In Maryville, Mo., where burgers and fries usually rule for lunch, guests sat elbow to elbow enjoying steak and ale pie, colcannon and treacle.

This feast might be a common occurrence in England, but not here. We like the variety of international cuisines, but for whatever reason, British fare has not caught on like Mexican, Italian or Oriental. Most people don’t even know what British food is, let alone like it. This lunch proved to be an exception.

“We came 149 miles from Oak Grove, Mo.,” says Jim Moore, one of the guests. “It’s very good and very different.”

The meal was prepared and served by students in Northwest Missouri State University’s quantity food preparation class. It was the first in a series of international meals they called Wednesday Lunch, designed to give students a real venue to test their skills. The cost was only $6.50, but with the unusual meal being offered by reservation only, in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week and in the middle of the summer, instructor Dr. Jenell Ciak worried if anyone would come. It sold out.

“I’ve been eating PB and Js every day for the last three weeks,” laughs Jamie Israel, a Northwest student. “So when I heard about this, I was on it.”

Megan Wyant, one of the three students in charge of the British lunch, came up with the idea after visiting London.

“I went over this past December with the marching band,” she says. “We ate steak and ale pie and colcannon at one of the pubs.”

But first they did some research on the history, food and style of Great Britain. Students learned that a few terms are not the same as in America. For example, “pie” is not always the sweet variety we eat. British pies are often savory, such as the steak and ale pie. Shepherd’s pie and cottage pie are popular, too, and are made with either beef or lamb cooked with vegetables and topped with mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes are referred to as “mash” and often are served with “bangers,” which are pork sausages. The group decided to serve a form of mash, called colcannon, which is boiled potatoes, cabbage and leeks all mashed together. It may not sound too appetizing, but the American guests at this meal seemed to like it as well as the British.

“The potatoes and cabbage were delicious,” Mr. Moore says. “I had never heard of it mixed together like that.”

To round out the menu, they served a few tried-and-true American favorites, including whiskey chicken (chicken baked in a cream sauce), sweet peas, a fruit salad (made with mandarin oranges, pineapple chunks, sliced peaches, bananas and cherries), broccoli sunshine salad (a version of the popular sweet-and-sour salad made with bacon) and a mixed-green salad tossed with a red vinaigrette.

For dessert, they decided to make a treacle tart. It looks like an American pie with a lattice top and is served topped with whipped cream.

“It’s like pecan pies without the pecans,” Ms. Wyant says. “There’s actually bread crumbs in it, but you can’t really taste it. That’s what gives it its texture.”

The tart was also a hit.

“I’m a pie person,” says Ms. Israel. “This was really good, and the crust was amazing.”

They also fixed the traditional British favorite around Christmas time called trifle. It’s a layered dessert with custard, pound cake, raspberry jam, whipped cream, sherry and almonds. A Betty Crocker mix, frozen strawberries and whipped topping were substituted to save time. Then they finished it off with chocolate dipped shortbread, something the British call “biscuits.” To wash it all down, it wouldn’t be a British meal without tea. But the students gave it a small American touch and served it on ice.

Ms. Wyant says they tried several recipes to come up with the most authentic, but also best tasting. They share them with you so you can make your own British lunch. You could make it on a Wednesday, but the guests at this meal said it would make a delicious lunch or dinner any day of the week.

Colcannon

2 pounds cabbage

2 pounds potatoes

4 green onions (these were substituted for the 2 chopped leeks usually called for in this recipe)

Mace (dash)

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup milk

Remove stump of cabbage, cut into quarters and boil in water until tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Peel and cut potatoes into small pieces and place in boiling water until tender, about 20 minutes. While potatoes and cabbage are boiling, chop the onions and simmer about seven minutes. Once everything is cooked, drain well, mash and season with a pinch of salt, pepper and mace. Then add 1/4 cup butter and about 1/3 cup milk. Serves 6 to 8

Treacle tart

Six slices fresh white bread

2 cups plus one tablespoon light corn syrup

3 tablespoons molasses

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Shortcrust pastry for three pies (see separate recipe)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Tear the bread into pieces and place in blender. Pulse until fine crumbs form. Put the syrup and molasses into a saucepan with the bread crumbs and lemon juice. Heat over medium-low heat until melted and combined together. Cool. Roll out pie crust and fit into three 9-inch pie plates. Trim excess dough from the side and reserve. Evenly divide the cooled syrup mixture between the three pastry-lined pie plates. Roll out the dough trimmings and cut into long, narrow strips. Arrange them in a lattice pattern over the filling. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until the pastry is lightly browned. Place on cooling racks until served. Top with whipped cream.

Shortcut pastry

4½ cups flour

3 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

6 tablespoons lard, chilled and cut into 1/4 inch pieces

About 1 cup ice water

In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar and salt. With a pastry blender, cut in the butter and lard until the mixture resembles small pebbles. Add the ice water, a couple tablespoons at a time, and toss the dough together with your hands. Add enough water so that the dough comes together into a ball. If the dough is crumbly, add more ice water until the dough particles adhere to each other. Divide the dough into three equal parts. Shape each part into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Allow to sit in the refrigerator for a at least one hour or overnight.

Strawberry English trifle

1 box super moist cake mix (white)

2 cups instant vanilla pudding mix

16 ounces frozen strawberries in light syrup (thawed)

1½ cups frozen whipped topping (thawed)

1/4 cup slivered almonds (toasted)

Make cake and pudding according to instructions on box. Layer cake, strawberries and pudding (in that order) in trifle bowl and refrigerate for at least two hours until chilled. Before serving, spread whipping cream on top of chilled mixture. After adding whipped cream, sprinkle almonds on top.

Steak and ale pie

3 pounds braising steak

3 onions, peeled and sliced into strips

2 tablespoons flour

18 ounces dark beer

3 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

1 bay leaf

pinch salt and pepper

6 ounces mushrooms, sliced

Pastry dough for 8 small individual pies (approximately 3 ounces dough for top and one ounce for bottom)

Beaten egg

Cut steak into one-inch pieces. Heat oil in pan (enough to cover bottom) and add steak to hot oil. Fry until well browned, remove from pan with slotted spoon and set aside. Saute onions in oil until well browned. Add flour slowly, stirring constantly. Add beer to pan mixture. Return meat to pan with the stock. Add thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Let mixture simmer two hours. Add mushrooms. Roll out pastry dough to fit in individual pie pans. Put meat mixture into crust. Add top crust and cut circle slits on top. Brush beaten egg mixture on top and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden.

— Quantity food preparation class at Northwest Missouri State University

Lifestyles reporter Sylvia Anderson can be reached at sylviaanderson@npgco.com