SPOTTED DICK

Spotted dick is an English boiled suet pudding which contains bits of dried fruit, such as raisins or currants, and is usually served with custard. The earliest Spotted Dick recipe dates back to 1847.

I guess you can imagine why it is called "spotted" and if you can’t I will tell you: it refers to the dried fruits since they look like little spots. Here you can see it:

But I bet what you are wondering most is why it is called dick! Well, I have read many different explanations and one of them was that the word "dick" when applied to puddings was a derivative of the word "dough". This was also the case for the words “duff” and “dog”, as in the “spotted dog” which is a similar pudding using plums rather than currants.
Another explanation is that the word "pudding" became "puddink", then "puddick", and then just "dick".

The word "dick" was also used to refer to a type of cheese. ”Dick” would become "treacle dick" when a sauce called “treacle” was added and when currants or raisins were added, as I have said before, it would become "spotted dick".

Do you think that you would like this pudding? Or would you like to make it just to show your guests a funny named pudding? Whatever reason it is, if you want to try it, it is really easy to make:
Firstly, take a flat sheet of cloth, spread sugar and raisins on it and roll it up. Then you can boil it in a cloth, or steam it, as it was done traditionally, or you can bake it, as it is usually done nowadays.

But if you would like to make it for a serious meeting and you don't want to offer this so-called pudding, you can use the name that it was given by some hospital managers and catering staff: "Spotted Richard", so as not to use its original name which is a dysphemism for male genitalia in the English language.

Also if you are imaginative, you can make it look tasty or even more delicious.

By Clara Jiménez García

SHEPHERDS' PIE

Hi again!
I have found other dish to share with you, it is called « Shepherds ‘ pie ». Probably if someone tells you that is going to eat « Shepherds’s pie, you will think about a pie with the person who cares for the sheep and lambs on the mountain. But not it is the name of the dish that I am going to talk about.
Shepherds’ pie is a traditional British dish consisting on a layer of minced lamb and mashed potatoes coated and optionally a layer of cheese. Normally it is cooked with minced lamb, hence « Shepherd », although a high number of people prefer veal meat.

There are some variants of the « Shepherd’s pie »:
A « Shepherd’s pie » cooked with veal meat is called « Cottage pie ».
A similar dish made with fish intead of beef and lamb is the “Fisherman’s pie”.
There is also a vegetarian versión that can be done with legumes such as lentils, beans, or something like that, and it is called « Shepherdess’ pie ».

I Know that it seems delicious, so if you want to taste it, you only have to choose the kind of « Pie » that you prefer and cook it. It is very easy.

By María José Gómez Guerra.

CUMBERLAND SAUSAGE

Have you ever tried a "Cumberland Sausage"? If you haven't, you should try it because it is not an usual or ordinary sausage!
Cumberland Sausage is a kind of sausage that is typically from England.
It is very long, up to 50 cm and it is wrapped in a spiral form.
It is cooked with a variety of herbs and spices and it traditionally has neither preservatives nor colourings. It can be served with French fries, peas and fried eggs or with red cabbage.
One big characteristic of this sausage is that is chopped, not mince, that´s why this sausage has a chunky texture.

Its name is due to its origin. Cumberland Sausage is from England, specifically from the north, from a region called Cumbria.
This sausage has been a speciality for more or less 500 years. It keeps on being a speciality but the main ingredient has changed a bit: the meat of the sausage is pork but, few years before, it was a special kind of pork: the Cumberland Pig. It was a local variety of pig, heavier with stronger bones and adapted to the cold weather but it became extinct 50 years ago.

Oh! An interesting fact: In March 2011, Protected Geographical Status was granted to the “Traditional Cumberland Sausage” in order to protect its name.

By: Nuria María Ortiz Sánchez.

BACON ROLY-POLY

What is a bacon roly-poly? It is a traditional English specialty. Ummm. The best of this dish is that it consists of simple ingredients that are self-rising flour, bacon, onions, salt, pepper and shredded suet. Sometimes they add some other ingredients as parsley, mushrooms and leek. The bacon is wrapped in batter and baked. Bacon roly-poly is traditional served with green vegetables, potatoes and gravy or tomato soup, delicious!!!! The batter should be carefully baked and have a browned colour. This dish has a delicious, a little bit spicy taste.

Why it is called “roly-poly”? Because, this word has had a long and varied history in England. In the 17 th.century it mean “rascal”. In the 18 th.century it was applied to various sorts of games involving rolling a ball, and also, apparently with facetious intent, to peas. But by the end of the 19 th.century it had found its current home as the name of a comforting sweet suet pudding with a jam filling. Then the jam was replaced by fresh bacon as an alternative to the sweet ones.

Published by Group 5

JAM ROLY-POLY

... is a Victorian British dessert invented in the early 19th century, and also known as Shirt-Sleeve Pudding, because it was often steamed or boiled in an old shirt-sleeve, a replacement muslin cloth for the poor (also, because of this, another nickname for the pudding was Dead-Man’s Arm).

It is very simple and delicious winter pudding, ideal served with classic English custard. But you can make your own variations with strawberry jam or even lemond curd.

Steamed or boiled are the most traditional ways to cook a Victorian Roly-Poly Pudding, (because of the suet) while oven baked has become a good, quick modern alternative, which also gives the pudding a thick crunchy sugar glaze. This recipe follows the traditional steam/boil method, if you would like to bake the pudding in the oven then see this very similar modern recipe for Jam Roly Poly. It is essential that you make your own real vanilla custard to go with this Jam Roly Poly Recipe, you want everything perfect for this Queen of British puddings. Note: you can also try making Spotted Dick pudding, which also uses a similar cooking method.

This recipe is directly taken from Mrs Beeton’s Roly-Poly Jam Pudding, published in her book of 1861 called, ‘Book Of Household Management’. This book became the essential guide to running a Victorian household, with advice on fashion, childcare, animal husbandry, poisons, the management of servants, science, religion, and industrialism. Of the 1,112 pages, over 900 contained recipes, many of which still inspire cooks today. It ran for many editions, being expanded each time, and this Roly Poly recipe always remained within it, and as a favourite recipe it was much copied in other recipe books of the day.

Recipe Ingredients:

350g plain flour (sifted)
1/2 tsp sea salt
150g shredded suet
70g unsalted butter melted
100ml water or milk to bind (the amount of water needed to bind will vary)
100g strawberry or raspberry jam, warmed, (use home-made Raspberry Jam or Strawberry Jam).
a little milk, for brushing

Method

Pre-heat the oven to Gas 6, 200 centigrade. Start by sifting the flour into a bowl with the salt. Add the suet and enough water to create a soft but not too sticky dough.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough to a 20 x 30 centimetre rectangle. Brush the rolled out dough with the warmed raspberry jam leaving a 1 centimetre border around the edge. Brush the border with with milk and fold over all around. Roll the rectangle towards you from the short side but not too tightly. Place on a greased baking sheet with the seal side downwards. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle lightly with caster sugar.

Bake in the oven for 35 - 40 minutes until golden.

Before serving, sprinkle with a little more caster sugar and serve cut into generous slices with custard.

But if all these explanations were not enough, here you have an excellent video about how to make the Jam Roly-Poly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8d1BeFweEs

Published by Group 5

JACKET POTATO

Do you like potatoes? If you do, you may realise that you'll never be hungry! Just take a potato an add anything you have in the kitchen!
Jacket Potato is actually called like that because is served normally wearing its “jacket” (peel). It is very typical of England and is normally offered in pubs.

It basically consists on baking a potato, preferably a big one, and just opening it down the middle and adding some ingredients.


You don't what to put?
Okay, the answer is: anything!
Here you have some advice:
-Baked beans
-Tuna mayonnaise
-"Chili con carne"
-Coleslaw (English sauce that normally contains cabbage, carrot, onion and mayonnaise)
-Bacon, cheese, butter, cream cheese, butter
-Salad

If you are a little undecided and you are brave enough, put it all together!

By: Ángel Barbecho Ortega

IRISH YELLOWMAN

Did you treat your Mary-Ann to some dulse and yellowman,
At the Auld Lammas Fair in Ballycastle-o?
(Traditional Irish rhyme)

I can describe myself as a perfect gourmand who loves all related with the Irish world. These two reasons were what made me to think about "yellowman". But obviously, you wonder..., what's that?
Yellowman is a typical Irish candy that you can find in Northern Ireland.
If you want to taste that you should go to the famous “Auld’ Lammas Fair” in Ballycastle, Co. Antrim at the end of August. This is the Ireland’s oldest market fair, and it is also famous for its “yellowman”.

The yellowman is a golden in colour and brittle typical Irish toffee. To make that you need 450g golden syrup (corn syrup), 400g brown sugar (Demerara), 20g butter, 2 tbsp. white wine vinegar and 1heaped tbsp. of bicarbonate of soda.
To cook it: mix the syrup, sugar, butter and vinegar together in a large saucepan. Bring it to the boil and boil until a drop hardens in cold water, carefully stir in the soda. This mixture will foam up when the soda goes in. Pour out on to a lightly greased slab, when cool enough to handle, work the edges into the centre. Wait until the mixture turns to a pale yellow colour. When cold, break it with a clean hammer.

By Esperanza Reyes

SLOOPY JOE

Do you Know what « Sloppy Joe » is ?
When you hear « Sloppy Joe » probably you think about a famous chain of restaurants. They are famous because they prepare American food like pizzas, hamburgers, salads and a high number of desserts.

But not only it is a restaurant, « Sloppy Joe » is an American dish composed by a big ground beef, onions, sweetened tomato sauce (or ketchup) and other seasonings. It is served on a hamburger bun. It could be served hot, but sometimes it could be served cold after improvising on the original burger. It has his origin in the United States.

The name « sloppy » (quasi-liquid) comes from the fact that by eating this, sandwichmeat is often spilled. Sometimes this does not happen because it is served as a « toast » or open sandwich one inside. A Sloppy Joe served without bread is often referred to as a saucy beefeater, a reference to the Beefeaters.
When « Sloppy Joe » is cooked with meat turkey, it is called « Sloppy Tom »
The Original Sloppy Joe Sandwich was invented at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Key West, Florida, or by a cook named Joe at a cafe in Sioux City.
It has different alternatives names : Wimpies, Yip vips, Slushburgers, Barbecues, Hot tamales and Taverns, depending on the place in the United States.

By María José Gómez Guerra.

TOAD IN THE HOLE

Who likes toads? Who wants to eat toads? I don't! The only thing related to toad that I would eat is the typical British dish, "Toad in the hole", only because it has nothing to do with toads at all!
This curious dish is a simple one. It consists of a mixture of onions and grilled sausages all put together in a Yorkshire pudding covered with gravy.
But why is it called "Toad in the Hole"? There are different theories about this, but nothing is certain. One theory is that it resembles a toad sticking its head out of a hole, although this can be hard to see sometimes!

Another interesting thing about this dish is that it has changed a little through time, it has been called different names, like "Frog in the Hole", or made with a different kind of meat other than sausage. A similar recipe was invented before, called "Pigeons in a Hole", which consisted of pigeons cooked in a Yorkshire pudding.
If you want to try this, just put a pan into the oven and heat it for 15 minutes, then add sausages and batter and cook them for half an hour. Place it into the dish while heated. Serve it warm with vegetables, mash potatoes and covered with onion gravy, it will taste great!
This is the perfect dish to ask for in a restaurant if you are going to England. Or the ideal dish, which can be cooked quickly, for guests. And if you are imaginative, you can make it different ways, or including something else, like baked beans. They will love it!
Here you have different pictures, but careful! You will get hungry! It looks delicious!

Clara Jiménez García