The end of the Beef Wellington? These traditional British dishes are facing extinction

Classic British dishes such as the Beef Wellington could be confined to the history books as families fail to pass recipes down the generations.

Despite the nation’s love affair with cooking shows such as the Great British Bake-Off and MasterChef, age-old meals are being forgotten.

With busy Brits struggling to find time to cook, and some 70s classics — such as vol au vents and Pavlova — considered too old fashioned, much-loved dishes may be completely forgotten.

Research by the Co-op found just one in ten families are passing their secret recipes down to the next generation.

The supermarket worked with food historian Seren Evans-Charrington to identify once-popular dishes that are now in terminal decline.

Included are the likes of the Baked Alaska, Swiss Roll, Beef Wellington, Tiramisu and Summer Pudding.

Do you ever tuck into a plate of fried liver? (Getty)

Other delicacies, such as liver, have hugely fallen out of fashion — with demand for the food plummeting 92 per cent in 40 years.

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These dishes join the likes of the almost entirely forgotten Bosworth Jumbles — which just 3 per cent of Brits have even heard of according to the survey of 2,000 adults.

The buttery biscuits were said to have been created by Richard III’s chef and named after the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.

Also on the list of forgotten foods are Aberdeen Rowies, the buttery bread rolls, and Shropshire Fidget Pie, which is made of ham, cider and apple.

Evans-Charrington said: “The decades between 1954, when we came off rationing, and 1974 represented a dramatic turning point in British eating habits.

“The casualty of us eating out more and embracing a more varied, global diet has been that we are at risk of losing many of our local and traditional dishes.

“What’s more, many of the dishes can be incredible sources of nutrition – from Carlin Peas to Tripe Stew, we’d learn a lot taking a leaf out of our ancestors’ books and reviving some of the nation’s best local recipes.”

(Credit: Monkey Business Images/REX/Shutterstock)