Bob the Brit

Archive for the ‘Food & Drink’ Category

In the 1986 film ‘Highlander’ the character Conor MacLeod (played by Christopher Lambert) has a bizarre conversation with Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez (played by Sean Connery).

Ramirez: Haggis? What is haggis?

Connor MacLeod: Sheep’s stomach, stuffed with meat and barley.

Ramirez: And what do you do with it?

Connor MacLeod: You eat it.

Ramirez: How revolting!

This is one of those occasions when discretion over the contents of food is probably the safer option, few of us would ever eat a pork sausage if we stopped to consider that the only part of the pig isn’t processed for food is the oink!

Haggis is a Scottish ‘delicacy’ described by the Scottish poet Robert Burns as ‘great chieftain of the pudding race’. It is, as Conor MacLeod observes, traditionally made using the heart and lungs of either a pig or a lamb, minced and mixed with oatmeal, onion and spices and then stuffed into a sheep’s stomach. Although these days most are wrapped in more modern materials like some form of plastic.

While the ingredients of Haggis sound alarming, the final result, which is an effective way of utilising meat products that would otherwise be wasted. It’s often spicy and peppery and forms an important part of the ‘Full Scottish Breakfast’.

Haggis is widely available these days in supermarkets around Britain, and even by mail order, but if you can’t find readymade Haggis, or want the authentic Haggis experience, the basic recipe follows.

First you’ll need to find a butcher who can supply sheep’s heart, lungs, stomach and liver. The sheep’s stomach can be tricky, but beef bung (intestine) is more widely available and often used instead of sheep’s stomach.

Ingredients:

Set of sheep’s heart, lungs and liver (cleaned by a butcher)
One beef bung or sheep’s stomach.
3 cups finely chopped suet
One cup medium ground oatmeal
Two medium onions, finely chopped
One cup beef stock
Salt and pepper
One teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon mace

Method:

Trim off any excess fat and sinew from the intestine and, if present, discard the windpipe. Place in a large pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for an hour or possibly longer to ensure that they are tender. Drain and cool.

Some chefs toast the oatmeal in an oven until it is thoroughly dried out (but not browned or burnt!)

Finely chop the meat and combine in a large bowl with the suet, oatmeal, finely chopped onions, beef stock, salt, pepper, nutmeg and mace. Make sure the ingredients are mixed well. Stuff the meat and spices mixture into the intestine until it’s just over half full. Then press to expel any air and tie the open ends tightly with string. Make sure that you leave room for the mixture to expand or else it may burst while cooking. If that looks likely then prick the haggis with a sharp needle to reduce the pressure.

Place in a pot and cover with water; bring to the boil then immediately reduce the heat and simmer gently, covered, for about three hours.

Maybe it’s easier to buy one ready made!

Traditionally the haggis is served with ‘Neeps and Tatties’ – that is turnips and mashed potatoes; and if you want to really make your haggis special, pour a large measure of scotch whisky into the haggis after it’s been cut open.

A last drink before going home.

There is some dispute about the origin of this phrase, but a popular (although unproven) explanation is the journey from Newgate Prison to Tyburn (around the site of what is now Marble Arch tube station). The story goes that condemned prisoners were allows a drink at an inn or tavern along their route.

This was their ‘one for the road’.

The legend further goes that one of the guards accompanying the prisoner was not allowed to go into the ale house and had to stay to mind the cart.

This guard was said to be ‘on the waggon’ and thus not allowed to drink, allegedly providing another modern saying.

Johnny Mercer used the phrase in the lyrics of his song One for My Baby (and One More for the Road) – written in 1943 for Fred Astaire. Since then it has proved popular as a title. It was used in 1984 for a Harold Pinter play, a Stephen King short story, a dodgy British film (2004) and a British television series, starring Alan Davies. It has also provided the title for albums by The Kinks (1980), April Wine (1984), Trouble (1994) and Ocean Colour Scene (2004).

The Australians, have modified the phrase to ‘one more for the bitumen’ and a good friend has (allegedly) translated it into Japanese – ‘ossimoto’ – if a friend raises a glass to me and say’s ‘ossimoto’ then a final drink is definitely on the cards!

A Bakewell Tart is a British pastry confection not unlike a jam tart.

These are usually around three inches in diameter with a pastry case containing a light spreading of jam, then almond paste (known as frangipane) topped with icing (frosting). There’s usually half a cherry decoratively placed in the centre. These are widely available and mass produced and are indeed very popular.

However, the residents of Bakewell, a small town in the Peak District about 150 miles north of London, lay claim to the original ‘Bakewell Pudding’.

The story goes that Mrs. Greaves, the landlady at the White Horse Inn in Bakewell (now the Rutland Arms), left instructions for a kitchen assistant to cook a jam tart. The cook misread the recipe instead of making a sweet pastry, simply spread the egg and almond mixture on top of the jam. When cooked, the jam rose through the frangipane mixture.

Bakewell puddings are usually around nine inches in diameter and, while several Inns in the area lay claim to the original ‘mistake’ there is, in Bakewell town centre ‘The Original Bakewell Pudding Shop’ that does a healthy trade in the ‘traditional’ puddings.

HP Sauce is a staple to be found in most British kitchens, it’s a dark brown, sweet/spicy ketchup that is usually served with a full English Breakfast.  

HP Sauce was devised by Frederick Gibson Garton, a grocer from Nottingham ( a city in the East Midlands, about 110 miles north of London and probably best associated with the legend of Robin Hood).

Garton heard that the popularity of the sauce had spread as far south as the Houses of Parliament in London, so in 1896 he registered the brand name H.P. Sauce – H.P. standing for Houses of Parliament – although he might properly have called in PW sauce for the Houses of Parliament are actually the Palace of Westminster. 

The label on a bottle of HP Sauce still bears the image of the Houses of Parliament.

Unfortunately Frederick Gibson’s financial acumen was less than his culinary skills and he fell in to arrears with a mister Edwin Samson Moor who owned the Midlands Vinegar Company, one of his suppliers.  Garton sold the recipe for “Garton’s HP Sauce” to Edwin Moor for the princely sum of £150 and a few years later, after tweaking Garton’s original recipe, Moor launched HP Sauce nationally in 1903.

The main ingredients of HP Sauce are :

• Malt Vinegar (from barley)
• Tomatoes
• Molasses
• Spirit Vinegar
• Glucose-Fructose Syrup
• Dates
• Sugar
• Salt
• Modified Maize Starch
• Rye Flour
• Tamarind Extract
• Spices
• Onion Extract.

As such it is suitable for vegetarians and has been classed as Halal.

There IS a version of HP Sauce manufactured for consumption in the United States (made by Lea & Perrins in New Jersey) but by all accounts it’s sweeter and less spicy that its British namesake.

Over the years the HP brand has been owned by Danone and more recently by Heinz, who announced that they were moving production to a plant in Holland. Despite protests and questions in Parliament they went ahead with their plans in 2006 and in 2007 the HP Sauce factory in Birmingham was demolished.  

Over 27 million bottles of HP Sauce are sold in the UK each year.

One of the brightest aspects of the regeneration of London’s South Bank is the renaissance of Borough Market.

Borough Market claims to have roots back in the Roman occupation of Britain and the foundation of Londinium, but the first credible record of a market on the site dates back to 1276. The market grew and prospered outside the influence of the City of London to the point where the City managed to get control of the market by royal charter from Edward VI in 1550, confirmed by Charles II in 1671. Unfortunately this generated so much traffic over London Bridge that the charter was repealed by an act of Parliament 1754.

The present market buildings were constructed in 1851, with additions through the 20th century.

The market continues to operate as a wholesale Fruit and Vegetable market each weekday morning, but the business is concluded by 8am.

When I worked near London Bridge in the 1980′s the site was deserted the rest of the time. This made it ideal for film locations, and both Bridget Jones Diary and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels were filmed in the area.

 In recent years the market has become known as a centre for top quality foods and artisan food shops, every weekend (Thursday through Saturday) the area becomes a bustling retail market and tourist destination.

Sadly, the location of the market also means that it is on the route of the proposed Thameslink 2000 railway upgrade programme and while the upgrades will greatly improve the rail network, a number of well loved and historic buildings will be sacrificed within the development.