We’re on a rest day in Hay-on-Wye so it is the perfect time to think some more about food. As we have notched up the days our appetites have been increasing. This has meant more yummy things to sample!
This is Kendal Mint Cake. A blast from the past for me as we used to take this on family walks when I was a kid. To be honest I would have preferred fudge but on a wet and windy hillside you take what you are given. It has been called ‘the original energy bar’ and some still use it as nutrition when running. Here is why I would not. It is heavy, it would be a right struggle to open it when on the move and, most importantly of all, it tastes like sugary toothpaste. Kendal Mint Cake contains sugar and peppermint oil and that is about all. They seem to be added in equal proportions hence the startling taste. It originates, not surprisingly, from Kendal in Cumbria and is said to have been around since 1869 when a confectioner cocked up a batch of glacier mints and managed to flog the resulting ‘cake’ to unsuspecting punters. Ernest Shackleton was supposedly a fan. He would probably have preferred fudge.
Another ‘cake’ from the North but this time a yummy one! The Eccles Cake. I have been feasting on these beauties for as long as I can remember. Flaky pastry containing currants and topped with sugar. They are rather grossly called Squashed Fly Cake by some but do not let this put you off. These cakes are also named after a place: Eccles in Lancashire. They have been around for yonks with a record of them being sold in Eccles in 1793. Northerners eat them with cheese! This seems a sorry waste of both Eccles cake and cheese to me but then I am from the Midlands so what do I know.
Fish and chips apparently originated in England in the 19th century and aren’t we all glad that they did! Considered Britain’s national dish they are often served with mushy peas (well cooked, mushed up peas) and sprinkled with salt and vinegar. And most definitely not chicken salt! In the village where I grew up a fish and chip van would come round on a Friday evening. Conveniently for us it would stop right outside our house and we could get fresh fish and chips to eat whilst watching Wonder Woman.
Bangers and mash (sausages and mashed potato), a national comfort food, has sustained us at a number of pubs on our walk. You need the right sausages of course. I would favour a Lincolnshire sausage myself (pork sausage with lots of sage). Everyone in Britain knows sausages as bangers, so named because they pop/bang when cooked in the frying pan. This particularly applies to the cheap sausages which contain a high water content. Buy Lincolnshire sausages if you take my advice!
Marmite (or Our Mate as it is known in Australia) versus Vegemite. A bigger competition than the Ashes in our house. Marmite also divides the British public to such an extent that when there are strong divided feelings about something the item is described as being ‘Marmite’. When we lived in Victoria I used to cycle a considerable way to a supermarket that stocked Marmite in order to keep our supplies topped up. Marmite is a French word (I know!, they had to get in on the act) for a cooking pot, hence the shape of the Marmite jar. Do not buy the Australian Marmite – it is a completely different and highly unpleasant beast. I am an addict for the yeasty black sticky stuff! Our cats like it too, but then they also love ear wax.
Nigel loves a Ploughman’s Lunch. Whenever he orders it he turns to me and says ‘What will the ploughman eat now?’ expecting a chortle. Well, what he won’t be eating is the bread, cheese and pickled onions that are on Nigel’s plate. Other components of said field worker’s midday repast can include salad bits, ham, a boiled egg, coleslaw and an apple. There is always pickle (chutney) as well. Two fine examples of Nigel’s stolen lunch are pictured above.
And finally for today, who would like a Scotch Egg? A boiled egg (in fancy ones the egg is soft boiled), covered by sausage meat (Lincolnshire if you’re lucky), coated in breadcrumbs and then deep-fried. What is not to like?? Here are two examples I have consumed in recent days. The second one is well posh it being a soft-boiled duck’s egg with black pudding covering – so good! Scotch eggs are a national dish and from what I can gather are unlikely to be Scottish in origin, although they could have been named after a man whose surname was Scott. A few years ago they became quite trendy and we saw a Scotch Egg stall selling different types at Glastonbury one year. I wonder if Queen Bey had one?
12 Responses
Did you eat all of that in one day??
You know me – could easily have done!
I was always under the impression that the national dish was vindaloo. Or maybe tikka masala.
More on that later!
Vegemite is 100 years old this year. Probably nothing compare to the age of your Marmite.
Just checked, Marmite only a bit older: 122 years. Not much in it!
Love another foodie update! And hate to add fuel to the fire here, but I’m team vegemite all the way.
I heard here in Norfolk that the potato part of the fish and chip pairing has its origins in unlucky days where the fisherman would return home with no fish – his wife would fry some potatoes cut into large wedges to resemble the fish they could have had! Gradually they transitioned to having both together (i don’t know if this fact is true, but thought you’d find it interesting!)
Vegemite!! Careful I might have to disown you!
Love the fish and chips info!
I’m likin’ the look of that 2nd pic of the scotch egg (duck egg). Never tried it before, though.
You would love it, they are very yummy!
I’m with Izzie – being a happy little Vegemite. Love the food blog just not sure about the mint cake.
Right about the mint cake, but not so right about Vegemite!