Pendle is an area of eastern Lancashire, probably most known outside the area as Pendle Hill, and for the poor women accused of witchcraft and so known as the Pendle witches. The twelve women were subject to the “witch trials”. Ten of them were found guilty and hanged, one died in prison, and one survived. On a more cheery note, I am now looking at a little book, “Old Pendle Recipes”, from Joyce Douglas, some of which I have shared before. The first is Burnley Broth, a town north of Manchester, now more widely known as a name because our new Prime Minister has it.
Burnely Broth – Our old newspaper cutting in the local history collection describes it as containing… greens, peas, barley, dumplings, five or six pounds of flat rib and a ham shank or two – a reminder that in those days, when families were large and earnings small, the broth pot was a welcome means of warmth and sustenance.
There is no recipe, but maybe this might be it:
- * greens – cabbage, spinach, edible root tops, nettles
- * peas
- * barley
- * 5 or 6 lbs flat rib beef (or boned brisket)
- * a ham shank
- for the dumplings:
- * two parts self-raising flour to one part suet, salt and pepper
- 1. casserole the meat, with onions, carrot, seasoning until tender and falling apart
- 2. strain, set aside vegetables for soup, reserve the stock, take meat and shred with forks, discarding bones, gristle, fat etc.
- 3. make dumplings by mixing all ingredients, add sufficient but not too much water to make dough, form into equally sized dumplings
- 4. skim the stock and heat gently, add the dumplings, put on the lid and simmer until the dumplings are light and fluffy
- 5. add the shredded meat, greens and peas and heat until lightly cooked
I guess this is one of those recipes where everyone has their own variations and adding or leaving out ingredients as preferred by the family!
The next recipe on the page is Nettle Pudding – but in fact it is more of a description and history rather than instructions on what to do with the ingredients – meat dripping, onions, eggs, and young nettle leaves. The recipe after that comes from Burnley again – a fig pie which is actually a pudding.
Lois Elsden 
Fascinating Lo, ….. greens those humble green things, often found by the roadside and used to good effect in salads and in “pots” of other food. I was always amazed at the inventiveness of some of that generation of Italian woman who would matter of factly collect them from roadsides and waste ground. Particularly those women from the south and especially from Naples where poverty walked as a persistent companion, made worse by the priviations during the 2nd World War. To which I can remember the first time I came across a salad made from Dandelion leaves served up as a starter on the Greek islands. Is this the mystery Pendle book we discussed yesterday? One that survived the cull and clearing out?
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Yes, that’s the book – recipe books are exempt from the cull hahahahaha!!
My dad was in or near Naples, also at Monte Casino during the war and he talked of the heartbreaking poverty of the women and children, the kids would queue up at the barracks and the cooks would scrape the mess tins out onto their dishes, so all the gristle, fat, bones, under-cooked/overcooked veg that British army rations served, the slop, which the poor children would take back to their families. He was appalled and disgusted but could do nothing.
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Have you come across …. Stories from Naples in the spring of 1944, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2020/01/stories-from-naples-in-spring-of-1944.html
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On my way!
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