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Saturday, April 9, 2016

Strange food fancies in the UK.


By - 'The English Rose.'

Hi everyone. Well, Easter has been and gone again and it got me thinking about food (of course). We know that for certain festivals throughout the year, Easter of course, Christmas, Thanksgiving, there are particular foods which are usually only eaten at those times. (Although I’m sure there are many of us who would like to eat Easter eggs all year round!)
Every country must also have provincial dishes, many of which are unknown elsewhere in the world. I thought I’d take a look at some of the regional foods we have in the UK. I think you might find some of them a bit odd.
For such a small land, there are a lot of specific county dishes here, most of course, stem from the uses of the produce from that particular area. Some of these dishes have survived almost unchanged for centuries. Many of them were created in times of food scarcity, but they became popular and still exist today.
For instance, most of you will have heard of the famous Scottish delicacy, Haggis. However, contrary to what seems to be popular opinion in the USA, the haggis is not actually a small animal with legs which are longer on one side than the other, to enable them to go up and down Scotland’s steep hills without falling over. One poll suggested that 33% of Americans polled believed that story. Sorry, but I have to spoil your fantasy.

Haggis is a ball shaped, savoury pudding, made of the sheep’s pluck (heart, liver and lungs) mixed with oatmeal, onion, suet, spices and seasoning, boiled together in the sheep’s stomach, and despite the sound of it, I can promise you it is delicious, spicy, crumbly and usually served with ‘bashed neeps’ or mashed turnips and mashed potatoes. Yum! (Really!)
Apparently, the word ‘hagese’ was used for a similar food item in England in 1430, and it was mentioned in a Scottish poem by William Dunbar in 1502, but it really took off as a traditional Scottish dish after the famous poet Robert Burns wrote his poem ‘Address to a Haggis’ in 1787, now, no Burn’s Night celebration is complete without a haggis.
In the Scottish/English Borders there is a very localized dish called ‘Rumbledethumps,’ which is bubble and squeak (mashed potatoes and cabbage all mixed together) with added grated cheese and lots of butter. Not very healthy, but supposed to be tasty. And you can even buy it frozen these days!

Wales too, have a food which is peculiar to that area, ‘Lava Bread’ No it doesn’t come from a volcano, it’s actually a seaweed, collected in huge quantities from the rocks, boiled for hours to make it soft, then pureed. The resulting bright green, gelatinous mass can be fried with bacon, rolled in oats and formed into a patty, or just used as a veg to accompany a meal of meat and potatoes. I can’t tell you how Lava tastes, I’m not that brave!

In Cornwall, there is a lot of fishing and their national dish is naturally fish based, ‘Stargazey Pie,’ is made using Pilchards, which are small, oily fish like sardines. They are baked, then laid around the pie dish with their tails pointing to the centre and their heads protruding from the pastry top, these pies can also contain chopped onions and bacon. The reason the heads are stargazing is that it proves there really are fish in the pie, not just bacon and onions!

Many of you will have heard of the famous London ‘Jellied Eels.’ In the 19th century, the River Thames was so polluted, the hardy eels were the only fish able to survive there and they became a staple for the poor. Now they are considered a delicacy and shipped world-wide. The eels are killed, skinned, chopped and boiled in gelatine, then served cold, either in a small tub on their own, or as a dish with pie and potatoes.
The North East of England has a dish with the delightful name of ‘Singing Hinnies,’ they are small, round, half inch deep, currant filled cakes, (I think they look a bit like your ‘biscuits’?) These are fried in lard in a pan or on a bakestone/griddle. The name is an amalgamation of the sizzling noise they make when they are cooking – singing, and the word Hinny which means ‘darling’ in the dialect of that area, so they should really be called Singing Darlings.

Now, here’s a controversial one for you! During WW2 when good meat was very hard to come by, people had to make do with the poorer parts of the animal, usually a pig. They would take the belly, liver and heart of the animal, chop it all finely, add onions and breadcrumbs, form the mix into balls and wrap them in the caul from the fat of the animal. These balls were served in onion gravy with potatoes, and were called ‘Faggots.’ (Sorry about the name! I don’t like pork, but I’m told by family members that these are delicious.)

From Bedfordshire comes a strange dish known as the ‘Bedfordshire Clanger.’ It is a suet crust rectangle with one end filled with skirt of beef and onions and the other half filled with chopped pears. A complete meal in a crust.
Here in the North of England, where I live, we have a wealth of strange dishes! In some areas we call Jam roly poly by the name ‘Dead Man’s Leg.’ In a town called Oldham, they eat ‘Rag Pie’ which is really minced (ground) beef and onion, wrapped in suet pastry then in a piece of cheesecloth and boiled. We eat ‘Tatty Hash,’ a mixture of mashed potatoes and corned beef, along with onions and carrots cooked in milk and water, all served together with a crust cooked separately and served on the side. ‘Tripe and onions’ are considered a delicacy in many parts of Lancashire, this dish consists of the linings of beef stomach, boiled with onions in milk, with seasoning. Despite the sound of it, that is rather tasty. 


Liverpool, where I was born, has a dish all of its own named ‘Scouse.’ That is where Liverpudlians got their nickname of ‘Scousers.’ It uses the cheapest cuts of stewing meat, layered up with onions, sliced potatoes, chopped carrots and turnips, herbs and seasoning. It is covered with water or stock and left to cook for a minimum of four hours, often much longer. Delicious!

We also eat ‘Butter Pie,’ which was created especially for Catholics, who can’t eat meat on Friday. It is made of thick layers of sliced potatoes and onions, with seasoning and lots of butter, in a deep short pastry case. Love it. (Even though I’m not Catholic!)
Last but not least, in many parts of the UK, people will eat ‘Crisp Sarnies,’ simply layers of crisps (potato chips) on a slice of buttered bread with another buttered slice pressed on top. A strange habit, which varies in taste according to the flavour of the crisps!

I do hope you’ve enjoyed this little look at some of the UKs strange and calorie filled foodstuffs, but I bet you have many more? I’d really love to hear about the strangest!












17 comments:

  1. Okay, STOP!!!!! I will not eat any of this! What happened to Tea and Crumpets? Isn't that just tea and cookies? And what happened to English Toffee? Isn't that candy with chocolate and almonds? You know, normal foods? And isn't there some kind of sweet little pancakes with marmalade on top?...you know, the good stuff? Well, at least you got my attention. Thanks for the lesson in Strange Food Fancies in the UK...but I could have lived without knowing any of this!!!
    Hey, great post. It really got my attention.

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    1. LOL! Thanks for coming by Celia. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Sorry about the tea and crumpets, But really, they aren't that strange are they? Sorry if I turned your stomach, but you know, needs must and all that!My ancestors were strong people. Hey, what am I saying, I've eaten a lot of these things myself! Thanks again.

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  2. I'm still grinning at Celia's comment. While I'd heard of some of these dishes, even tried one or two of the less strange. Still, what cooks do when they need to be creative with what is available. Doris

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    1. hi Doris. Celia made me laugh too! As you say, simple home cooking has always had to be creative, especially in times of famine and such. I don't think I'll be trying Stargazy pie any time soon though! Thanks for your comment.

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  3. Oh my...this was so interesting Jill. I have to admit my stomach cringed at the thought of eating some of it or actually most of it. I don't believe I could eat the fish pie. I would be afraid their little eyes would be looking at me as I ate them. I have a sister-in-law from Korea. Years ago I went to a oriental restaurant to have dinner with her. She ordered a bowl of fish head soup and proceeded to put a fish head, complete with eyeballs in her mouth suck on it a bit and then spit it back into the bowl. I love Chinese food but this....left me with no appetite for the rest of the day. Even here in the US there is a difference in foods in different parts of the country. I tried okra, and greens (turnip greens and such) while living in North Carolina but I have to admit I didn't care for any of it. Nor the crawdads that my grandson just loved. But I did love their sweet potato pie...

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    1. Hello Barbara. Glad you enjoyed it. The story about your sister in law turned my stomach! Like you I would have lost my appetite right then. But what we might think is awful, is quite normal to other palates isn't it? I daresay there are many even stranger food stuffs in the world! I do like the sound of the sweet potato pie though! But 'crawdads'? Are they the things we call crayfish here? Look like tiny lobsters? Or is it something else entirely? Thanks for coming by today.

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    2. Yes, crawfish....crawdads, crawdaddy's (as my grandkids say.)They actually suck on the shell parts. I have eaten white rice, pieces of steak, kimchee all wrapped up in a flat piece of seaweed (looks much like a taco) before. It was one of the dishes I did enjoy that my sister-I-law made. It is always great to read a post from across the pond.:)

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  4. Ah. I've learned something new, I'll confuse folk here by asking for crawdads in future!! Thanks for the comment Barn!

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  5. Very interesting. When comes to some of the names of these delicacies, who says people from the UK don't have a sense of humor. Love it! And my husband loves potato chip sandwiches--that's what he calls them.

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  6. Hi Robyn. Ah, a fellow 'crisp sarnie'/ potato chip sandwich lover! Wonderful! And yes we have a sense of humor, honest! The only thing with something like 'sense of humor' is that it's different in different regions. So what might be hilarious in one county, is met by blank stares in another. But I'm sure that's the same over there eh? Thanks for coming by.

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  7. Jill,

    Um...no...just...no. 0_o I have serious food aversions (admittedly mostly a texture issue), which is why my food "likes" are rather limited, but my food dislikes list is lengthy. *grin* I already know I'll die of starvation someday, because I can't bring myself to put that morsel of life-saving "something weird" in my mouth. I'm with Celia on sticking with the tea and crumpets and candy.

    Seriously, though, I enjoyed your explanations of these foods that are familiar to you. It's a great reference for the historical aspect of our writing. :-)

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    1. Hi Kaye. I know a few people with a similar problem, things are just too 'gooey' or rough textured or slimey. Its a shame, you do miss out on some wonderful foods. Not that some of these are that wonderful!! And honestly, I have to admit to you all, I really do not like crumpets! Sorry! Thanks for dropping by.

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  8. Well Jill, I certainly learned a bit about English food here. Some looked really yummy...and some looked kinda weird or, if I may say so, rather unappetizing. Most of us like the foods we were raised on. It's just a fact. You show me some southern fried chicken, okra, potato salad and a tall glass of sweet iced tea and I'm happy as a clam. But English food, well, I'd have to live in England a while to get used to your fare before I can render a genuine opinion. Still, an interesting look at what the English eat.

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    1. Hello Sarah. Yes some of them do look weird, even for me! If you ever get to UK let me know, I'll recommend some interesting dishes for you! Thanks for coming along!

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  9. Jill,
    This was such an interesting post. I learned much from it.

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  10. wagamama serves up delicious Asian-inspired meals, like ramen and rice bowls. Their casual setting is perfect for a quick lunch or a fun dinner. They even have vegetarian and vegan options! Find your Wagamama and satisfy your cravings.

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