Traditional Warwickshire Food & Drink

[Lex]

Thought this might be an interesting thread. Does anyone know of and use any traditional Warwickshire food, drink and recipies?

Here's one to start off with: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plum_jerkum

Although the article says it's a Worcestershire & Gloucester brew, I've read that it was brewed in Warwickshire using 'Warwickshire Wobbler' plums. I tried some at Stratford Beer Festival a couple of years ago and loved it; unfortunatrely, the producer doesn't seem to make it any more.

[rebbonk]

There was a recipe published a while ago about traditional Coventry God-cakes

[Lex]

I remember eating something like those a few years ago. Here's the recipe: http://www.travelaboutbritain.com/recipes/coventry_godcakes.php

[Lex]

Here's a plum jerkum recipe:

* 12 cups water
* 3 LBS plums (trying black-red plums)
* 3 LBS sugar
* Yeast (one packet – trying Lalvin-71b-1122, but others should work, too)
* Two cinnamon sticks (not used originally; added for additional breadth & flavor)

Process:

* Bring water to a boil, add plums. Some suggest placing plums in cheesecloth for the boil. I didn’t, but then discovered just how viscous the water-plum became & had to press through cheesecloth to extract a few cups’ worth of juice).
* Press liquid from plums (when soft)
* Let water/plum cool a bit, and add + dissolve sugar
* Yeast can tolerate warm, but not hot, water (95-105, depending); add according to packet
* Ferment w/ airlock in a dark, temperate location for 2-3 months
* Rack and clarify
* Bottle and… try… waiting!

[rebbonk]

COVENTRY GINGERBREAD
6 oz (170g) brown flour, 4 oz (115g) butter, 3 oz (85g) caster sugar, 1 teaspoonful ground ginger, 2 oz (60g) crystallised ginger.
Stir Flour, sugar and ground spice together. Rub in butter lightly. Add finely chopped ginger – mixture will be crumbly. Place in greased sandwich tin, or in greased flan ring standing on baking tray. Press very lightly into position – if pressed down heavily, cake will be hard. Bake in very moderate oven (regulo 3, temp. 125 degrees) for approximately 10 minutes or until firm. Remove from tin and cool. Break into pieces to serve.

Source : http://recipewise.co.uk/warwickshire-regional-recipes

[rebbonk]

I believe tripe and onions has local roots?

[Lex]

I believe tripe and onions has local roots?

I haven't heard if T&Os is a local dish, but it seems to have been populat 'oop north' in times past.

[Lex]

Groaty Pudding (Groaty Dick) is a popular Black Country (recipe pinched from www.foodsofengland.co.uk )

Groaty Pudding or Groaty Dick
0.5 lb groats
1 bay leaf (optional)
1.5 lbs shin of beef
1lb leeks Salt and Pepper
2 medium sized onions
Hot water to cover

Cut the beef into bite-size pieces, slice the leeks and onions. Place all the ingredients in a stew pot and bake slowly for at least three hours, longer if possible. Serve with crusty bread. A thicker version of this, with more groats and less meat, was all some families could afford. It was spread on bread so that each member could have something warm and filling.

[Lex]

450 g stewing steak, cut into cubes
6 potatoes, peeled, chopped
4 carrots, peeled, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
350 g tomatoes, chopped
150 ml red wine
2 tbsp flour
2 clove(s) garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Method
Preheat oven to 140°C.
Season the flour with, parsley, salt and pepper. Lightly dust the stewing steaks with the seasoned flour.
Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the floured meat and cook until lightly coloured. Then remove the meat and place in a pot.
Add the wine to the pan and heat gently. Add the potato and carrot chunks, onion, tomatoes and garlic and stir to combine. Add the meat and cover.

http://www.foodsofengland.co.uk/warwickshirestew.htm

[Lex]

835. INGREDIENTS: For the crust, 5 lbs. of lard to 14 lbs. of flour, milk, and water. For filling the pies, to every 3 lbs. of meat allow 1 oz. of salt, 2-1/4 oz. of pepper, a small quantity of cayenne, 1 pint of water.
Mode: Rub into the flour a portion of the lard; the remainder put with sufficient milk and water to mix the crust, and boil this gently for 1/4 hour. Pour it boiling on the flour, and knead and beat it till perfectly smooth. Now raise the crust in either a round or oval form, cut up the pork into pieces the size of a nut, season it in the above proportion, and press it compactly into the pie, in alternate layers of fat and lean, and pour in a small quantity of water; lay on the lid, cut the edges smoothly round, and pinch them together. Bake in a brick oven, which should be slow, as the meat is very solid. Very frequently, the inexperienced cook finds much difficulty in raising the crust. She should bear in mind that it must not be allowed to get cold, or it will fall immediately: to prevent this, the operation should be performed as near the fire as possible. As considerable dexterity and expertness are necessary to raise the crust with the hand only, a glass bottle or small jar may be placed in the middle of the paste, and the crust moulded on this; but be particular that it is kept warm the whole time.
Sufficient: The proportions for 1 pie are 1 lb. of flour and 3 lbs. of meat.
Seasonable: from September to March.

http://www.foodsofengland.co.uk/warwickshireporkpie.htm

[Lex]

In fact, this website is worth looking at in general: http://www.foodsofengland.co.uk/index.htm

[Lex]

I heard the other day that pikelets are a traditional Midlands food, so here's the recipe: http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/79/pikelets.aspx

[rebbonk]

We used to have them on Sunday afternoons in late autumn. - Lovely when dripping with real butter.

[rebbonk]

Those in that recipe look rather like what we used to call Scotch Pancakes: definitely not what I remember as Pikelets.

[Lex]

Traditional food from the wider West Midlands area: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/birmingham-traditional-foods-and-drinks-12828087

[rebbonk]

A couple there I've not heard of, and a couple that WM claiming ownership of is a little naughty. But, overall, a few decent memories of the past.