Pershore Yellow Egg Plums have greenish-skin with yellowish blushes, with yellowish flesh inside. The tree can pollinate itself. Cooking Tips Good for preserving and cooking with. History Notes Pershore Yellow Egg Plum was found by chance in 1822 growing wild in Tiddesley Woods near Penshore, Worcestershire. It became very popular. It has now largely been…
British Food
Philip Harben
Philip Harben had one of the world’s first televised cooking programmes, starting in 1946 on the BBC. Philip Harben’s ‘Cookery’ Television Programme Historian Tony Currie of BBC Scotland, author of A Concise History of British Television, 1930-2000, writes: “Philip Harben made his first appearance in the programme billed simply as “Cookery” on 12th June 1946….
Pies & Tarts
A pie — or a tart — is an item cooked with a crust. The crust may be on the bottom, or on the top, or both. Typically the crust is made from wheat flour.
Pikelets
In certain regions of England, particularly the Midlands, a Pikelet is another word for crumpet. In Australia and New Zealand, a Pikelet is a very small scone cooked on a griddle, like a very small pancake.
Pimm’s
Pimm’s® is an alcholic drink mix based on herbs and quinine. The base alcohol in it can be gin, vodka or brandy, depending on the version. Pimm’s® Number 1, based on gin, is the most popular. It is 25% alcohol — its alcohol content used to be higher. Because of this, some people like to…
Plum Pudding
Plum pudding is a sweet steamed pudding served for dessert. There are at least three versions — one of which doesn’t actually contain plums!
Plump
Plump is a dish that was eaten by very poor people in Norfolk, England. Leftover bread was soaked in hot water with sugar and butter or dripping.
Plymouth Gin
Traditionally, Plymouth Gin has been considered a gin category on its own, though to taste it you’d really think it another brand under the London Dry category. It is triple-distilled and very aromatic. It has an earthier flavour, owing to an increased amount of angelica and orris root in it to balance the floral elements…
Pomfret Cakes
Pomfret Cakes © Dave Spellman / flickr.com / 2006 / CC BY 2.0 A Pomfret Cake is actually a lozenge, not a cake, traditionally made in Pontrefact, Yorkshire. It’s made from liquorice thickened with flour and sweetened with sugar. The lozenges are stamped with a picture of a castle (actually a castle gate.) The lozenges…
Poor Knights of Windsor
Poor Knights of Windsor is a dish that is very similar to French Toast. Unlike French Toast, however, in making Poor Knights of Windsor you don’t mix the eggs and milk together. Sugar and sherry are stirred into a shallow dish of milk. Egg yolks are used (not whole eggs.) They are beaten and put…
Pope’s Eye
In Scotland, a Pope’s Eye is a beef steak cut from the Round at the top of the leg. Though it’s a pretty tough cut, it is sold for frying or grilling / broiling. See also main entry for “Beef Round.”
Pork Brawn
Pork Brawn (aka Head Cheese) is a meat jelly made from pork. The jelly has small pieces of meat in it. You can think of it as sausage, a jellied meat, a potted meat, or as a cold meat loaf with a lot of wobble to it. (Granted, some people don’t like to think of…
Pork Pies
There are many different culinary traditions in making Pork Pies, such as the Tortière made in Québec, but it’s in England that Pork Pies have been raised to a fine art. The pork pie belt in England stretches through the Midlands from the border with Wales to Nottingham. Well-known Pork Pies in England include those…
Port
Port © Denzil Green Port is a strong, sweet wine. Grapes are fermented, then a grape alcohol (basically, brandy) is added at a certain point to stop the fermenting. This ensures that some sugar remains to make the wine sweet, plus kicks up the alcohol content a bit. The alcohol content of port will be…
Rashers
A Rasher is a British and Australian term for a slice or strip of bacon or ham. The closest thing in appearance in North America is a slice of “Canadian Bacon.” Unless you are getting a rasher of streaky bacon, you can assume that it will have a lot of meat on it, like what…
Red Bartlett Pears
Red Bartlett Pears © Denzil Green Red Bartlett Pears have a traditional pear shape and reddish (sometimes pinkish) skin with yellow speckles. As they ripen, their colour changes from a dark red to a lighter, brighter red. The taste and texture are virtually the same as for Yellow Bartlett Pears, with the only real difference…
Red Herrings
Herring go off very quickly, within 24 hours, and they don’t dry well in the air, as cod do, because they are too oily. Both salting and then smoking them provides double protection to ensure preservation of the fish. This double treatment is used in making red herring. The herring is salted heavily, either directly…
Relish
Relish © Denzil Green A Relish generally used to be a pungent, tangy, chunky pickled condiment served in small dishes, of which you placed a bit at the side of your plate to add zip to a meal, especially anything your mother had cooked. It is both spoonable and spreadable, finely or coarsely chopped, with…
Relish Trays
Relish Trays are tempting platters of small savoury things placed on the table with dinner — pickles, cheeses, raw vegetables. They require so little work to delight the eyes. They occupy guests while you sort out a last minute crisis in the kitchen, and allow you to linger over dinner afterwards. In the 1960s and…
Roast Potatoes
Roast Potatoes are peeled potatoes, whole or halved, that are roasted in hot oil in an oven. The potatoes end up light, fluffy and steaming inside, with a crunchy, golden shell that should, ideally, shatter like glass when you start to cut into it. Roast Potatoes are absolutely required at Christmas dinner in England. The…
Roly-Poly
A Roly-Poly is a dessert. To make a Roly-Poly, a pastry, usually suet-based, is rolled out in rectangular shape. Jam, golden syrup or fruit is then spread generously out on top of it. Then it is rolled up, filling side in, so that the ends look like pinwheels, and bound up in muslin or cheesecloth….
Rose Hips
Rose Hips are the fruit that the rose plant produces. Botanically, roses are related to apple trees. So, if you will, the “hip” is the apple that the rose bush produces. Rose hips are round, and about the size of a cherry (at least, the ones that most people consider worth bothering with are.) When…
Runner Beans
American Green Beans (left) Runner Beans (right) © Denzil Green Runner Beans look like somewhat larger versions of what North Americans know as Green Beans or String Beans. There are a few differences, other than just size. Runner Beans are a perennial plant, whereas Green Beans are annuals. When the Runner Bean seed first starts…
Sally Lunn Cakes
Sally Lunn Cakes are not actually cakes at all. Rather, they are large white plain bread rolls made in and around Bath, England. The bread roll is about as wide as a sandwich plate, and 4 to 5 inches (10 to 12.5 cm) tall. The texture is light, and almost but not quite, crumbly. The…