rich and varied culture which has both influenced and been influenced by other cultures in the UK, Europe and the world.

Religion

England is predominantly a secular country, though the Christian Church of England is entwined in its affairs of state and many non-churchgoing English people routinely state their religion as Church of England. In the 2001 Census some 35 million people (of a total population of 49 million) were identifed as Christians. The Church of England is the largest Christian Church and also the established or official state church. Other common Christian churches include Roman Catholic and Methodist. The 2001 Census also identified over 1.5 million Muslims, 500,000 Hindus and 300,000 Sikhs. [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/]

Food

English food is often considered unappetising by those from other countries. However traditional English meals can be both delicious nutritious. Some typical English dishes are fish and chips (fish, eg cod, "rock", plaice or skate, fried in batter and served with fried potato chips - perhaps one of the earliest take aways), the English breakfast (fried eggs and bacon served with sausage, fried tomatoes, baked beans, mushrooms, black pudding, fried bread...) and the Sunday roast (roast beef, pork, lamb or chicken served with roast potatoes and other vegetables and often Yorkshire pudding).

There are also numerous regional dishes. For example, in London it is common to find pie and mash shops where minced meat pies are served with mashed potatoes and gravy or parsley sauce (known as liquor). Shellfish (eg winkles, prawns, cockles, whelks) and jellied eels are the traditional cockney Sunday tea.

Other aspects of English culture:

• Bonfire Night
• BritArt
• Britpop
• Morris Dancing