Heritage menu aims to enhance Valley flavour
WHAT was the name of the Valley’s first sit-down Chinese restaurant?’ ‘What was the 1980s craze called Super Savers?’ ‘What happened to the Russian Tea Room?’
These questions and more are tackled by a fascinating new food trail, developed as part of lotteryfunded heritage project Taste of Rossendale.
Thirty tasters of culinary and cultural significance dotted across Bacup, Waterfoot, Haslingden, Helmshore and Rawtenstall, can be savoured.
As well as a leaflet digesting a century of the Valley’s food and drink from the end of the First World War, the four-course project consists of a book of Rossendale’s ‘indigenous’ recipes, with a food and wellbeing fair this summer to finish.
Hameeda Mahmood, a director of Community Interest Community PEP Enterprise, designed Taste of Rossendale to boost community cohesion, recognising the universal values of food and the role of migration on changing tastes and eating habits.
Helped by historian Chris Aspin and library archives, it has also involved the community, speaking to people about their memories and relationships with food. The project has so far toured Haslingden Primary School, Haslingden and Rawtenstall libraries and the Boo theatre, from where it will move on to Bacup Library.
Bob Frith, of the Boo, said: “Even after 50 years living in the Valley there’s so much left to find out about the recent past. Remembering changes to the local High Street, such as Bank Street or Deardengate, seems to bring all sorts of stories and memories in its wake.”
Hameeda said: “Food has changed, times have changed, we have had two world wars, the introduction of the NHS and communities that have come into this area have brought their heritage and culture and that’s now part of British culture.
“I’m a member of the BME community and have also developed a lot of work around cohesion and getting people to integrate and find heritage.”
The trail also features a foraging map, documenting some of the Valley’s lowhanging native meals.
Hameeda said: “A lot of things naturally grow like nettles, whinberries and hazelnuts. The aim is to get the children out and about and foraging and learning about their town. We are going to launch it by taking a few people on these walks. It’s their heritage, their history, their town.”
The leaflet explains how a multiple bread-slicer was invented by Alexander Linsey, of Helmshore, while Haslingden man J H Anderton is credited with developing a range of flues in the late 19th century which were crucial to enabling the first fish and chip shops to take off in popularity.
Hameeda said they also visited rest homes to find out about the recipes from the past and how popular dishes have changed over the years, and the factors behind these changes, including war and immigration. She added: “The rich history of Rossendale surprised us. For every culture and community the one thing that brings people together is food, a peace maker and a great way to bring people together.”