Britain is a nation of 'culinary freestylers', finds study

Curries, stir fries and spaghetti Bolognese favourite dishes chosen by home-cooks

Rather than playing it safe with traditional British dishes, four in five Brits are experimenting with global cuisine

Britain has become a nation of "culinary freestylers" who refer to recipe books just twice a month, it has emerged.

Rather than playing it safe with traditional British dishes, four in five Brits are experimenting with global cuisine, adding their own twist to international delicacies, a study of 2,000 adults found.

Curry dishes, stir fry and spaghetti Bolognese were favourite dishes chosen by home-cooks to express themselves with unusual ingredients and approaches.

One in four Brits find Chinese recipes the easiest to experiment with, adding in their own blends of spices, and 14 per cent prefer to experiment with bold Mexican flavours.

Yet Japanese food is considered the most intimidating cuisine by cooks looking for a challenge, followed by Vietnamese and Middle Eastern food, according to the study by food company Tilda rice.

While more than 40 per cent of Brits have enjoyed Thai food when eating on a night out, only one in five have ever felt brave enough to attempt to freestyle it in their own kitchen, according to the study.

Tilda is opening a restaurant dubbed a "Ricetaurant" this month in London’s Shoreditch, which is designed to help amateur cooks experiment global recipes at home.

Anna Beheshti from Tilda said: “Rice is the ultimate freestyle ingredient. It is the most widely consumed food in the world and unites almost every cuisine from Thai and Middle Eastern, to Mexican and Japanese.

"We hope our Ricetaurant will encourage people to embrace all of the world’s delicious cuisines and give them the confidence to try to be even more adventurous freestylers.”

All proceeds from the Ricetaurant will go to The Felix Project.

SWNS