We were in Exeter today, for the first ever shanty fest to be held there. The Beach’d Buoys had two gigs, both of which were (of course!) very successful. Most of the venues were around the quayside, a most interesting place with lots of little indi shops, well-worth exploring – which a couple of us shwags (shanty wags i.e. wives and girlfriends) explored. The city itself, built on ancient Roman foundations which in turn were built on areas where earlier people lived. It’s on the River Exe , and is a great city to visit with a wonderful Cathedral of St Peter.
Some time ago, I wrote about Exeter stew, the recipe for which I found in a Spry cookbook. Spry was a vegetable fat product used for every sort of cooking and baking. I came across the little recipe book which I had obviously bought but have no memory of acquiring… which is always a delight, to find something you didn’t know you had!
I’d never heard of Exeter stew before, even though Exeter isn’t that far away from us, just seventy-odd miles down the motor way. Exeter stew is basically beef stew made with 1 pound of stewing steak, an onion and a carrot and a turnip… and salt and pepper. This seems a little low on flavour, sounds as if it would be rather thin… but you never know! It’s cooked for 2½ hours before savoury balls are added… they are actually dumplings… I think ½ dumplings sound nicer than savoury balls!
- 3 oz flour
- 1½ oz Spry
- piece of onion chopped (don’t know how big!)
- pinch of herbs
- ½ tsp baking powder
- rub Spry and flour together
- add onion, herbs and baking powder
- mix to a light dough with water
- divide into six balls, roll in flour
- place on top of stew and cook for ¾ hour
Lois Elsden 