Gloucestershire Food Heroes
Double Gloucester, Gloucester: In a country that produces so many wonderful traditional cheeses, it is tragic that for many Britons cheese means plastic wrapped industrially produced cheddar . Once the timid venture beyond that ghetto, it is still sad that they may be faced with equally anodyne... More
Gloucester elvers, Gloucester: The elver is a remarkable creature, spawned in the Sargasso Sea but returning 2,000 miles and more to the rivers and streams of Europe in a journey that can take three years. It deserves respect, but sadly stocks have diminished enormously over the last three or four decades, now being perhaps 10 per cent of the levels after Alfred and the cakes he left to burn. They are simple to make, use pretty basic ingredients, and are filling. When times are good they make a good carrier for other flavour... More
Gloucestershire Squab Pie, Cirencester: Contrary to what might be expected, Squab pie (at least in Gloucester and its environs) does not involve the use of tender young pigeons, but rather lamb as the meat ingredient. This is a dish that has elements of the medieval about it - spices, the use of fruit with ... More
Old Spot Pork, Gloucester: It feels strange advocating the eating of what is an endangered species, but consumption of premium price (and delicious) pork from the Gloucester Old Spot would make it more attractive commercially, and thus it is to be hoped more would be farmed. With fewer than 2,000 pigs globally, of which at least half are in the UK, the Gloucester Old Spot is... More
Oldbury Tarts, Oldbury on Severn: Quite why these little pies made with hot-water pastry are called tarts is not clear. Perhaps just tradition, perhaps because the Gooseberry filling could be a bit sharp on the palate. These are pies that the pie-men of medieval Britain would have recognized as they hawked their wares around the streets or at markets and fairs. It is indeed sti... More
Royal Lamprey Pie, Gloucester: The lamprey is a strange looking fish, or if truth be told it is downright ugly, its jawless mouth a ring of teeth that helps this parasitic creature attach itself to other fish and feed on their blood. In spite of its looks the lamprey has long had royal associations - Henry I... More
Tewkesbury Mustard, Tewkesbury: The origins of Tewkesbury Mustard do not seem to lie in the commercial growing of mustard itself: Yorkshire , Lincolnshire , Cambrid... More
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