One in 10 Londoners think a kipper is new kind of yoga as 'regional delicacies die out'

Dying out: Classic regional dishes like kippers are on the verge of extinction, the study has found.
Shutterstock / Joerg Beuge
Benedict Moore-Bridger27 September 2016

Londoners are the most likely to be ignorant of British regional delicacies which experts say are “dying out”, a survey warned today.

Classic regional dishes are on the verge of extinction, with just one in 10 Londoners passing on recipes to younger generations, the study by the Co-op found.

And one in 10 people in the capital are also so clueless about food that they thought a kipper was a new type of yoga, as opposed to a herring which has been split, cured and smoked.

The survey says traditional family and regional dishes such as Bosworth Jumbles, Aberdeen Rowie and Shropshire Fidget Pie are being replaced by less complicated alternatives.

With the help of food historian Seren Evans-Charrington, to mark Love British Food Fortnight, the research finds family favourites are rarely made, with 34 per cent of Londoners relying on older generations to prepare them or serve them on special occasions.

The survey also found meals such as liver and onions have declined rapidly in popularity — in 1974 a typical household bought 36g of liver per week, but by 2014 that had fallen to just 3g.

Ms Evans-Charrington said: “The casualty of us eating out more and embracing a more varied, global diet has been that we are at risk of losing many local and traditional dishes.”

Co-op Food said they wanted to highlight “the value of traditional British recipes”.

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