Quoted: Taffy, if they're reacting this way to UK style toad in the hole, let's not get them started on "spotted dick" or "bubble and squeak".

Don't forget 'Faggots'...

ANdy

Quoted: yeah, wtf is "spotted dick"??? i've heard brits rave on about it but the name alone is enough to scare most of us yanks off! might as well enlighten us on "bubble & squeek" as well!

Bubble & Squeak

This is another very old dish, used as a way of finishing up the leftovers from a previous meal. The name comes from what happens when you cook it apparently. You will need a big pile of cold, left-over mashed potato, cooked cabbage, and (traditionally) cold, cooked beef from the Sunday joint. However, the meat is optional- you can omit it completely for a vegetarian version.

Heat some dripping (fat) in a pan fairly strongly and fry the chopped up meat. Add the cold cooked cabbage and mashed potato and mix it thoroughly, then reduce the heat somewhat and cook the whole dish steadily for 15 to 20 minutes or more without stirring it, so that it is set solid, the edges and underside are browned but not stuck  and it is cooked right through. Serve it piping hot.


Spotted Dick
285g (10oz) Self-Raising Flour
150g (5oz) Shredded Suet (Shortning)
150ml (¼ pint) Milk
110-160g (4-6oz) Currants or Raisins
85g (3oz) Castor Sugar
1 Lemon, zest only, finely grated
Pinch Salt

Mix all of the dry ingredients, including the grated lemon zest, together thoroughly
Add enough milk to produce a soft dough.
Turn out onto a floured surface.
Roll out the mixture to produce a roll approximately 15cm (6 in) long and 5cm (2 in) in diameter.
Prepare either a tea towel lightly dusted with flour, or sheet of kitchen foil or a double thickness of greaseproof paper, brushed with melted butter.
Wrap loosely but securely, leaving enough space for it to rise.
Tie or seal the ends.
Place in the steamer and cover tightly.
Steam for 1½ to 2 hours.
Serve cut into thck slices with hot custard.

• Faggots (Ffagodau) Recipe •

Faggots were always popular back in Welsh history, the miners might keep a pig and the faggots were an easily carried lunch when they needed nourishment for their strenuous work underground.

They are a staple food found in Welsh fish and chip shops and indeed all over the country as well. Traditionally served with chips or mashed potatoes and mushy peas, and lavishly sprinkled with a real malt vinegar. The 'unfortunate' name is derived from the original word, which means a mixture or combination of.

They will of course be not to everyone's taste (but then what is?) because of the offal base. They were a staple in my childhood home, whether home made or bought. As mentioned previously about Welsh cakes, these are another I leave until I back to the UK. They say to me I am home, I am in Wales, I am in the 'Land of my Fathers'. With many of my childhood memories shrinking away or disapearing altogether in Wales; the mines and pits all closed down, the furnacite factory where my grandfather worked long gone, our princess, Princess Diane of Wales, tragically killed and the Welsh rugby side . . . well that one is best left alone! . . . there are something's that will always remain and for me ffagodau are one of them.

Ingredients

pigs liver 450 gm
2 onions 2
breadcrumbs 100 gm
suet (shortning) 75 gm
chopped sage 2 tsp
salt
pepper

Method

Mince the liver and onions into a mixing bowl, this can be as fine or as coarse to suit your own tastes
Add the breadcrumbs, chopped suet, sage and season with the salt and pepper (it should be quite peppery)
Shape the mixture into small balls, if the mixture is too wet more breadcrumbs should be added
Place onto a greased oven tin and bake in moderate oven for about 30 minutes
Remove faggots and add boiling water and a little flour to the tin to make grav

Quoted: Quoted: Sorry but the Brits got this one right. Yorkshire pudding and sausages. I've also had it with hard boiled eggs instead of sausages. But, again, with this pudding nonesense... is it bread-like or quiche-like? - BG

Taste and cosistency of a pancake


ANdy