Cumbria

by Helen Gaffney

This modern county, in existence since 1974, consists of the old county of Cumberland, together with parts of Lancashire and Westmorland (which no longer exists as an administrative county). It is famous for containing the Lake District - an area of outstanding natural beauty and a National Park.

Much of Cumbrian cooking is based on dishes suitable for a hard-working community living in a bracing climate. Simple, cheap and tasty meals were designed to feed hearty appetites and keep working families well fed for the least possible cost.

Meat and Meat Products

The most famous dish from the county is probably the Cumberland Sausage, a special sausage sold coiled up and bought by length rather than weight. They can be up to four feet long. Cumberland hams, although hard to come by, are also worth looking out for. They are dry-cured, salted and rubbed with brown sugar and usually sold unsmoked.

Huge numbers of sheep are reared on the hill farms and moorlands of Cumbria. The sheep population of Cumbria was around three million before the Foot and Mouth outbreak. Hardy breeds are favoured, which can withstand the cold winds and bitter winters. The North Country Mule is a crossbreed common in Cumbria. Sheep produce their lambs in spring and the youngest, most tender meat is available from June to August. Lambs born later do not reach the shops until later in the year and have a more mature flavour. Mutton, the meat of a fully grown sheep, once staple fare throughout the country but no longer produced in any quantity, can still occasionally be bought in the Lake District, where it comes from Herdwick sheep. Many of the regional dishes use lamb. Shepherd's Pie is one national favourite that originated in the north.

The hard life of the north meant that northerners developed a thrifty approach to food that still exists today. No part of the animal was wasted and butchers' stalls are arrayed with all kinds of offal that are seldom, if ever, found further south. The wild moors and mountains are home to all sorts of game including Derwentwater duck, which is delicious served with piquant Cumberland sauce.

Food from the Dairy

On the lower fields of Cumbria, dairy cattle are kept in large numbers and butter production is important in the county. Cumberland rum butter is a delicious local speciality of butter flavoured with rum, Barbados sugar and spices. It was traditionally served to celebrate the birth of a baby, and coins were placed in the empty butter bowl, where they stuck to the remains, to ensure a happy and prosperous life for the newborn. Goats and sheep are widely farmed for their milk too, which is increasingly used for making yogurt and cheese.

Fish from Sea, River and Lake

The tradition of fishing is well-established in Cumbria with one local delicacy being herring stuffed and served with mustard sauce. Freshwater fish, such as trout and salmon, inhabit the Lakes and many of the rivers that flow down to the sea from the Pennines and Cheviots. One particular method of fishing still survives in parts of the north-west, where an enormous net called a 'heave' or 'haaf' is used. The nets can be as much as 18 feet wide and the fishermen have to stand in the water, rather than on the bank, to handle them effectively. Fish farming is a growing business, with trout being the most commonly produced variety.

An unusual freshwater fish found in the deep waters of the Lake District is the char. A relative of the salmon, char was left behind in the inland lakes after the glacial waters of the Ice Age receded. The fish has a delicate flavour and pink-tinged flesh and is generally served in pies or potted. Char are caught with long lines, which plunge deep into the waters, weighted by bright metal spinners made of bronze, copper or even silver.

Delicious Damsons

The climate of the north is generally unsuitable for fruit growing, although damsons, known locally as witherslacks, are grown around Lake Windermere. The damson is a type of plum, much smaller than the standard cultivated plums and quite sour. These fruits have a tart flavour but can be used very successfully in cooking, in dishes such as Damson and Apple Tansy for example. The name 'Tansy' is given to a number of egg-based puddings and would originally have included the herb tansy, which has a bitter-sweet flavour.

All Sorts of Sweet Things

Comforting cakes to cheer up chilly afternoons are a speciality all over the north of England. Kendal Mint Cake from the Lake District is not a cake at all but a peppermint flavoured sweet, which is said to be very sustaining and ideal for climbers and walkers trekking across the hills.

Gingerbread is popular all over the north and perhaps the most famous comes from the Lake District village of Grasmere. The Grasmere Gingerbread Shop still exists and the cake is baked on the premises. It has been made to Sarah Nelson's secret recipe since 1854.

One of Westmorland's most famous 'bakes' was the Westmorland Pepper Cake, with the pepper adding an unusual spiciness to what would otherwise be a fairly ordinary fruitcake.

And finally, rum features as flavouring in many Lake District dishes, the liquor having been shipped over from the West Indies during the 18th century. Cumberland Rum Nicky is a traditional dessert from the area, which to me tastes just like mince pie steeped in rum!