The English Lake District comprises the of the former English counties of Cumberland, Westmorland and North Lancashire and parts of Yorkshire. The main county is now called Cumbria.
The food is varied and the proximity to Scotland and also the west coast British ports has shaped some very interesting and varied foods. Spices feature strongly in Lakeland cooking because of the west coast trade.
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Comments
Rum butter would be ideal.
In 2018 and 2019, I made lemon and spice cake, sawrey pie and tatie scones. They pleased everyone even though everybody particularly relished sawrey pie. The interaction between the tastes from apricot, cinnamon and rhubarb was the deal-breaker in putting it -- albeit by just a little bit -- ahead of cake and scones.
I'd like to make havver bread again since we all ate it plain (and enjoyed it). Would the rum butter or something else be served alongside or on it?
If dried fruit is not soaked before it is added to a bread or cake recipe, the fruit takes moisture from the cake to plump itself out. This makes a fruit cake, bread or pudding dry .
I made my Christmas cake two weeks ago and I soaked the fruit overnight before making the cake.
The poor in England were very skillful at adapting food to the climate
Thanks for this. I was totally unaware of this technique. This information shows the value of Wizzley, there is a fund of knowledge to be found in its writers.
I just noticed the bit about havver [oat] bread. You are right about wheat's not being a northern plant, but it is worth remembering that oats can thrive in damp climates, of which Cumbria sure has one. Oats can survive in poorer soils than wheat can.
Frank
Tea bread is a traditional English fruit bread recipe where the dried fruit is soaked overnight in cold tea. This makes the fruit plump and moist when it enters the mixture so then it does not take moisture out of the bread mixture. Therefore it is a moist loaf .
What is tea bread?
I had some Borrowdale teabread today. It is a Lake District teabread and is available for purchase online.
Derdriu
I don t have a recipe for it. I saw it in a cafe in Cumbria.
But to look at it, ... i would think ...
.......make a layer of pastry to line a pie dish
....... spread a layer of apricot jam or preserve over the pastry
........ stew some rhubarb, drain of excess water and spread over the jam
......... make your sponge cake recipe but add cinnamon to taste . Spread this over the rhubarb
......... bake on 180C for about 30 mins.
Serve hot or cold.