Pig snouts and sheep heads on the menu!
AN author is hoping to rekindle a taste of yesteryear and those forgotten gastronomic classics such as pig snouts and sheep heads.
And university lecturer Angela Parkes’ research for her Black Country cookery book has certainly made meal times more interesting – if not always appealing – at home in Perton, near Wolverhampton.
She has attempted to rustle up as many of the 150 traditional recipes featured in Fish and Chips with Batter Bits as she can – even if finding shops that still sell some of the more bizarre items has proved a challenge.
Classic faggots got a thumbs- up from her husband and 19-year-old daughter, but tripe and groaty pudding – a dish made from soaked grain – proved too much to stomach.
They may no longer be cooked today, but everyone has heard of Black Country staples such as grey ‘paes’, pig trotters and chitterlings (pig intestines).
But Mrs Parkes, a lecturer in biology and psychology has dug deep to uncover some decidedly odd delicacies.
And now, with the rise of halal slaughterhouses, some of the ingredients, long lost from shop shelves, are once again available.
“Nothing on an animal was wasted,” said the 50-year-old. “If it was there, you cooked it.
“And the meals were nutritious. There is a lot of fat under pig skin, so in terms of calories they packed a punch. It’s good, wholesome food and just want a working man needed.”
Mrs Parkes’ book attempts to convert households to the delights of :
Pig snouts: Packed with meat, they’re boiled, then roasted for crispness;
Confit of gizzard: The prospect of roasted chicken innards may not make tastebuds tingle, but, back in the day, they passed for canapés in Dudley ;
Sheep heads: Preparing, or “dressing”, a head took real skill by a butcher. Probably not what you would want served during a romantic candlelit meal but the skulls provide plenty of meat.
Mrs Parkes has also dabbled with pig ears, tails and brains and – thankfully – no-nonsense desserts such as bread and butter pudding and caraway seed cake.
“Tripe leaves me cold,” Mrs Parkes confessed, “and groaty pudding got a collective thumbs-down – it was just bland. The most popular dish was faggots, without a doubt.”
Fish and Chips with Batter Bits is available from Amazon, priced £5.75.