The Land of History, Music and Food - Lancashire

A historic county in the north west region of England, Lancashire has been one of the favorite holiday destinations of most of the tourists visiting England. People living in nearby areas even visit this place for a weekend getaway. The people who would love this place the most are the historians and lovers of history as well as the crazy foodies and yes, not to forget the music lovers too. Carrying forward a rich legacy and national traditional of balladry which also includes Border Ballad, the finest of all as well as that of lot of folk songs is Lancashire. Even classical music holds a lot of importance and is a part of the vibrant culture of this beautiful town. No wonder, many internationally and nationally renowned singers like Lita Roza, Billy Fury, Frankie Vaughan to name a few, belong to this melodious place. Now, people of this place are avid music lovers but it does not mean that sport is not their cup of tea. Visit this place and you will find people playing soccer, rugby, archery, cricket and more. Here is a piece of information in case you aren’t aware, James Anderson, member of the England’s international cricket team belongs to Lancashire.

But, above everything else, what’s magnetic about this stunning place is the traditional cuisine which has a variety of recipes which are amazingly delicious and have with ruling the hearts of people living in Lancashire as well as the visitors. There are a variety of restaurants in Lancashire which serve local traditional recipes made from the farm fresh local ingredients as well as various international recipes. Here is a run down few of the traditional recipe of Lancashire which have been hot favorites for years now and will probably remain too.

Bury Black Pudding – This  recipe has been popular for a long time now ever since the beginning of the 19^th century. More than the main course, this recipe is consumed like a snack much alike fish and chips. This recipe is available in the local markets in its hot boiled form with a dash of malt vinegar and most of the people buy it as a take away. It’s basically made out of oat meal and pig’s blood.

Butter Pie – Yummy as it sounds, this recipe is a hot favorite even today and has a tradition of being served on Fridays because in the earlier days the Roman Catholics of Lancashire avoided meat on this day. The chief ingredients of this recipe are potatoes and onions out of which the pie is made and it is served with beet root, pickled red cabbage, brown or tomato sauce.

Eccless Cakes – Speak about recipe of Lancashire and not mention atleast one of the whole list of cakes they are fond off would be unfair, totally. So, here is one of the first commercially sold cake recipe in Eccless, Lancashire.  Eccless cake, it is a flaky pastry with a shiny top with a filling that includes, spice, sugar and fruits.

Lancashire Cheese – A special mention of this cheese because it is known to be the softest in the family of hard English cheeses’. A specialty when it comes to hard cheese, this cheese is a bit salty with a white crumbly texture.

Cumberland Sausages – This recipe though because of its huge popularity is available through England these days, but it has originated in Cumberland in north Lancashire. It’s chief ingredient is pork sausage which is rough chopped and coiled. The fun part about these sausages is that these are not sold by weight but by length.

Lancashire Hotspot – Last and the best of Lancashire is the traditional casserole dish of Lancashire which is created out of Lamb meat. It is known as hotspot as it is a stew dish which is slow cooked and is very simple to make. Due to the slow cooking procedure, in the earlier times workers wives used to prepare it and keep it in the oven on slow cooking mode and in the evening when all were back from work, the recipe was ready to eat. Smart of them, right? This recipe is so soaked into the hearts of the people that it has become more or less a way of life because even women who were good at making this recipe had increased their chance of getting a better prospect compared to women who were not able to cook this recipe perfectly.

There are many more dishes which are included in the traditional menu of Lancashire Food; the ones mentioned above are just a few select ones. In other words, Lancashire is a treasure trove of savory recipes which if you want to explore, you need to visit this amazing destination.

Carlos Lorence talks about Lancashire food.