I’ve been enjoying my new little book by Philip Harben, Traditional Dishes of Britain; each chapter is full of observations, stories and reminiscences… some of what he writes might seem a little controversial now… but he wrote it nearly sixty-five years ago, so it’s not surprising.
Here is what I’m looking forward to finding out about – according to Mr H.:
- Cornish pasty
- Richmond maids of honour
- the most wonderful fish in the sea (herring – kippers, bloaters, red herring, Bismarks, pickled herring, rollmops)
- Bakewell pudding
- Hindle Wakes
- Yorkshire pudding
- shortbread
- Lancashire hotpot
- bread
- scones
- the buns of Britain (Chelsea buns, Bath buns, hot cross buns, the Holborn bun)
- Simnel cake
- pancakes
- steak and kidney pudding
- muffins and crumpets
- mincemeat
- syllabub (and frozen Virginia syllabub)
- dumplings (suet, Norfolk, savoury)
- whitebait
- Melton Mowbray pie
- jellied eels
- haggis
- clotted cream
- fish and chips
- Welsh bakestone cakes
- Eccles cakes
- tripe
- Christmas pudding
- whelks, cockles and winkles
Some of these things I have never heard of, so I’m also looking forward to researching them!
Lois Elsden 