Food for thought

After listening to a chat on Spirit FM radio the other morning, where someone had mentioned the humble sandwich and its origins being credited, probably to the Earl of Sandwich, who didn’t want to leave the table whilst playing cards to have his meal. I began to wonder if there were any produce, dishes, meals, or snacks that had been named after anywhere or anybody locally. For example, the Michael Fish Pie (Eastbourne) or the Rodney Trotter’s Trotter (Emsworth - Sussex ish). So off to the laptop and Google I popped and was really surprised at the amount of our Cities, Towns and Villages that we have in the foodie world. Sussex Pond Pudding was the one that I had heard of many times before but have never had the pleasure of, looking at the ingredients in front of me I now know why! It is Suet, Butter & Sugar! Could it be that today’s dietary awareness is the reason that it has gone ever so slightly out of fashion? It seems to me that this County should be known as or have the nickname ‘The Old Pudding County’ as I have discovered the number of recipes online is huge. We have the Chichester Pudding, the Sussex Hogs Pudding, the Sussex Well Pudding and the Ashdown Partridge Pudding and at least another half dozen other belly fillers intended once upon a time, to make a little go a long way!!

I have even learned that many years ago a poisoned Pudding made by a villager slayed a hungry water dragon in Lyminster!

We have quite a few fishy ones having a long coastline, Selsey Cockles, of which I have enjoyed on many occasions with a pint!, an Arundel Mullet (not a seventies haircut) Amberley Trout and a Rye Herring and have also tasted the lovely Goodwood smoked cheese, perhaps I should have had the Sussex Plum heavy biscuit with it!

After a couple of very interesting hours ‘surfin’ and reading, going off subject and coming back again feeling ‘peckish’, the only actual person I could find to rival the great Earl was…... Mrs Maria Ann Smith!

Who?? I hear you cry, well, this Sussexian lady was the first to cultivate the Granny Smith apple! Now I understand that it is nowhere near as popular as the sandwich is today, but I would like to think that everyone has eaten one or at least had it in a pudding at some point, surely? 🙂

I was also very surprised to have discovered that the world famous Banoffee pie was an East Sussex creation by the owner of the Hungry Monk Pub in Jevington near Eastbourne nearly 50 years ago! Maybe a trick was missed by not giving the pie a name that reflected the maker or his pub, but then again it may not have been so successful.

All of this research made my mind drift towards my meal that coming evening and what local tipple would accompany it, so Sussex wines and Sussex breweries were the next task for Mr Google!

 

TTFN.