Asian Tastes Triumph Over European and American Flavours in British Food Poll

SINGAPORE, September 28, 2011 -

Brits have turned their back on European gourmet classics and American fast food according to a recent poll by travel search site Skyscanner.

The poll revealed that Asian foods took three of the top five positions, while five of the national dishes in the top 10 were Asian.

“Asian cuisine has become increasingly popular as our appetite for well-flavoured dishes has grown in recent years,” said Skyscanner’s Food Expert, Mary Porter.

“While Spanish paella and Italian pasta held on to the popular vote to gain places in the top 5, national dishes from Thailand, mainland China, Japan, India and Hong Kong dominated the top 10.”

Thailand’s Pad Thai was second with 10% of votes. Thailand is a massively popular destination with British travellers and it appears that many are returning with a love for the local cuisine.

Chinese favourite Peking Duck was fourth, taking 7% of votes. Chinese cuisine is immensely popular in the UK, and it appears that more people are now travelling to the country itself to taste the food on home soil.

Japan’s signature dish sushi was in fifth place with 6% of vote, reflecting how much British tastes have changed; ten years ago sushi was only seen in expensive Japanese restaurants, but now it is available in most UK supermarkets.

Brits are known for their love of Indian food, and it was the sub-continent’s biryani which took joint sixth place along with Greece’s Moussaka, both of which earned 6% of the vote.

Dim Sum from Hong Kong was in eighth position with 5% of votes while caviar from Russia took ninth position with 3%.

Despite French cuisine typically being hailed one of the finest in the world, the national dish of crepes only just scraped into the top ten with 2% of the vote.  American favourite, cheeseburgers, did not even make the top 10.

Ranking of Most Popular National Dishes

1. Pasta - Italy
2. Pad Thai - Thailand
3. Paella - Spain
4. Peking Duck - China
5. Sushi - Japan
6. Biryani - India
7. Moussaka - Greece
8. Dim Sum - Hong Kong
9. Caviar and blini - Russia
10. Crepes - France

About Skyscanner
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PR Contacts: Sam Poullain, samp at skyscanner.net, +44(0)131-252-5353