Black Country Food
From the collection of
Bakewell's Famous Pudding
- Bakewell
- 1985-12-17
Black Country Food (Heart of the Country)
Solid and sustaining food to 'fill the belly', the Black Country meaty favourites that go hand-in-hand with a hard day at the chain forge.
Originally a cheap way to feed large families, the traditional Black Country foods of faggots, grey peas and groaty pudding have fallen out of favour in many time-poor households. Groaty pudding is made from grains, beef, leeks, onions and meat stock and is best served after slow cooking for up to 16 hours. It can be topped up and kept going all week, so it's not one for a quick snack on the go. We should also point out that it is best to look away when the close up shots of pig offal appear on screen during the faggot making sequence. There are not many vegan options on show here.
Despite all this, these heavy and meaty dishes still have their fans. Tony joins some enthusiasts on a Black Country night out, which surprisingly takes place a good distance from the West Midlands in the well-to-do village of Broadway in the Cotswolds. But it's in Netherton and Halesowen that Tony finds the secret of how these dishes are concocted and how they sustained workers in some of the hardest and most physical jobs in the country, in the region's famous chain-making shops.
A look at the traditional Black Country food of faggots, peas and groaty pudding.
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Nice as Pie: Food Across the Midlands
Hearty food from the heart of England.
Food is so much more than a fuel. What we choose to eat is in some part shaped by our shared community and culture. The pies, puddings and cheeses of England's Midlands are the products of recipes passed down through the generations - they literally couldn't have been made anywhere else.
For Stilton cheese, with its origins in 1720s Leicestershire, this was made official in 1992, when it was given 'Protected Designation of Origin' (PDO) status. Only cheese made using milk from the cows of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire can be labelled 'Stilton' - serious stuff!
These films will take you on a journey through a Midlands menu. You can sample pork pies in Melton Mowbray, with a dollop of Birmingham's HP Sauce on the side. In the Black Country you might go for Groaty Pudding, followed by the sweetness of Derbyshire's Bakewell pudding (definitely not a 'tart'), finishing with a Blue Bird toffee from Worcestershire. But if this all sounds a bit too traditional, why not pop into Nottingham's Chinese Supermarket, where a heady taste-experience awaits?
Hope you've got an appetite - It's time to savour the flavours of the Midlands.
13 videos in this collection
1
Bakewell's Famous Pudding
2
Blue Bird Toffee Factory
3
Pork Pie Month
4
Black Country Bonfire
5
HP Sauce Takeover
6
Chinese Supermarket in Nottingham
7
Battle of the Oatcakes
8
The Secret of Market Drayton Gingerbread
9
Vale of Evesham Asparagus
10
Black Country Food
11
Leicester Sweet Shop
12
Chinese New Year Food
13