What comes to your mind when you think of Wales? Is it an interesting history and Welsh culture? Or is it the language which is thousands of years old? Is it the beautiful landscape, full of rolling hills and magnificent coastal views? Or is it simply the delicious Welsh food?
Until recently, it wasn’t really cool to be Welsh. We’ve always been associated with sheep, farmers, slate, coal, sheep, anti-English, and sheep. However, in came the Cool Cymru movement in the 90s, which boosted the popularity of Welsh bands and other musicians that got a spot on the charts around that time. This includes Stereophonics and Goldie Lookin’ Chain – all of a sudden it was cool to be from Wales!
Does that mean Welsh food is cool?
What culinary delights did this generation of musicians eat whilst living in their Welsh homes? It’s obvious that the cuisine isn’t as popular as that of France, Italy, or India, but the top chefs around Wales are on a mission to change that.
Welsh food was created around the diet of hard workers. Rewind just seventy or eighty years back, where life was rather tough for the average Welsh labourer; farmer, miner, quarrymen and fishermen alike. They ate what they could get their hands on in the wet and wild landscape. The food here is always about being local and seasonal. The traditional produce of Wales has historically been sourced from neighbours, friends and nearby places – way before ‘seasonal’ and ‘local’ were the most overused buzzwords of the century.
So, what food is actually Welsh?
Crockpots are a necessity in Wales, being the creators of hearty, thick stews and soups (known as ‘cawl’ in Welsh). These are made with leftover bits of lamb or mutton in the winter, and whatever veg you had knocking around, maybe even some bacon if you were lucky!
Welsh faggots, Glamorgan sausages (which actually aren’t meaty in the slightest, but made from cheese, onion, and breadcrumbs), Snowdonia pudding (suet and dried fruit) are just a few of the traditional Welsh treats.
Saltmarsh lamb is farmed in the marshes of North West Wales, there is a wide variety of sea marsh plants here the lambs eat, which give the meat its unique flavour. The salt marshes also naturally kill off harmful bacteria in their bodies, meaning not too many chemicals need to be added – providing the meat with a sweeter taste.
We can’t write about Welsh food without mentioning Bara Brith, it’s the famous speckled loaf, filled with dried fruit – just like griddled Welsh cakes that are spread thick with butter.
If you are a seafood lover, there is plenty for you to try too. ‘Teisennau cocos’ is a cockle cake, similar to a pancake. There is also ‘Bara Lawr’ or Lavabread, which is rapidly gaining back its popularity. This is a sort of gloopy, thick and sea-weedy type delicacy which is nothing much like bread despite the name.
At the Manor, we use local produce where we can on our menu and are proud to be within the hills of North Wales. When we open again, if you’re after a taste of Wales, you could choose from our Welsh Lamb Shank, Conwy Valley meats, or the Snowdonia Cheese tasting plate just to name a few.
