a recipe. The taste for it has survived in the South West of Britain, where its manufacture is associated with Bristol. This town carried on an important trade with both the West Indies and the wine- and brandy-producing areas of France and Spain. Rum or cognac were vital ingredients for the drink. The Bristol company that now produces it, J.R. Phillips, makes several other alcoholic cordials, including lovage, peppermint and aniseed.
TECHNIQUE:
The commercial recipe and method are trade secrets, but published recipes state that either brandy or rum can be used as a base. Lemon and orange peel are mixed with the liquor and fresh lemon juice. The mixture is infused for several weeks, it is then sweetened with syrup, strained and bottled.
REGION OF PRODUCTION:
SOUTH WEST ENGLAND.
Sparkling Cider
DESCRIPTION:
THIS CIDER HAS A STRONG APPLE BOUQUET, WITH THE DRY, SPICY FLAVOUR TYPICAL OF ENGLISH CIDERS. IT IS NORMALLY 5-8 PER CENT ALCOHOL BY VOLUME.
HISTORY:
Sparkling cider was made in Herefordshire in the 1600s. It had been made possible by the development of glass bottles strong enough to withstand the secondary fermentation. Their invention is credited to Sir Kenelm Digby, a man with a deep interest in the arts of brewing and fermenting, whose collection of recipes for food and especially meads, metheglins and other drinks was posthumously published as The Closet of … Sir Kenelme Digbie, Kt., Opened (1669). This is a charming myth, for he was a charming man, but the more likely explanation is that Lord Scudamore, whose family was foremost in improving varieties of apples suitable for cider, began to bottle and lay down cider in the reign of Charles I (Davies, 1993). Glass strong enough to hold the explosive liquid was developed as a result of hotter-burning coal furnaces being used by the glassworkers when the use of charcoal was curtailed after 1615. By the end of the century, there was such a trade with London in bottled cider (sent down the Thames from Lechlade) that 5 or 6 glasshouses had been built in the area to supply the bottles.
The tradition suffered in the eighteenth century when cider became the drink of the poor but was revived towards the end of the reign of Queen Victoria. In 1895, Law’s Grocer’s Manual stated that, ‘Champagne cider is, or should be, the best mellow or sweet cider bottled before it has fermented or worked much … it is quite frequently made by charging common cider that is deficient in spirit and sparkle with carbonic acid gas.’ Over the last century, both secondary fermentation and carbon dioxide have been used by various manufacturers to give sparkling ciders. Since the late 1970s, an increasing interest in the art of making fine cider has led several specialists to experiment once more with sparkling ciders made by secondary fermentation. At least 7 makers produce a naturally sparkling cider.
TECHNIQUE:
A cider produced by the standard English method is used. After initial fermentation, it is allowed to undergo a secondary fermentation in the bottle. A few producers clear the cider by allowing the yeast to settle in the necks of the bottles, freezing them and disgorging it before corking. Others leave the yeast in the bottom of the bottle.
Much commercially produced cider is sparkling but it is carbonated.
REGION OF PRODUCTION:
SOUTH WEST ENGLAND.
Original Urchfont Chilli Mustard
DESCRIPTION:
THIS GRAIN MUSTARD IS DARK YELLOW-ORANGE, WITH CRUSHED YELLOW MUSTARD SEEDS VISIBLE AND SPECKS OF RED AND DARK BROWN. ITS TASTE IS ACID, MILD MUSTARD WITH A POWERFUL CHILLI KICK.
HISTORY:
Originally, all mustard must have been fairly coarsely ground. It was only in the early 1700s that the fine, sieved flour now thought of as English mustard became widely known. During the late 1960s, there was a general revival of interest in early recipes and methods for producing various foods. This, combined with a desire to make interesting condiments for meat, led to the invention in 1970 by the Wiltshire Tracklement Company of a whole-grain, chilli-spiced mustard called Urchfont (originally made in Urchfont, Wiltshire). It was the first whole-grain mustard to be marketed in England for many years. Its success led to an expansion of the company’s range and its emulation by other small and larger concerns.
TECHNIQUE:
Locally-grown mustard seeds are used. They are blended, ground and mixed and left to stand in drums for up to 14 days (depending on the weather, the colder it is, the longer the process takes). Ingredients: mustard, cider and wine vinegars, black peppercorns, allspice, chillies.
REGION OF PRODUCTION:
SOUTH WEST ENGLAND, WILTSHIRE.
Tewkesbury Mustard
DESCRIPTION:
THE COLOUR IS DULL OCHRE, WITH COARSELY CRUSHED MUSTARD SEED AND HUSKS VISIBLE.
FLAVOUR IS SHARP WITH A SWEET, DISTINCT HORSERADISH AFTERTASTE.
HISTORY:
Tewkesbury Mustard was famous in the 1500s, so famous that it was a byword for a particular kind of stupidity - ‘His wit’s as thick as Tewkesbury Mustard!’ exclaimed Sir John Falstaff in Henry IV. The mustard seed was ground in a mortar or crushed with a cannon ball, sifted, combined with an infusion of horseradish, well mixed for at least an hour, made into balls and dried. It was sold and kept until reconstituted with various substances - vinegar, verjuice, cider and red wine are all quoted. No trace of this early industry has remained in Tewkesbury; only the name recalls the association (Man and Weir, 1988).
A habit of mixing horseradish and mustard persisted. References can be found in a recipe by John Nott (1726), and Eliza Acton (1845) gave instructions for making ‘Tartar Mustard’, a mixture of mustard powder, horseradish vinegar and chilli vinegar. These compounds were made at home, instead of being dried and marketed. Increased interest in the production of speciality foods by small independent producers led to the revival of Tewkesbury mustard in the late twentieth century.
TECHNIQUE:
The ingredients are mustard seed, horseradish root, wine vinegar and acetic acid. The spices are ground, mixed to a paste with the other ingredients and allowed to mature for several days before bottling.
REGION OF PRODUCTION:
WEST ENGLAND.
***
Also produced in South West England
CAERPHILLY CHEESE (P. 186)
CHITTERLINGS (P. 68)
CIDER BRANDY (P. 181)
PERRY (P. 182)
SPICED BEEF (P. 154)
Also produced in South England
BATH CHAPS (P. 16)
Jersey Royal Potato
DESCRIPTION:
JERSEY ROYALS ARE SMALL, KIDNEY-SHAPED POTATOES (THEY ARE ALSO CALLED INTERNATIONAL KIDNEYS) WITH A THIN WHITE SKIN AND CREAMY WHITE FLESH; THEY ARE GRADED