In France they had steak tartare which is raw minced meat...um no, sending that back to be cooked!
Otherwise, snails, frogs and horse meat are regular items on the menu. They are pretty good with their veges though.
Its the British who pressure cook everything so it turns into mush. British food was so bad, that the aristocrats in England never employed British chefs, they poached their chefs from France. It wasn't until Jamie Oliver made it cool to be a chef in England. Nigella Lawson was basically Mediterranean.
Basically the main options in British food was ...mash everything up in one pot. Its called casserole, and cook it for a few hours until it turns to slop.
Irish had similar, though they called it stew and always ate it with Guinness.
The brits then discovered herbs and spices and sugar, and after that, the world was never the same. Entire countries were then enslaved to provide them with a sugar hit.