Now that we in the US are coming to the end of our summer holidays and Labour day {there is a U in it!} is quickly approaching, I am looking back on some pictures I took a few summers ago when we took a trip to Sunny Birmingham {well it was sunny on that day} and Wales.
I have to say that in England and Wales I was sad to see the demise of the privately owned pub.
All the pubs that used to have dodgy sandwiches, pork scratchings or nothing at all have been replaced by chains such as Marstons or Witherspoons where the character of the old places has been somewhat diluted.
Some of the lager iconic pubs are now McDonalds, there is something inherently wrong with this!
This has come as a blessing to some people as you can get pretty average, relatively cheap meals in them but to me they all seemed the same, although I have to admit they were a God-send when traveling with a 2 year old as they are kid friendly.
Long gone are the days when the wife and I used to choose a place to eat because they had a good selection of wines by the glass, now we choose the ones that supply crayons and colouring books!
We stayed with my mom in Chelmsley Wood, a suburb of Birmingham, and she was doing our heads in {like Irish moms do} so we decided to take a trip to wales for a couple of days to get away from her.
Mom died a couple of months ago in May.
I was back in Birmingham for the funeral, I never made it in time to say goodbye, we didn't think it was that serious, she would always be around, right?
I booked a flight on the Thursday when my sisters called me to say that she was sick for the following Monday but due to some sodding ash cloud over Iceland the flight was delayed until the Tuesday and by then mom had gone.
I felt like I should have got there sooner, that I had wasted time when I was over in the summer, I thought that it was the doctors fault that my mom could die of pneumonia in the sodding spring! It was the NHS, it was Blair/Gorden but I know all of these thoughts are irrational. So I try to focus on the good things like she packed us a superb picnic when we went to Wales, we had chicken drumsticks, pork pie, lashings of ginger beer and scallion and tomato sandwiches {my favourite}
We ate it on the rickety old train that we got on as we changed from New Street to Wolverhampton {we are such glamorous European travellers!} to the place with not enough consonants!
Aberystwyth, in the west coast of Wales is a town nestled between three hills and two beaches, and hosts some castle ruins, a pier and a harbor. The surrounding hills hold the visible remains of an Iron Age fort and also a monument to Wellington and once climbed offer stunning views of Cardigan Bay.{or so it says in the brochure}
It was here that my wife had her first taste of Faggots. Now not necessary a Welsh dish per say as my mom gave us Faggots in the Midlands and I believe most people had a taste of Mr. Brains Faggots before they had hit their teens, but my wife thought that this was a dish inspired and named after a gay man!
Classic dishes which stiffened the backbone and stiff upper lip of Britain in days gone by are I believe vanishing from the nation's larder, dishes like Faggots and Peas, Jugged hare, brawn and junket are unknown to the overwhelming majority of under-25s, who also shudder when confronted with many of the recipes' down-to-earth ingredients.
Increasing prosperity is tending to drive offal from young people's kitchens along with ingredients such as haddocks' heads and scrag end of neck. The runaway success of international cuisine, from pizza to Thai curries, has also eroded the appeal of pigs' cheeks in brine and boiled calf's foot which date from periods of austerity.
“Tis a shame I tell ya, pretty soon the whole world will be run by these chains and conglomerates and we will have lost some of the things that make traveling to different places unique.
Well before we loose it completely, let’s make some Faggots.
FAGGOTS WITH ONION GRAVY
INGREDIENTS
1oz unsalted butter
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
6oz minced pigs' liver
2 lamb or pigs' heart, trimmed and cut into chunks
1lb belly of pork, trimmed and rind removed
½ tsp mace
4tbsp freshly chopped chives
1 tsp freshly chopped sage
1 egg, beaten
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4oz fresh white bread crumbs
25g/1oz beef dripping or 3 tbsp olive oil
For the gravy
4 red onions, peeled and each onion cut into 8 wedges
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tbsp olive oil
1½pt fresh beef stock
½ pint red wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
METHOD
Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the onions. Cook until soft and transparent. Cool slightly
Place the belly pork onto a chopping board and cut into portions.
Place the minced pigs' liver into a large glass bowl and place under the blade of a mincer. Using a fine blade of a mincer, mince the pork belly and lambs heart directly into the bowl with the pig s liver. If you do not have a mincer at home ask your butcher to mince all your meat for you.
Add the cooled chopped onions, mace, chives, sage, beaten egg and salt and pepper. Stir in the breadcrumbs.
Using your hands shape the mixture into 12 patties. Place on a plate and chill for about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 400F .For the gravy:
Place the onion wedges into a large roasting pan or ovenproof dish. Add the thyme and drizzle over the olive oil. Place in the oven and roast uncovered for 40 minutes until the onions are caramelized.
Meanwhile heat the dripping or olive oil in a large frying pan. Fry the faggots until golden brown on both sides.
Place the stock and wine in a small saucepan, bring to the boil and reduce by a third.
Remove the roasted onions from the oven and lay the faggots on top. Pour over the gravy liqueur. Reduce the oven temperature to350F and cook the faggots for 40 minutes.
Place two to three faggots onto a plate. Top with a spoonful of the onions and pour over the gravy. Serve the faggots with mushy peas and mashed potatoes.
AND FINALLY…
I went to the butchers the other day to buy some beef. As I was there, he cut two slices of prime topside and hung them from a couple of hooks above his counter. He said to me, "I'll put £10 of my money against £10 of yours that you can't jump up and grab these two bits of beef at the same time."
I said, "I'm not taking that bet, the steaks are too high."
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