Lancashire is a county with a rich culinary heritage, championed by some of the UK's best chefs. Re-invented versions of Lancashire classics can now be found in the most select of establishments - often with a price tag to match! But what of the originals, the stuff that was concocted in ordinary family homes by our mothers and grandmothers and theirs before them? Where did the ingredients come from? How did food relate to the needs of gruelling working lives? And just how many different recipes are there for hotpot? Author Malcolm Greenhalgh has delved into the food of Lancashire, traced its history and old recipes, and gone in search of the best our region has to offer today. What he has found wherever he has been is true passion for our county's food, both past and present. As Lancastrians we are justifiably very proud of our traditional dishes, and of the amazing quality and variety of the local produce available today. "Flavours of Lancashire" is packed with fascinating information, recipes and illustrations, and is a lively, beautifully produced celebration of our county's food heritage.
Table of Contents
Important note vii Temperatures, volumes, weights and cooking ix Introduction 1 A cotton mill-worker's diet 13 A miner's daily routine 15 Salt 17 Water, tea, sugar and ale 19 Oats and wheat, porridge and bread 33 Potatoes 42 Vegetables 51 Fruit 61 Pig and pork 68 Mutton and lamb 77 Cows and milk and beef 83 Wakes week food 96 Poultry and eggs 100 Fish 108 Game 120 Puddings and cakes 132 Places and providers 147
Author Biography
Malcolm Greenhalgh was born in Bolton, raised at Kirkham and Preston, studied biology at Lancaster University, did research on the Ribble estuary for his PhD and lectured up to his fortieth birthday. In the last twenty years he has been a freelance writer specialising on wildlife. He has published about fifteen books, the last - The Wild Salmon (Merlin Unwin Books) - describing the natural history of this fascinating fish. March 2007 sees the publication of a magnum opus, A Guide to the Freshwater Life of Britain and Northern Europe (HarperCollins). Despite his wanderings to foreign coasts, lakes and rivers, Malcolm remains first and foremost a Lancastrian and he is now working on books describing the history and natural history of his home region.
