The Taste of Britain. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

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СКАЧАТЬ (1875) defines Devonshire buns as ordinary bun dough using cream instead of milk. The result would have been a soft, light, yet rich dough. The use of split to describe a bun or roll that has been split to receive jam, cream or filling is first recorded in 1905 (OED). The reason why these buns carried the alternative name of Chudleighs is unknown. The fact that this small market town in Devonshire was visited by a catastrophic fire in 1807 that started in a bakehouse in Mill Lane is doubtless coincidental. The first reference to this name is in the collections made by Florence White as founder of the English Folk Cookery Association during the 1920s. Here, it is suggested that Chudleighs be rubbed over with butter paper for a gloss, and wrapped in a warm cloth after baking, which gave a soft crust - something found also for Scottish baps. The second record is also in White (1932). White’s recipes did not call for cream, only for milk. She also notes the existence of Cornish splits (which were the same but larger) and the alternative name (in Devon and east Cornwall) of tuffs.

      The popularity of these buns is reinforced by the tourist industry and the vast quantity of Devon or Cornish cream teas that are served each summer (clotted cream, of course). Most of these may come today with scones, but there are sufficient to keep the Chudleigh living.

      TECHNIQUE:

      Before the Second World War, small rolls made in Devonshire and Cornwall, known as splits (or sometimes Chudleighs, in Devon) were yeast-leavened and lightly enriched with a mixture of butter and lard (31bs flour, 8 ounces butter and 2 ounces lard mixed with water and a little milk). The dough was mixed in a conventional manner, divided into small rounds, proved and baked. On removal from the oven, the hot rolls were rubbed with a butter paper to give them a slight gloss, and covered with a cloth or blanket whilst cooling, giving a soft crust. Sadly, modern practice veers towards the use of margarine and milk powder.

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      SOUTH WEST ENGLAND, DEVON AND CORNWALL.

      Dorset Knob

      DESCRIPTION:

      A DOMED RUSK, 40MM DIAMETER, 35MM HIGH. WEIGHT: ABOUT 10G. COLOUR: PALE GOLD, DARKER ON TOP, A PALER CRUMB. FLAVOUR AND TEXTURE: BREADY, SLIGHTLY SWEET, DRY, VERY CRISP.

      HISTORY:

      Dorset Knobs (a type of rusk) have been baked by the firm of Moore’s since the late nineteenth century. Originally, they are said to have been made from leftover bread dough mixed with butter and sugar and baked in the falling heat of the oven after the bread was removed. It is impossible to say, without further evidence, if the tradition is older than stated. Unlike the similar hollow biscuits made in East Anglia, no surviving domestic recipes have appeared. Law’s Grocer’s Manual (c. 1895) merely remarks that there were several species of rusk, mixed from flour, milk, butter and sugar, very light and spongy, cut into ‘particular shapes and sizes’, first baked on both sides, then dried in a low oven for 3-4 hours.

      Around 1939-45, Knobs became the main business of the firm. Today, they make other biscuit specialities. This rusk was sold as a breakfast roll, when it would be dipped in tea to soften; it is also eaten with butter and cheese.

      TECHNIQUE:

      The exact recipe and method are trade secrets. A dough includes flour, sugar, fat, yeast and water. After kneading and an initial rising, small pieces of dough are nipped off the bulk, shaped and proved for about an hour. They are baked at a high temperature for 20 minutes, turned over and baked a further 10. They are separated by hand, and put in a low oven for 3 hours to desiccate completely.

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      SOUTH WEST ENGLAND, BRIDPORT (DORSET).

      COMPARE WITH:

      Norfolk Knob, East Anglia (p. 132).

      Dough Cake

      DESCRIPTION:

      A ROUND FRUIT DOUGH CAKE - AN EXAMPLE BOUGHT IN BANBURY WAS ABOUT 200MM DIAMETER, 50MM DEEP. WEIGHT: ABOUT 500G. COLOUR: PALE BROWN WITH A SPONGY APPEARANCE (IT IS THE UNDERSIDE OF THE CAKE WHICH IS EXPOSED TO THE BUYER) AND A FEW CURRANTS SHOWING ON THE SURFACE; THE BASE (WHICH WAS THE TOP DURING BAKING) IS SMOOTH, FLAT AND A DEEPER GOLDEN BROWN; THE INSIDE HAS A FINE-TEXTURED, OFF-WHITE CRUMB, SPECKLED WITH FRUIT. FLAVOUR AND TEXTURE: SWEETISH, WITH A SLIGHT SOURDOUGH TASTE AND A SOFT, CLINGING TEXTURE.

       He may live without books—what is knowledge but grieving?

       He may live without hope—what is hope but deceiving?

       He may live without love—what is passion but pining?

       But where is the man that can live without dining?’

      EDWARD R. BULWER-LYTTON, ‘LUCILLE’

      HISTORY:

      An early literary reference to the dough cake is dated to the mid-eighteenth century, comes from Devon, and is recorded as a term of affectionate abuse for a thick-headed person (OED). This suggests dough cakes were well known, but gives little indication of the recipe. Dough cakes in modern England are similar in composition to lardy cakes, but the added ingredients are evenly distributed through the dough rather than being carefully folded in. A tradition mentioned by Flora Thompson (1939) may have some bearing on this. In rural Oxfordshire, amongst poor households who had no ovens for baking, a ‘baker’s cake’ was made for harvest teas. ‘The housewife provided all the ingredients excepting the dough, putting raisins and currants, lard, sugar and spice in a basin which she gave to the baker, who added the dough, made and baked the cake, and returned it, beautifully browned, in his big oven. The charge was the same as that for a loaf of the same size, and the result was delicious.’ Since the price of this cake was no more than the cost of the dough, it had to be simpler than lardy cakes which require laborious rolling and folding; presumably the baker simply kneaded the additions through the dough after bulk fermentation, much as today. Dough cakes are made in the same general area as lardy cakes. In Devon, they are most often found on the eastern side of the county. Just over the county border in Dorset may be found the Portland dough cake—described by the WI earlier in the century (Raffael, 1997).

      TECHNIQUE:

      As with lardy cakes, proportions vary. Cakes made domestically are likely to be richer than those in commerce. A typical baker’s recipe would use dough, dried fruit, lard and sugar in the ratio 4:1:1:1. The dough for the cake is removed from a batch for bread after bulk fermentation; the extras are kneaded through; the mixture is scaled off, shaped and placed in tins. Proving times are variable, but can be up to 18 hours. They are baked for 60 minutes at 220°C. After baking, dough cakes are turned out and displayed upside down. The reason for this may be to demonstrate that they are fully cooked or, as with lardy cakes, in consequence of a belief that the lard permeates evenly through the warm cake. Some recipes call for butter, not lard, and some add spices.

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      SOUTH WEST ENGLAND; SOUTH ENGLAND

      COMPARE СКАЧАТЬ