Cheshire cheese is reputed to be the oldest cheese in England. Traditionally it came in cloths which had a picture of a large, grinning cat on. Hence the phrase " grinning like a Cheshire cat " came from this tradition. Lewis Carrol in his book "Through the Looking Glass" makes reference to a large grinning cat, The Cheshire Cat.
Cheshire cheese comes in three colours, red, white and blue and for this reason is known as the most patriotic of all cheeses. There are other smaller companies making cheese in Cheshire, such as The Cheshire Cheese Company and Bexton Cheese. The cheese is slightly crumbly and slightly salty.
Many recipes special to Cheshire contain Cheshire cheeses. Cheshire also boasts very fine asparagus crops, rhubarb crops and apple crops. Cheshire lamb is particularly fine. Our salty soil gives a natural flavour to the local produce.
Cheshire recipes have been noted for centuries.
Hannah Glasse’s 1747 Cheshire Pork Pie recipe for example is typical of Cheshire and is sometimes known as Fidget Pie. It contains Pork and apples. In fact, I bought one from the butcher's on Wednesday this week. I have included two different Cheshire Pork Pie recipes.
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Comments
Derdriu,
My youngest son loves this recipe. Good luck with it. Almond essence is beautiful and smells so lovely.
Thank you!
I fear that I'm not an experimenter with recipes. I like the way your recipe looks, scents and tastes so why fix it when it ain't broke?
I made it in 2018 and 2019 with almond essence, which I'll keep in even when I add the ground almonds down the road, in August and September this year. I'll substitute the almonds for the rolled oats.
Derdriu
I am delighted that you like Cheadle Hulme Tart. It is a big favourite here. I would certainly add ground almonds but I would add some almond essence too as the taste is more powerful.
I would substitute 2 ounces of ground almonds for 2 ounces of the rolled oats and stir them in.
But please do experiment with any of my recipes as you like.
I meant to say to you back in 2018 and again in 2019, that I made your almond and lemon tart for birthday celebrations in August and September. It met with lots of "Tastes like more!" comments.
There tends to be nut markdowns around that back-to-school time for some reason (so parents can pack their children's lunch boxes with healthy, tasty nuts?). I want to respect the integrity of your invention ;-D -- and it's a crowd-pleaser exactly as it is - so instead of plowing into, I want to ask you. Would you ever add real almonds additionally to the almond essence?
But I have no evidence that Pigeon Pie is a traditional and well known Cheshire food as Cheshire is to the South of Manchester, which was in South Lancashire at that time.
Veronica you seem to have missed pigeon pie. Your great uncle was a groundsman at Manchester City's ground and employed partly to keep the pitch pigeon free. This involved shooting pigeons. He brought his kills back to eat.So I ate pigeon, but as he died in 1954 and you were born in 1957, you never benefited from his shooting. As your senior by seven years I did eat pigeon.
The lemon and almond tart is definitely very good. My lot eat a whole dish of it in one sitting.
I have never actually made potted pigeon. It is more of a traditional dish but asparagus and corn cobs are native vegetables to Cheshire.
Veronica, Very delicious, especially your creation that looks and reads most healthily and prettily with lemon for digestion and rolled oats for fiber! Do you do anything with the bread crusts that don't go into the asparagus and cheese charlotte? What drinks and vegetables do you serve with potted pigeons? Is there a salad or some other dish that includes apples, asparagus, cheese and rhubarb?
I have added Cheadle Hulme Lemon Tart to the page above
DAS K S
Yes every area has its own way of making food interesting that's for sure .