The Taste of Britain. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

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СКАЧАТЬ sheep collectively known as ‘down’ breeds evolved from the native stock of the chalk hills of southern England. This area has been sheep-raising country for many centuries and, by the 1700s, several distinct races had evolved. The first to receive any attention was the Southdown. Improvements were begun by John Ellman of Glynde (Sussex). Thereafter, it was considered one of the best producers of lamb and mutton. Mrs Beeton (1861) comments on the ‘recent improvements’, and remarks, ‘of all mutton, that furnished by the Southdown sheep is most highly esteemed; it is also the dearest on account of its scarcity, and the great demand for it.’

      ‘From the beginning of the nineteenth century, the fashionable Southdown was increasingly interbred with all the downland breeds and this transformed them,’ thus the origin of Oxford Down, Hampshire Down, and Dorset Down (Hall & Clutton-Brock, 1989). It was also used to improve the Shropshire and bred with the Norfolk to produce the ancestors of the modern Suffolk—now much used for meat.

      TECHNIQUE:

      The Downs consist of several relatively high chalk escarpments with steep faces and dry valleys; the flora is typified by soft, short turf with a great diversity of herbs and flowering plants. Sheep grazing, a part of the area’s economy since the Middle Ages, is a vital element in its maintenance. In the nineteenth century, the Southdown was of enormous importance to Sussex farms which practised a system of folding the flocks on arable crops at night with extensive grazing on the short, downland pasture during the day. This survived until recently in a few places. Its drawbacks are that it is labour intensive and less ploughland is now available, partly because of set-aside. Many Southdown sheep are now kept on ley pasture.

      Lambing usually begins in February. They are sold for meat from about 16 weeks but many are retained for breeding; Southdown rams are in demand as sires for cross-bred lambs. The value of these has been recognized for well over 150 years, when Mrs Beeton remarked that Southdown crossed with Lincoln or Leicester were used to supply the London meat markets; the crossing breeds may have changed to Cluns, Cotswolds and Dartmoors, but the principle remains the same. A premium is often paid for Southdown lambs; demand is high and there is much direct marketing.

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      SOUTH EAST ENGLAND, SUSSEX.

      Sussex Cattle

      DESCRIPTION:

      SUSSEX PROVIDE COMPACT, FINE-BONED CARCASSES WHICH HAVE A DRESSED WEIGHT OF 250-272KG. THE FLESH HAS AN EXCELLENT, SWEET FLAVOUR; WELL-MARBLED WITH A FINE GRAIN, EXTREMELY TENDER.

      HISTORY:

      Sussex cattle have red-brown pelts, a characteristic dating back many centuries. Red cattle in the county are mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086). The breed developed from draught oxen (a use which continued into the early 1900s). They were worked for several years before slaughter for beef. By the nineteenth century, they were recognized as fine beef animals. Registration of pedigree began in the mid-Victorian period and the breed society was founded in the 1870s. Sussex have been much exported, especially for beef production in southern Africa.

      TECHNIQUE:

      The breed has developed to give a hardy foraging animal, capable of remaining outside all year. In practice, this only happens on the chalk downs where the soils are light and thin; on lower ground, the cattle are housed for the first 3 months of the year to prevent the grassland, which overlies heavy clay soils, being poached. Housed cattle are fed hay, silage and straw and little, if any, concentrate. Animals in fruit-growing areas may be given the excess apples and pears in the autumn. The land on which the animals graze for much of the year includes the long-established and herb-rich grasslands of the chalk downs. Sussex cattle are also kept in the harsh micro-climate of Isle of Sheppey. This place, with a relatively low annual rainfall and exposed to cold north-easterly winds, is categorized as a Site of Special Scientific Interest; consequently restrictions are imposed affecting the date at which the grass can be cut for hay (1 July) and the use of fertilizers, maintaining a unique flora. Calving is arranged to take place in spring or autumn; the calves are suckled until weaning. They are killed at 18-24 months. Whilst some pure-bred Sussex beef reaches the market, the cattle are also crossed with continental breeds to produce large, lean, commercial carcasses.

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      SOUTH EAST ENGLAND.

      Sussex Chicken

      DESCRIPTION:

      A HEAVY BIRD (ABOUT 3KG DRESSED WEIGHT AT 16-20 WEEKS) WITH A BROAD BREAST.

      WELL-FLAVOURED, WHITE FLESH WITH A JUICY, SUCCULENT TEXTURE. THERE ARE SEVERAL VARIETIES DISTINGUISHED BY THE COLOUR OF THEIR PLUMAGE, WITH PALE FEATHERS GENERALLY BEING FAVOURED IN THE LAST 100 YEARS.

      HISTORY:

      The history of poultry—for meat or for eggs—is not especially long or glorious in Britain. It was a matter of the barn-door fowl and the farmer’s wife tending a small flock, with little specialization or arcane skill. Cookery books often contained instruction on fattening or cramming, but the almost sacerdotal tending of birds for the table undertaken in France or Belgium was not at first widespread in this country. The agriculturalist William Marshall (1796) noticed that none of the poultry of Devon was shut up at night or in any way confined so as to harvest the egg crop. At that time, the district around Berwick-upon-Tweed (Northumbria) was an important source of eggs for the London market. Scottish routines for extending the laying day were more advanced than those of the South-West. Indeed, it was only at the beginning of the twentieth century that a market for ‘fresh-laid’ eggs was identifiable in any way. More than 2 billion eggs were imported into Britain in the year 1900, some from as far away as Eastern Europe—hardly fresh.

      There was no great distinction between breeds of British chicken until the nineteenth century and most of those that were distinguished were of foreign origin. Hence, the Poland was Dutch and the Cochin was from Shanghai, to name two that commanded remarkable prices for their ornamental value. Two varieties represented indigenous English stock: Indian Game and the Dorking. The Dorking fowl was unique in having 5 toes. Its flesh was white, and it was the most famous table bird produced for the London market. There were other Surrey varieties, all related (but none having the extra toes), and this is indication enough that the existence of a large market stimulated the development of breeds specific to its requirements. At the first Poultry Breeders’ Show, held in London in 1845, there were classes for Dorkings, Surrey, Kent and Old Sussex fowls.

      The Dorking’s origins have been pushed back to the time of the Roman occupation, in myth at least. The Roman agricultural writer Columella did indeed give a description of a five-toed bird which closely resembles it in colour and form. A thousand years later, the early history of the race and its place of origin were still in dispute between the poultrymen of Sussex and Surrey: each county claiming to be the motherland. The facts have never been capable of resolution and the likelihood is a common source for most South-Eastern birds. As London spread over the Surrey hills, so the rearing and fattening of fowl extended towards the county of Sussex, particularly the area around Heathfield. There arose a Sussex system of cramming, with oats ground between millstones tooled for the purpose, mixed with hog’s grease, sugar and milk—this survived until 1939-45. Not all the birds so fattened were of Dorking, Surrey or Sussex descent. Many were imported from Ireland for finishing closer to the point of sale. The fatteners also surgically caponized some of their СКАЧАТЬ