The Taste of Britain. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ (in parts of Scotland). When the herring fishery declined in the 1970s, processors turned their attention to mackerel as an alternative. Particularly good catches were made off the Cornish coast and a substantial smoking industry developed, using both whole fish and fillets.

      When the Scottish herring fisheries were closed in 1977 to conserve stocks, attitudes there (where mackerel had hitherto been regarded as inferior) changed and catches began to increase; smoking was also taken up as a means of using the catch.

      TECHNIQUE:

      Made with fish caught mostly during December-February when they have an oil content of about 23 per cent. They are filleted to remove head and bone. Single fillets with the skin on are cured in a brine, placed on stainless-steel trays and cold-smoked for an hour then hot-smoked for 2 hours. Flavourings (pepper, herbs and spices) are sprinkled over before they are smoked.

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      SOUTH WEST ENGLAND; ALSO SCOTLAND; EAST ANGLIA.

      Bath Chaps

      DESCRIPTION:

      WEIGHT: 400-600G, DEPENDING ON THE AGE AND BREED OF PIG. COLOUR: BATH CHAP HAS THE APPEARANCE OF A CONE CUT IN HALF VERTICALLY; THE CURVED UPPER SURFACE IS COVERED WITH LIGHT BROWN OR ORANGE BREAD CRUMBS; WHEN CUT, THE CHAP IS STREAKED IN LAYERS OF PINK LEAN AND WHITE FAT. FLAVOUR: SIMILAR TO ENGLISH COOKED HAMS OF THE YORK TYPE.

      HISTORY

      A Bath chap is the cheek of a pig, boned, brined and cooked. Why this delicacy should be associated with the town of Bath is not clear, except that it lies in an area which has been a centre of bacon curing.

      Pig’s cheeks have probably been cured and dried for as long as any other part of the animal. The word chap is simply a variant on chop which, in the sixteenth century, meant the jaws and cheeks of an animal. These are probably what Mrs Raffald (1769) intended when she gave a recipe ‘To salt chops’ with salt, saltpetre, bay salt and brown sugar. This called for the meat to be dried afterwards; it would be expected to keep for several months. A century later, Mrs Beeton gave a method for drying and smoking pig’s cheeks, observing that A pig’s cheek, or Bath chap, will take about 2 hours after the water boils.’ Law’s Grocer’s Manual (c. 1895) notes both upper and lower jaws were used, the lower, which was meatier and contained the tongue, selling at about twice the price of the upper. Several manufacturers are recorded, including Hilliers of Stroud and the Wiltshire Bacon Company (founded at the end of the nineteenth century). However, today, only 2 producers have been located.

      I am passionate about the use of local food and the high quality of produce to be found in Devon is one of the main reasons I chose to move here to start my latest venture. I have spent a lot of my time driving around the county, sourcing suppliers, going to farmers markets, visiting smallholders, speaking to day-boat fishermen and building up a network of people who are as passionate and mad about food as we are here at the New Angel. I love anticipating what produce is going to be brought into the restaurant on any given day. Take asparagus for example: because the season only lasts for six weeks, there is always an air of anticipation around their delivery. Devon asparagus is excellent and dishes containing my favourite vegetable always fly out of the door. Likewise, it’s great when Anthony Buscombe and his brother come straight in from their boat to the restaurant with a big box of freshly caught crab - 80 per cent of all of Britain’s crab comes from the Dartmouth and Salcombe coast, and it’s the best there is. The delicate, sweet meat needs only a little butter and spice, and I’m very lucky to be able to source such quality from my own doorstep. I regard this county as a centre of excellence for locally produced food. No other area can match Devon’s variety of produce, and that is why I believe it is so important to promote and support local food producers, suppliers and small farming businesses.

       John Burton Race

      CHEF AND PROPRIETOR, THE NEW ANGEL, DARTMOUTH

      Bath chaps are eaten at main meals, usually with mustard. They are sold already cooked.

      TECHNIQUE:

      Bath chaps are no longer dried, merely lightly brined. They are cut from the pig’s heads, cleaned, and boned. They are brined for a short time, after which they are cooked. Subsequently, they are pressed in a mould to give the cone shape; when cold and set, the chaps are removed from their moulds and dusted with crumbs.

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      WILTSHIRE AND SOMERSET; SOUTH ENGLAND

      Bradenham Ham (Fortnum Black Ham)

      DESCRIPTION:

      AN UNSMOKED CURED HAM FOR COOKING. WEIGHT: ABOUT 14KG. COLOUR: THE SKIN IS BLACK, THE FAT BROWN-TINTED. FLAVOUR: DELICATE, SWEET, MILD.

      HISTORY:

      The Bradenham Ham Company of Wiltshire produced hams according to a recipe dated 1781 (Simon, 1960). The recipe is thought to be named for the last Lord Bradenham. It emanated from Bradenham in Buckinghamshire. The secret is in the immersion in molasses and spices, resulting in a sweet-tasting meat. Recipes for treacle-cured hams appeared in domestic cookery books at this time, and the developing West India trade provided molasses a-plenty. The hams were hung and matured for a longer period than other, less exclusive products. In the novel A Rebours (1884), the decadent hero visits an English restaurant in Paris, passing at the entrance a counter displaying ‘hams the mellow brown of old violins’.

      The curing method and the trademark of a flying horse were the exclusive property of the Bradenham Ham Co. which was awarded a Royal Warrant in 1888. In 1897 the Wiltshire Bacon Company took over Bradenham Ham but continued to produce at Chippenham in Wiltshire. When that company closed in its turn, production was moved to Yorkshire. Similar recipes are used by other curers; Brunham, made in Wiltshire, is one example.

      TECHNIQUE:

      The legs, cut from bacon pigs, must carry a specified level of fat otherwise they become dry; they are long-cut, giving a rounded shape. Curing begins in dry salt with saltpetre and sugar but, after an unspecified time, the hams are removed and placed in a marinade of molasses and spices, after which they are hung to mature. The process from fresh meat to fully matured ham takes 5-6 months.

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      SOUTH WEST ENGLAND, WILTSHIRE.

      Brawn

      DESCRIPTION:

      SMALL PIECES OF BRINED PORK, USUALLY FROM THE HEAD AND SHOULDER, SET IN A JELLY. IN APPEARANCE, IT IS A TRANSLUCENT, PALE GOLD-BROWN WITH PIECES OF PALE MEAT AND SOMETIMES CHOPPED HERBS; THE MEAT IS BRINED AND FINELY SHREDDED FOR SOME VERSIONS, GIVING AN OPAQUE, PINK APPEARANCE; IN THE NORTH-EAST, BRAWN IS COLOURED A BRIGHT ORANGE-RED. BRAWN SHOULD BE HIGHLY FLAVOURED; SAGE AND BLACK PEPPER ARE FAVOURITE SEASONINGS.

      HISTORY:

      One element of the history of brawn is constant right down to the present day СКАЧАТЬ