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Glamorgan Sausages

While normal sausages are made with meat, these are made mainly from grated cheese mixed with breadcrumbs, herbs and chopped leeks or onions. The recipe varies from place to place, and even from day to day, so they are sometimes quite spicy, and sometimes not. Use egg yolk to bind the mixture and roll into small sausages. The "skin" is made by rolling in flour, dipping in egg white and then rolling in breadcrumbs. Glamorgan Sausages are usually served with potatoes.

Welsh Cakes

Also known as bakestones. Ingredients: 1lb self-raising flour. 8oz buttor or good quality margarine 8oz granulated sugar, and a small amount of caster sugar to serve 8oz currants Teaspoon of mixed spice Half teaspoon salt 2 large eggs and a drop of milk Rub the fat and flour together until crumbly and then add all the other ingredients except the eggs and milk. Mix thoroughly, and then add the eggs. Add the milk slowly while mixing, to get the right consistency. The mix should not be too sticky as it is difficult to roll. Roll out - not too thin, a bit less than a quarter of an inch - and cut into rounds about 2" across. Cook on a griddle or hot plate and turn once when brown. Dust with a little caster sugar to serve.

Salt Duck
A large, fat duck is rubbed thoroughly inside and out with dry salt and left for 2 or 3 days in a cool place. It is then rinsed carefully, placed in a pot and covered with stock. Cooking time is at least 2 hours, until cooked through. Salt Duck is often served with onion sauce.

Bara Claddu

Pronounced "Barra Clathee". Ingredients: 8oz plain flour. a small amount of baking powder 8oz granulated sugar 8oz dried mixed fruit (raisins and currants) Teaspoon of mixed spice A beaten egg A drop of milk Preheat the oven to 160 Centigrade (moderate oven). Mix all the dry ingredients and then add the beaten egg. Add a little milk and mix well to get the consistency right (damp but not wet, similar to a cake mix). Put the mix into a greased loaf tin and bake for about an hour. The result is like any good fruit cake - moist inside, but not wet. Cool and slice to serve, well buttered.

Cawl

This is simply a stew or country soup made of meat and vegetables, all cooked together in a large pot or cauldron. Needless to say, the ingredients traditionally depend on what is in season and what meat is handy; bacon and mutton were most common originally. Herbs and seasoning is entirely according to the whim of the cook (cooks' whims are one of the most important ingredients in traditional cooking). Mutton is not easy to get hold of these days - everybody wants lamb, but mutton had better flavour and needed a lot of cooking. Potatoes, leeks and onions were most commonly used for vegetables.

Bara Brith
Ingredients: 1lb plain flour. a pinch of salt 4oz granulated sugar 4oz currants 4oz sultanas 4oz large raisins, stoned 4oz lard A little chopped candied peel Half an ounce of baker's yeast An egg Preheat the oven to 160 Centigrade (moderate oven). Mix all the dry ingredients and then mix in the egg. Put the mix into a greased baking tin and bake for about an hour, until golden brown on top.

Welsh Faggots
These differ from "normal" faggots by using oatmeal instead of breadcrumbs. Pieces of apple and liver were commonly used, and the result served with apple sauce.

Welsh Rarebit

Ingredients: 4oz grated hard cheese 3 tablespoons of milk A little mustard A tomato (or two, as you prefer) A thick slice of toast (whatever sort of bread you prefer) Mix the cheese, milk and mustard and spread thickly over the toast. Make sure the edges are covered, so the bread does not burn. Cook under a hot grill until bubbling and starting to brown. Slice the tomato and put a couple of slices on top, and re-heat briefly. Serve with the other tomato slices. NOTE: There is an English abomination of this recipe in which beer is used. If you must use beer, keep it for washing your hair!

Laver Bread

Pronounced "Larver", laver is an edible seaweed commonly found on the south west coast of Wales (around Swansea). Laver has to be prepared at great length by washing many times, and boiled for up to 5 hours and drained to form a gelatinous puree. It is mixed with fine oatmeal, formed into small cakes and fried in bacon fat. Laver Bread is often served with bacon. Of course, in olden times, and even now in the countryside, there was a hot cooking "range" constantly available, so extended cooking times for things like laver and mutton were no problem. Nowadays it is less convenient. I have no idea why it is called "bread"!

Laver Sauce
This is particulary good with shellfish and lobster. The laver has to be prepared as for Laver Bread, and is then heated and whisked with orange juice, butter and mutton (or lamb) stock or cream. Each cook had their own favourite quantities - it is something you play with until you get the flavour and texture you like.

Chicken, Leek and Broccoli Casserole

There's a proper Welsh name for this, but in all the excitement I've forgotten it! Ingredients: 4 chicken breasts 1lb fresh leeks 1lb broccoli Half a pint of chicken stock (or use a tin of soup) Breadcrumbs (a bit more than a quarter of a pint) Preheat the oven to 160 Centigrade (moderate oven). Cook the chicken separately in a microwave oven, and cut into bite-sized pieces. Part cook the leeks and broccoli (about 5 mins in the stock or soup in a casserole dish on a hotplate), and then add the chicken. Season to taste, and cover with breadcrumbs. Cover and place in a moderate oven for about an hour. Remove from the oven, remove the cover, and place under a hot grill until brown. Serve straight from the casserole dish

Crempog

These are Welsh pancakes. They are made in very much the same way as "ordinary" pancakes, except that buttermilk is traditionally used. They are made not too thin and served hot and buttered. They can also be spread with meat or fish fillings and covered to make a savoury sandwich. The fillings are whatever cook had handy, or the household liked most. Savoury Crempog, hot and fresh, make an excellent starter.

http://www.grossi.co.uk/wales/recipe.htm
Updated: 27/9/99