Admit it: the English love affair with European food has grown stale – we need a native cuisine we can be proud of

Traditional British sticky toffee sponge pudding with custard. Photograph: funkyfood London/Paul Williams/Alamy

No discerning dinner party host in England would dream of serving their guests a traditional English ham. You might find jamón ibérico, of which Spain is so proud, but never stuffed chine, a shoulder cut of salted pork marbled with parsley, once a delicacy in Lincolnshire. It sometimes seems as if the English middle classes are so concerned with other countries’ proud artisanal products that they miss the potential of our own.

We’re more likely to find cookery writers and experts in nutrition advocate for Japanese foods than traditional English fare. The Chinese diet, too, has its passionate advocates in England. We barely need to mention the English middle classes’ long love affair with France and Italy and Spain.