County’s culinary delights had a generous helping of calories
IN 2005, Sainsbury’s published a list of British regional dishes that were on the brink of extinction.
In fourth place was Gloucester squab pie, which, according to research by the supermarket chain, had been eaten by just 2.9 per cent of the UK’S population.
No doubt you’re intrigued to know what the even less popular culinary delights were, so here we go. Topping the list of traditional foods fast disappearing into obscurity was Richmond eel pie. Second was Kentish pigeon and third Alnwick stew from Northumberland.
I have to confess, I’ve never heard of Gloucester squab pie, let alone tried it.
But the ingredients came as a surprise. A squab is a young pigeon. Yet the Gloucester delicacy is made from mutton. And although it’s called a pie, this local dish has no pastry lid.
If Delia Smith devised a recipe that was called pigeon pie, but was in fact mutton tart, a public outcry would result. But be that as it may, if you fancy trying this age-old local treat, here’s what you do.
Line a pie dish with pastry. Place chopped mutton, preferably one of the less fashionable cuts such as scrag end of neck, at the bottom, then cover with a layer of onion and apple.
For true authenticity, a local variety of cooking apple, such as Royal Turk, or the intriguingly named Transparent Codlin, should be used.
Now sprinkle allspice and nutmeg over and repeat the layers until you’ve filled the depth of the pie dish. Cook in an oven at gas mark four for about an hour and a half, then eat hot.
The Gloucester Old Spot is, of course, the famous county breed of pig, and the source we can assume of delicacies provided by the Gloucester Steam Sausage Manufactory of St Aldate Street.
An advertisement for the firm that appeared the Citizen offered ‘Sausages and collared head of the finest quality’.
If you were unsure about preparing a collared head, or what to do with one when you had, advice was at hand in a useful little book titled ‘Gleaning from Gloucestershire housewives’, published by the Women’s Institute in the 1950s.
Cheltenham rose to fashionable fame as a health resort. The great and the good arrived to sip salty spring water at the spas, take cures, stroll about the town’s parks, breathe the clear air and get fit. But many of them enjoyed a good blowout as well.
That’s why Cheltenham pudding was invented by a local chef. In some way the forerunner of the Cheltenham dripping cake, the town’s own pudding was of robust and sturdy character. A small bowlful contained more calories than the average person could expend in a month and sufficient cholesterol to fur up the arteries of an African elephant. Fortunately, cholesterol hadn’t been invented in those days.
Here’s the recipe for Cheltenham pudding, a baked suet delight with dried fruit and preserved ginger.
Butter a two-pint pudding basin and pour in two tablespoons of golden syrup.
In a second bowl, beat together four ounces of butter, four ounces of soft brown sugar and two eggs. Then add six ounces of self-raising flour and two tablespoons of milk.
Chop up local cooking apples (there is a variety native to these parts called Hen’s Turd, if you’re feeling brave), two ounces of mixed fruit, more brown sugar and a teaspoon of cinnamon.
Now pour in the pudding mix, ladle in the mixture, cover it with more pudding mix, then steam for two hours. When cooked, eat with custard made from full-cream milk. It’s a good idea to hide the bathroom scales beforehand.
At its factory in Chester Walk, Cheltine Foods catered for those of a delicate constitution. And anyone wanting to discover the secrets of hay box cooking would have found the War Economy Exhibition in Cheltenham Town Hall enlightening.
Tewkesbury saucer batters were eaten around harvest festival time by the itinerant workers who arrived in the town in days gone by to help gather nature’s bounty.
Fruit and vegetables were grown in fields around the town, including the local variety of apple called the Tewkesbury Baron. Hops were
Gloucester Old Spot pigs were the source of local delicacies
gathered in commercial quantity as well to supply the town’s brewing industry.
Some of the workers came from the Midlands, others were Romany gypsies from far and wide. The Tewkesbury author John Moore described the annual transformation of the town when workers converged at harvest time to toil in the fields during the day, then enliven the pubs in the evening.
One yearly event that always took place was the battle to find the king of the gypsies. This involved the contenders competing with each other in a series of feats, performing traditional skills and acts of athletic prowess, until just two of them remained. The winner was then decided by who could pick up a pony and carry it the furthest.
All of which was hungry work. So, back at their camps the workers settled round the fire and made Tewkesbury saucer batters. If you’d like to try the dish for yourself, here’s what you do.
Make a stiff batter mix using eggs, plain flour and milk. Next, heat two saucers, having first placed a knob of butter in each. When the butter is melted, pour the batter mix into the saucers and place them back in the heat until the batter rises and sets.
In the meanwhile, stew together rhubarb, a little water and some clear honey until the fruit is soft. Pour the stewed mixture into the batters – and the best of luck to you.
Recipes and household hints from Gloucestershire
Collared head was a delicacy offered by The Gloucester Steam Sausage Manufactory