User:Mammal4/sandbox/Cuisine of Cornwall

Cornwall has a strong gastronomic heritage. Although simmilar to the cuisine of other parts of the British Isles, Cornwall has a unique culinary identity including many distinct local dishes, beverages and artisan food products. Central to Cornish cooking is the use of fresh seafood, of which these is a ready supply from local fishing grounds, pork, potatoes and brassica, which grow well in the damp climate, and dairy produce, including clotted cream. Because of the availability of fresh local ingredients, particularly fish, Cornwall is a popular with professional chefs including Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver.

The traditional cuisine of Cornwall is heavily shaped by the regions temperate climate and geography.

Seafood
Surrounded on three sides by the sea amid fertile fishing grounds, Cornwall has a natural abundance of readily available fresh seafood. Newlynin Penwith is the largest fishing port in the UK by value of fish landed. . Television chef Rick Stein has long operated a fish restaurant in Padstow for this reason, and Jamie Oliver recently chose to open his second restaurant, Fifteen, in Newquay. Common fish used include John Dory, Megrim sole, Mackerel, Sea bass and Sardines and there is also a significant ammout of Crab fishing in the region. Megrim Sole and John Dory are particularly abundant in Cornish waters and often seen in local restaurants, but rarely seen in other parts of the UK. Other fish, such as Cod and Plaice are less common in these fishing grounds and less often seen in traditional Cornish cooking. In 2007 it was claimed in a new book by Mark Hix, chef director at the Ivy, that the popular British dish and cultural icon Fish and chips was actually first concieved and served in Cornwall. Mr Hix claims a Cornishman by the name Joseph Malins first served fried fish with chipped potatoes as a young man in Cornwall. He later moved to London in the mid-19th century and started a thriving business. . Another famous local fish dish is Stargazy pie, a mixed fish, egg and potato pie with protruding fish heads and tails which stick through the pasty crust, as though gazing at the stars. The pie is cooked as part of traditional celebrations of the Tom Bawcocks Eve festival, held on the 23rd of December in Mousehole. The festival is held in celebration and memorial of the efforts of Mousehole resident Tom Bawcock to lift a famine from the village.

Cornish Sardines


Sardines and Pilchards (larger more mature sardines), or Scrowlers as they are known locally, have been caught in great numbers off the Cornish coast and processed since at least 1555, when exports were first recorded and are an important component of traditional local cooking. Historically pilchards were preserved by salted and pressing, and sold across Europe, with the bulk going to the countires of the Mediteranian, where these fish formed an important part of local rustic cuisine, adding flavour to the staple diet of pasta or polenta. The fish have an attractive silvery, blue skin and a rich, oily flesh. Used fresh they can be grilled, often over an open fire, but can also be preserved in oil and used in cooking in a simmilar fashion to pickled anchovy fillets. The Cornish sardine landing season lasts from late June until the following February The readly availability of fresh and frozen fish in the latter half of the twentieth century had, by 1995, lead to a slump in pilchard consumption and only one plant continued to pack salt pilchards in Cornwall. Despite healthy fish stocks of 600,000 tonnes, less than 7 tonnes per year were being landed from Cornish boats. This was in part due to public perception of the pilchard, The name being synonomous with post war frugality, summing up images of tins and tomato sauce. In 1997, after extensive market research, the fish were re-branded as Cornish Sardines. Finer nets were used to land catches, which avoided damage to the fish and allowed them to be sold as whole fish, rather than only being fit for canning. Cornish sardines were marketed as a premium product, with links to mediteranian cuisine, and new recipes to reflect this were developed in conjuction with Marks and Spencer’s and launched in store later that year. This has proven very successful, and catches have subsequently risen to around 1500 tonnes due to increased demand. Local fisheries have recently applied for Protected designation of origin status to be applied to Cornish sardines, meaning that fish marketed under this name can only be caught in Cornish waters and processed in Cornwall .The Cornish Sardine Management Association” (CSMA) was also recently established in order to further protect and promote Cornish Sardines as a foodstuff

Rick Stein
For many Christopher Richard (Rick) Stein OBE (born January 4 1947) personifies seafood cookery in Cornwall. A British chef, restaurateur and television presenter, Stein has worked for many years to promote local produce and cooking and was awarded the OBE in the 2003 New Year Honours list for services to tourism in Cornwall. Stein opened his first business in Padstow in 1974 specialising in fish cookery. He now operates three restaurants, a bistro, a cafe, a seafood delicatessen, patisserie shop, a gift shop and a cookery school. His impact on the local economy of Padstow is such that it has been nicknamed "Padstein". Stein has also become a popular tv chef, and has written and presented a number of cookery series, broadcast by the BBC, which include Rick Stein's Taste of the Sea, Fruits of the Sea, Seafood Odyssey, Fresh Food and Seafood Lovers' Guide. Each series has been accompanied by a book covering the recipes demonstrated in the show, and his book English Seafood Cookery won the Glenfiddich Award for Food Book of the Year in 1989.

Meaderies
Meaderies are the name given to a type of restaurants found in Cornwall that often serving mead as an accompaniment to the meal. Historically, a meadery was where working class Cornish people could go out for a cheap meal, but these days they are more akin to Cornish theme restaurants and are aimed heavily at the tourist market. The decor might typically comprise of a hall with wooden flooring, heavy wooden tables, lit by candlelight with white-painted granite walls and food served by people in historical peasant dress, as an attempt to provide an historical Cornish ambience. Although adverised as serving traditional Cornish cooking, in reality what is seen is more akin to general fried pub food found across the region and typically includes scampi and other fish, chicken or pasties, often served with chips in a basket. Food is consumed without cutlery, and napkins and wash bowls containing water and lemon are used to clean grease from the fingers after the meal.

Cornish pasties
Cornwall is perhaps best known for its pasties, a savoury dish made from pastry containing suet. Those seen today most commonly contain a filling of beef steak, onion, potato and swede (although locally swede is known as turnip) with salt and white pepper, but historically pasties had a variety of different fillings, including the licky pasty, comprised mostly of leeks, and the herb pasty, which contained watercress, parsley, and shallots. Pasties are often locally referred to as oggies. Historically, pasties were also often made with sweet fillings such as jam, apple and blackberry, plums or cherries.

Cornish miner migrants helped to spread pasties into the rest of the world, in the 19th century. As tin mining in Cornwall began to fail, miners brought their expertise and traditions to new mining regions. As a result, pasties can be found in :


 * Tempe, Arizona at the Cornish Pasty Co;
 * Nevada County, California;
 * Butte, Montana and Anaconda, Montana;
 * The slate belt mining region of eastern Pennsylvania, including the towns of Bangor, East Bangor, Pen Argyl and Wind Gap where many churches to this day hold "pastie suppers" or sell the items as a means of making money for their parishes.
 * parts of Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and the Iron Range of northern Minnesota.

Campaigners have long argued that Cornish pasties should be covered by the European protected designation of origin scheme, and a application for this protected status is currently being considered by the European Union {ref}

Cheeses
As might be expected from a strong dairying region, Cornwall produces several different types of cheese. The most famous Cornish cheese is probably Yarg, a semi-hard cow's milk cheese made to an original 13th century recipe. The cheese is distinctive in that it is wrapped in nettle leaves before being left to mature, which form an edible rind. The texture varies from creamy and soft immediately under the nettle coating to a Caerphilly cheese-like crumbly texture in the middle. Another version of the cheese called Cornish Wild Garlic Yarg, is covered with wild garlic leaves.Although not mass produced, Yarg Cheese is sold throughout the world and has many fans. Currently, the cheese is produced by Lynher Dairies on Netherton farm near Bodmin Moor.

Gevrik is a soft, full-fat goat's milk cheese produced in Trevarrion on the north Cornish coast. The name means "little goat" in Cornish. Its flavour has been described as "fresh [and] mellow" or "clean, fresh [and] nutty".

Clotted Cream
The wet climate and relatively poor soil of Cornwall make it unsuitable for growing many arable crops. However, it is ideal for growing the rich grass required for dairying, leading to the production of Cornwall's other famous export, Cornish clotted cream. This forms the basis for many local specialities including Cornish fudge, Cornish ice cream, and other traditional recipes such as thunder and lightning (bread with clotted cream and treacle), and burnt cream. Cornish clotted cream is protected under EU law and cannot be made anywhere else. True Cornish clotted cream has a minimum fat content of 55% and must be made from unpasteurised milk or the clots will not form.

Baking
Local desserts include Saffron Cake,

Cornish Heavy (Hevva) Cake,

Heavy cake (Cornish: Hevva) cake is a cake made from flour, lard, butter, milk, sugar and raisins that originated in Cornwall.

Its name is derived from the Pilchard industry in Cornwall prior to the 20th century when a 'huer' (cliff top lookout) helped locate shoals of fish. The huer would shout 'Hevva!, Hevva!' to alert the boats to the location of the pilchard shoals. Cornish tradition states that Hevva cake was baked by the huers on their return to their homes, the cake being ready by the time the crews returned to land.

It is made by crumbling all of the dry mixture together, then adding the sultanas and mixing to a dough with milk. It is then rolled to a thickness of about 1/2", and a criss-cross pattern is scored across the top. This pattern signifies the nets used by the fishermen.

Cornish fairing biscuits, sweet spiced biscuits with ginger and mixed spice. Traditionally sold at Cornish fairs (hence the name) and often bought for a loved one as a sweet treat.

Figgy 'obbin is a traditional Cornish pastry containing suet and sweetened with raisins, which are often referred to as figs in Cornwall

Whortleberry pie. Cornish Great Cake, whose recipe dates from 1763. A large (great) cake containing currants, orange peel and rose water traditionally made for special occassions

Helston pudding, a traditional steamed pudding in the same tradition as other British puddings such as Spotted dick, which is distinctive by its use of ground rice

CLOTTED CREAM RECIPES Cornish Clotted Cream Recipe Cream Teas Recipe Fried Eggs with Clotted Cream Recipe Junket with Clotted Cream Recipe

GENERAL CORNISH RECIPES A Cake from Penzance Recipe Blackberry Drink Recipe Cornish Apple Pie Cornish Bacon & Egg Pie Cornish Baked Herring Cornish Black Cake Recipe Cornish Burnt Cream Recipe Cornish Cabbage Broth Recipe Cornish Christmas Pudding Recipe Cornish Easter Cakes Recipe Cornish Fairings Cornish Fish Pie Cornish Fish Soup Cornish Fried Herring Cornish Great Cake Cornish Herby Pie Recipe Cornish Limpets Cornish Marinated Mackerel Cornish Parsley Pie Recipe Cornish Pie Cake Cornish Porter Cake Recipe Cornish Potato Cake Cornish Potato Cake Sweet Cornish Punch Recipe Cornish Roast Bream Cornish Roast Mackerel Cornish Salad Cream Recipe Cornish Sandwiches Recipe Cornish Sausages Recipe Cornish Seedy Bread - A traditional bread flavored with aniseed tasting caraway seeds. The caraway gives the bread a strangely continental taste. Cornish Treacle Tart Dippy Recipe Figgie Hobbin Recipe Fuggan Recipe Ginger Wine Recipe Helston Pudding Recipe Kiddley Broth Recipe Mahogany Drink Recipe Metheglin Recipe Nettle Soup Recipe North Cornish Biscuits Recipe Saffron Cake Recipe - This is also a well known delicacy in Cornwall. Saffron is usually sold in drachms (one eighth of an ounce) and 1/2 drachms (one sixteenth of an ounce) and is very expensive, hence the old Cornish saying "as dear as saffron". It is believed that the Phoenicians brought saffron over with them when they came to trade for tin. As far as I know Cornwall is one of the only places where saffron is used in this way Suck Cream Recipe

Modern cooking
Modern Cornish cooking is a fusion of traditional recipes with other influences from across the UK and further abroad. Here again, the emphasis is on fresh local ingredients, but incorporating other influences. Thai fish recipes, using locally available fish.

Beverages
Brewing in Cornwall is dominated by the St Austell Brewery, which also runs a large number of public houses, although several others including Skinner's and the Blue Anchor Brewery also operate in the area. including a stout, and there is some small scale production of wine, mead, and cider.

Cornish tea
Claridge's is delighted to announce that they are now serving all of the Tregnothnan English Estate teas. Tregothnan is an ancient estate in Cornwall which was established in 1335 and is still owned today by the same family.

Traditional Cornish recipes
Historically central to the Cornish diet was the idea of food thrift. Recipes such as limpets and vinegar and kiddly broth, a thin soup made from wild herbs and leftover bacon rinds were both a reaction to the realities of a harsh life for many poor people and a desire to make the best of available local resources, especially where ingredients could be foraged. The ubiquitous Cornish pig also featured very heavily in the diet of many people, as many families could afford to keep a pig taking a nose to tail approach to pork butchery, as testified by the less than appetising sounding ###pie, a stew made of pig intestines.