… or
when is a bread roll not a bread roll?
Do
you ever come across bakery products and bread that you've never seen
before? If you holiday in the UK then that's quite likely.
I
grew up and worked in the Midlands and I'd pop to the local bakery to
buy my lunch – usually a cheese cob – it could be soft or crusty.
Years
later I moved to London to live and work. I followed the same
routine for lunch and asked for a cheese cob – they did give me a
strange look, clearly thought they'd misheard this funny girl with a
weird accent and offered me a large uncut loaf – that they called
“a cob”. Having translated my cheese “cob” became a “cheese
roll”. I'm sorry to appear picky but – as far as I'm concerned –
a roll is a shape that means just that . When in Rome and all that –
I conformed and my bread education began.
From
London I relocated to the North West, lived in Bolton and worked near
Eccles, where they make the cakes – the smell on baking day was
divine!
In
the North West there's the muffin – not “roll shaped” at all –
soft and flat. Then there's the tea cake – please note, not to be
confused with a toasted teacake version that contains currents and
sultanas – just plain.
The
barm cake is from Manchester and the surrounding area. It's not much
different to my Midlands “cob” but on reflection I don't think
I've ever seen a crusty barm cake.
My
favourite from the North West and North Derbyshire too is the oven
bottom – flat as can be and so called because it is said they were
baked on the bottom of the oven. It's more likely that they were
made with the remnants of the dough when the loaves had been baked.
I feel I should set the record straight – the oven bottom is a much
later name – the original “oven bottom” originated in the North
East and is called a “stottie” (or Stotty).
Most
of us know the bakery Greggs
which began as long ago as 1939. Its first shop opened in 1951 in
Newcastle upon Tyne and is now the largest bakery chain in the UK.
Greggs
baked the best oven bottoms ever and I used to buy them freshly baked
in bags of 6. Even when I'd left the North West I'd stock up when I
visited and freeze them. Imagine my joy at the thought of an oven
bottom when Greggs
opened in the South – such joy was short lived. With the exception
of the pasties Greggs bakery
products are completely different – definitely in Northamptonshire
and I now discover in the South generally. What a disappointment -
they are missing a trick, as they say!
I
can't say I'm up to date with bakery products in London but I
wouldn't mind betting they still don't know of an oven bottom or, for
that matter, a barm cake.
I
felt I should set the record straight and if you're not confused now
– my husband is a Lancashire lad. One of his favourite lunches is
a currant teacake with cheese. There's nothing better than a fresh
currant teacake, buttered and topped with thin slices of Crumbly
Lancashire cheese - you
can get a Creamy Lancashire
version too. If you live in Lancashire or the North West you'll also
be able to buy Lancashire Tasty
cheese – it's exactly the same as the crumbly version but matured
for longer and gives a more mature taste – yum!
I've
recommended the currant teacakes with cheese to lots of friends and
they love them – I say “them” one never seems enough!
Next,
back to more mid week supper ideas
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