REPORT ON SHAP LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY SOCIAL EVENING HELD ON FRIDAY 18TH NOVEMBER 2005.

Traditional Food of the Lake Counties

The annual social event for Shap Local History Society, and last gathering of the year was held in the memorial hall, and attracted a capacity attendance. As people arrived they were greeted with a cup of hot mulled fruit juice.

The society’s chairman, Jean Jackson welcomed everyone and introduced the guest speaker, Ivan Day who has lived in Shap for over twenty years. Mr Day has made a long and detailed study of the history of food, and is well known in that field. During the summer he presented a series on Border Television ‘Hungry for the Past’, in which he explored the variety of dishes served in the region at different periods throughout history. Members of the society had been guests at his home for a food evening three years ago, an event that will go down in the annals of the society as unforgettable.

Mr Day began his talk by reminiscing about a well-loved Shap character, the late ‘Tucker’ Mallinson who used to regale him with tales of life in the past. The talk was illustrated by slides, and began with various dishes made with oats, which was a staple food in the area, he also described the method for making clapcake or clapbread, a type of dry oatcake made from a stiff paste which was baked on a bakestone, the large cakes measure about ten inches or more across and would form part of the meal to follow. It is recorded that itinerant women used to travel from farm to farm, making large quantities of oatcake to store for the winter. Other oat-based breads were yannock or bannock. Oats were of course also used to make ‘poddish’, also ‘sowens’, a thick liquid made by soaking oatmeal in water. In other areas such as Yorkshire a different type of oatcake was made, this being like a pancake made with a batter, Mr Day described a machine that had been invented for making these oatcakes commercially called a ‘hurling machine’.

The other staple grain was barley, and this was used for brewing at a time when every farm would make its own ale, some foods were also made using barley.

Mr Day explained that at a time when few people could write, recipes were passed down by word of mouth, however much information is to be found in inventories and receipt books from large houses, and he quoted one example from Edenhall. He also showed a slide of the bill for the funeral of Elizabeth Brown of Troutbeck who died in 1728 and this included Arval bread, a Scandinavian custom that had survived in the Lake Counties. Traditional foods for other important occasions were comfits, small sweetmeats with caraway or anise seeds in them, served at births and powsowdie, a mixture of ale, bread and spices served at weddings.

Some traditional foods were served at special times of the year, Fig Sue eaten on Good Friday, was a mixture of figs, bread and ale. Herb pudding was eaten in the spring and was made from many wild herbs such as bistort and nettles. At Christmas, a Yule dough would be made and shaped into a mould resembling the Christ Child in the manger, another Scandinavian survival, Hack Pudding was also made, as was Shred or Sweet Pie, both contained meat but were sweet. Sweet pie would feature in the meal and was a forerunner of mince pies, the meat content now being replaced by suet.

Some traditional foods were served at special times of the year, Fig Sue eaten on Good Friday, was a mixture of figs, bread and ale. Herb pudding was eaten in the spring and was made from many wild herbs such as bistort and nettles. At Christmas, a Yule dough would be made and shaped into a mould resembling the Christ Child in the manger, another Scandinavian survival, Hack Pudding was also made, as was Shred or Sweet Pie, both contained meat but were sweet. Sweet pie would feature in the meal and was a forerunner of mince pies, the meat content now being replaced by suet.

The gingerbread made at Rydal Hall in 1673, was uncooked and very hot – not to be eaten as a cake, but made into small balls and used as a medicine.

Mr Day described how char pies were made and transported to London by horse and cart, these were huge things, and four of them would fill a cart. The trade in char, a fish which can be found in some of the deep lakes, continued, with potted char being packed into special pots, sealed with butter, they would keep fresh for the journey.

The difficulty in obtaining mutton as opposed to lamb was bewailed by Mr Day, who said that an ‘old yow’ at least four years old, carried little fat, but has a stronger flavour than lamb. He had cured a leg of mutton and this had been dried and smoked, this was also to feature in the meal that followed.

Finally Mr Day said that many sophisticated foods were available in Cumbria because of the ports such as Whitehaven, and these included rare tea, sugar, spices, and spirits. The final slide showed a mould made to commemorate the marriage of Princess Alexandra of Denmark to Edward, Prince of Wales, the mould made in two sections allowed a red jelly to be poured into the outer section and once set a white blancmange type mixture was poured into the centre, this representing the Danish flag, and, like seaside rock, the pattern went right through the mould.

Mr Day then described the menu for the meal, a starter of mutton ham with picked damsons and clapbread, to be followed by Tatie Pot, and then shred or sweet pie.
Liz Amos thanked Mr Day, and said she had enjoyed helping him to make the clapbread, especially as she had gained the title of ‘Oatcake Maiden’.

The food was then served to an appreciative gathering. Between the starter and main course Jean Scott-Smith recited the dialect poem ‘Tatie Pot’ by Jos. Burlington. At the close of the evening a raffle for many food-related prizes was drawn.

The Society next meets on Monday 23rd January when Wendy Fairer and Liz Amos will present an evening on Transport in Shap.

N. B. The summer 2005 exhibition and archives will be open for research on Sat 14th January 2006, free admission refreshments available for a small charge. Archives may be viewed at other times by arrangement.

Download Hungry For The Past fact sheets

Visit Ivan Day's Website - www.HistoricFood.com