Oh yeah, meat pies are amazing on a cold day. When I was in high school, students used to queue up to get them from the 'tuck shop' (the NZ term for a school's food stall) on cold days. Though school taught us about healthy eating, they weren't afraid to sell us all the things they told us not to eat. And yeah, a lot of people avoid wearing sweaters (or jumpers) when it's cold as they don't want to be seen as soft. It's pretty dumb, but it's just the way it is.

It's also funny what your sister said about beans on toast. I grew up eating them but it wasn't a poverty thing -- it's just a staple food. Funnily enough, there's a sort of similar dish in southwest France called cassoulet. If you eat it with a baguette, it's not that different from beans on toast.

Re Churchill's quote, there's this meme going around that "The British eat like the Germans are still flying overhead". I personally do think that the French have higher food standards, but when it comes to global cuisine, the English-speaking countries run rings around France. You can find amazing French food in France, but if you'd like amazing food from other countries, it can be a bit of a lottery. Just my impression anyway