Regional Foods of Wales
Wales is proudly different from neighbouring England, preserving its own language and culture. From harps, choirs and daffodils to the particular charms of the rugby pitch, Wales has many an icon to savour.
And this includes Welsh food and traditions too! The regional foods of Wales are definitely ones to try, and you can read about them in our food guide.
The Welsh landscape
Over the centuries Wales has developed a simple and wholesome cuisine that reflects its sometimes challenging terrain and the tough demands of historic industries such as coal mining and steel making. Much of the mountainous northern landscape can only sustain hardy oats and sheep, and these two ingredients appear in many guises in Welsh cooking. The southern terrain of valleys and rolling hills supports beef and dairy cattle and a wide variety of fruit, vegetables and cereal crops.
Meat
The meat most identified with Wales is lamb, its sweet flavour enhanced by mint, honey or lemon. However, beef cattle are also widely raised, and the traditional meat mainstay of the Welsh diet is the pig. Bacon appears in many Welsh recipes and indeed combines with lamb and sometimes beef as well in the famous dish called cawl. This is a classic one-pot meal (the word means ‘broth’ or ‘soup’) in which bacon is added to lamb scraps in a stock made from vegetables such as cabbage, swedes and potatoes. The national symbol of Wales, the leek, ironically, is not widely grown in the Principality. However, it is sometimes added in small slices just before serving in one of the many variations on the hearty Cawl stew. Some families eat the soup with just vegetables in as an appetite-reducing first course before serving the meat element of the meal, and it is traditionally eaten with a wooden spoon.
Roast Leg of Welsh Lamb
Perfect for St David's Day, or any time you feel like a roast: Roast Leg of Welsh Lamb.
If you fancy trying out any of the recipes mentioned, use the page numbers provided for where to find the recipes in the Around Britain cookbook, which includes more regional recipes from across Britain.
Vegetables & Cheese
Vegetables also feature heavily in the curiously named Glamorgan sausages (page 37). These are actually meat free, being a mixture of grated cheese, breadcrumbs with herbs and chopped leeks or onions. This thick paste is bound with egg and then rolled in flour to make sausage shapes, which are then fried and served with potatoes. Cheese is the basis of another Welsh mainstay, Welsh rarebit. It has been adopted nationwide as a quick and easy snack, with the simplest version being slices of cheese melted onto toast. However there are countless variations using a creamy blend of cheese with milk or cream plus butter or ale. Just as leeks are more commonly grown outside Wales, so its most famous cheese, the crumbly and salty Caerphilly, is now mainly produced over the border in the West Country. However, Welsh dairies do produce a range of cheeses including goats’ cheeses and some fine Cheddar.
Giant Welsh Cake
Try the maxi version of the Welsh classic with this Giant Welsh Cake recipe.
Welsh fish and fare
The seas and rivers of Wales host a range of fish, including the sewin (Welsh for sea trout), traditionally baked wrapped in bacon (page 103). However, one of the most noteworthy products of the sea is the edible seaweed harvested and used to create an unusual breakfast dish. Laver is collected from the rocks, washed and boiled for hours to form a purée. Then, it is mixed with fine oatmeal to form small cakes that are fried in bacon fat. Finally, there is a wealth of tea-time treats in the list of Welsh fare. These range from oven-baked bara brith (page 76), to melt-in-the-mouth delicacies from the griddle such as Welsh cakes and crempog, which are very rich pancakes made with buttermilk. If you have any pictures or videos of the Wales and its delicious food, or if you have a go at making one of the regional foods of Wales, feel free to share it with us on Instagram and Facebook!
