Food Matters: Yorkshire Food Trivia

Yorkshire Curd Tart

Gold Award winning cheese makers, The Shepherds Purse of Thirsk make traditional handmade cheeses ranging from Yorkshire Blue (made with cows milk) to Fine Fettle - formerly Yorkshire Feta (made with ewes milk). Shepherds Purse had been locked in a 10 year battle with bureaucracy - EU ruling giving feta Protected Designation of Origin status, which resulted in Yorkshire Feta being re-branded as Fine Fettle Yorkshire Cheese.

CHEFS
Out of Yorkshire have come celebrity chefs Brian Turner and James Martin, James Martin's father used to be the chef at Castle Howard so he spent many of his childhood days on the estate. Andrew Pern of The Star at Harome has recently been on UK TV's Market Kitchen also another up and coming star from Yorkshire is Thomas Souter also having appeared recently on the show.

EAST YORKSHIRE SUGAR CAKES
The name for these cakes is deceptive as they are more like a shortbread biscuit. The original recipe dating back 200 years only came to light in late 2007 in the Beverley archives department of the town council when it was moving site to its new building. It fell out of an old accounts ledger and no one had ever heard of such cakes. James Makenzie (Chef and proprietor of The Pipe and Glass Inn, South Dalton) was contacted by the BBC to see what he thought of the old recipe. He made the original recipe but found it too strong for today's tastes with a large quantity of ground cloves and mace. He adapted the original recipe and serves it to accompany his Rhubarb' trifle with rum soaked parkin crumbs (SCRUMMY!)

FAT RASCALS
Are a cross between a scone and a rock cake. Famous at Betty's Tea Rooms, Yorkshire.

FISH
We serve the best fish and chips in the country, fish and chips in the north of England are fried in Beef dripping which gives them the best flavour. Local fishing towns of Whitby, Scarborough, Filey, Bridlington, Staithes, Runswick Bay and Robin Hood's Bay provide our region with 'wet' fish. Whiting, haddock, cod, langoustine, lemon sole, plaice, turbot, halibut, red mullet, Dover sole, monkfish, And squid are landed by trawlers that sail in and out of Whitby harbour (The Whitby Catch). The coastline also yields a valuable amount of crab and lobster.

GROWLER
A Growler is a pork pie! Annual competitions take place across Yorkshire in the search of the best pork pie. The 2009 competition saw all of the four top honours going to Yorkshire pie makers. There is also a Pork Pie Appreciation Society. The Tap & Spile pub in York hold an annual Pork Pie competition in September. Great Yorkshire Pork Pie, Sausage, Black Pudding and Beefburger Competition

HENDERSONS RELISH
Is a spicy and fruity condiment, similar in some respects to Worcestershire sauce, but as it contains no anchovies, making it vegetarian. Hendersons Relish has been made in Sheffield for over 100 years.

JAMS & PRESERVES
The region is awash with jams, preserves, chutneys and of course not forgettting Yorkshire Honey, there are far too many to mention but are found region wide. Popular with cream teas and of course not forgetting the Ploughmans and the 'growler'.

NESTLÉ (ROWNTREES)
One of the largest producers of confectionery, chocolate is still made at the York plant sending whafts of roasting cocoa beans across the City. In 1984, Nestlé's acquired the British confectionery company Rowntree Mackintosh.

PARKIN (YORKSHIRE)
Parkin is essentially the Northern English form of gingerbread. Different parkins are characterized by where they are made and Yorkshire Parkin, one the most famous, is made using oats. Yorkshire Parkin (Celebrity Yorkshire Chef James Martin's recipe) is eaten on Bonfire Night, November 5th, celebrating the famous failure of Guy Fawkes to blowup the Houses on Parliament in 1605. Guy Fawkes was a Yorkshireman.

PEASE PUDDING
Is a North East Yorkshire vegetable dish, made from split Yellow peas, often served with ham/bacon, stottie cakes or Savoury Ducks.

PIKELETS/CRUMPETS
Crumpets are generally circular though rectangular varieties also exist. They have a distinctive flat top covered in small pores and a resilient, slightly spongy texture, being very porous. Crumpets are eaten hot with a topping (usually butter). A pikelet is similar to a crumpet, but thinner and sometimes irregularly shaped. However, the meaning of pikelet varies: in some regions of Britain it traditionally refers to a crumpet (for example the Midlands), muffin or other teacake. In other British regions and other commonwealth countries, it is often refered to as a Scotch pancake.

PONTEFRACT CAKES
Are a small, roughly circular black sweet measuring approximately 2 cm in diameter and 4 mm thick, made of liquorice, originally manufactured in the Yorkshire town of Pontefract, England. The first man to use liquorice in Pontefract to make the actual Pontefract Cakes was George Dunhill who was a chemist in the town. He sold it in his chemist shop to the miners going to work because it stimulated the guts, stopped them being thirsty - which they didn't realise it did at the time, but it did, and it also cured any chest ailments they had.

SAVOURY DUCKS
Or 'ducks' in the Midlands, Yorkshire and Lancashire are known as Faggots elsewhere in the UK, their resemblence is similar to a large meatball. Traditionally made from pig heart, liver and fatty belly meat or bacon minced together, with herbs added for flavouring and sometimes breadcrumbs. The mixture is shaped into balls and wrapped in caul fat.

SEABROOK CRISPS
Family run business trading for 60 years! They are produced in Bradford and are extremely popular in the north, though less so in the south. They are famed for their strong unusual flavours and crinckle cut finish.

WENSLEYDALE CREAMERY, HAWES
Wensleydale Cheese became famous by the creator Nick Park's, Wallace & Gromit characters in the short film The Wrong Trousers. Since the release of The Curse of The Were-Rabbit the cheese of choice is now Stinking Bishop - sales of Stinking Bishop have now overtaken sales of Wensleydale cheese.

YORKSHIRE CRISPS
Gourmet hand-cooked crisps. They use only locally grown potatoes, all natural ingredients and no artificial flavourings.

YORKSHIRE CURD TART
A speciality of the region, originally made with the fresh curds which were left over from cheese making. Baked in a sweet pastry case the curds are mixed with currents, eggs, soft brown sugar, lemon zest and nutmeg until golden brown.

YORK HAM
A leg of pork dry cured to a traditional recipe for 10 weeks which results in a dry-salted ham with a mild flavour and light pink colour.

YORKSHIRE ASPARAGUS
We have 2 known growers of Yorkshire Asparagus in York they are The Balloon Tree and Sand Hutton Asparagus Spring in North Yorkshire is the best time of year for asparagus, and after what seems like an endless wait the asparagus season officially arrives on 1st May, lasting a short, sweet six weeks. British Asparagus Growers Association

YORKSHIRE BRACK & STEM GINGER BRACK - MADE BY ELIZABETH BOTHAM & SONS - CRAFT BAKERS SINCE 1865
A moist fruity loaf made with an infusion of fine tea. The ginger version contains orange zest which makes this a vibrant and zingy fruit cake. (no added fat)

YORKSHIRE PUDDING
In Yorkshire they are mainly eaten as a starter (served as picture depicts on the right) usually served with onion gravy. In years gone by they were also served with jam or a sweet and sour version - malt vinegar and sugar!

YORKSHIRE RHUBARB TRIANGLE E. OLDROYD & SONS
Rhubarb is grown in the dark in huge sheds, this is called 'forcing' and it is harvested by candle light.