The FastDay Forum

Just thought of mutton bird. They are indigenous tucker, very oily and salty, so best done on a bar-b-que where the oil can drain away. They are sold in Tasmania and still popular with Tasmanian Aborigines. I had some once in Flinders Island in a restaurant and liked them but I've not enjoyed them otherwise.

In the highlands of Scotland it's Stornaway black pudding, haggis, and whiskey whiskey whiskey. Oh also oat cakes shortbread and Orkney cheese. Now I've gone and made myself hungry.

@MelbMandy, now I'm really confused (and LOL also, of course). Nothing like defining something in terms of something else I haven't heard of - 100s and 1000s?
I'm guessing sprinkles, in my language...
In which case, yes, pretty gross...

I did think of that as I posted! Yes, 100s and 1000s are sprinkles. Which, I suppose, makes up the 'fairy' aspect but

Here on the coast of Maine, seafood is key. Lobster/clam bakes, especially, and blueberry pie. Lobster rolls can be had pretty much everywhere, even at McDonalds sometimes.

Local cheese has become very well known in Northumberland and beyond over the last few years

http://northumberlandcheese.co.uk/cheese

Also famous for seafood - up the coast Lindisfarne oysters, and Craster kippers especially, but also crab, mussels

http://www.kipper.co.uk/. http://www.lindisfarneoysters.co.uk/

Pease pudding is a local food I do not like - usually see with ham in a sandwich, but sold in pots like dripping

Pan haggerty is onions and potatoes cooked in a pot sometimes cheese added - it's the local cucina povera.

And at the other end of the scale - Earl Grey's home was at Howick Hall, up the coast a bit from me, and the tea was first specially blended here for his family.

http://www.visitnorthumberland.com/food ... s-tearooms

Also a growing number of food festivals - Berwick, Alnwick and now Morpeth, as well as a lot of good things in Tynedale, and North Tyne and South Tyne areas - so maybe we'll see you up here one day Penny??

Somebody please explain fairy bread and fairy cake..

Fairy bread is white bread spread with butter/marg and covered with 100's & 1000's as mentioned above. 100s and 1000's are also known as "nonpareils" the difference between them and sprinkles is that nonpareils are small spheres where sprinkles are long and skinny in shape.

A Fairy Cake in the UK = a cupcake US and other parts of the world.

In Australia some native foods are slowly starting to become popular. I make a number food with Wattleseed e.g. Wattleseed pannacotta. I basically make a liquid extract from roasted wattleseed and I then add it into my chosen dish. For my dad's birthday I made a Wattleseed-Hazelnut Dacquoise. Wattleseed tastes a bit like coffee-chocolate i.e. mocha flavour. Due to the flavour profile (mocha) Wattleseed also makes a nice Tiramisu. I have also used it in ice cream.

I have read online that some have tried using Wattleseed instead of coffee and chocolate and they were disappointed as it does not taste as strong. I find if you make an extract from the roasted seeds then you add it to your dish by the teaspoon and you can get quite a strong flavour. If you just add the ground up seeds you will not impart as much flavour. (You will also get a gritty mouth feel which is not so nice.)

Yorkshire pudding, although it is years since I've had any. As a child we used to have a large slice of Yorkshire pudding before the meat and vegetables in order to reduce the appetite for the more expensive food. Yes, Yorkshire pudding is a savoury food, but having sais that, my grandfather used to also like a sweet version containg dried fruit and mixed peel in the batter.

Wensleydale cheese. Often served alongside Christmas cake or apple pie. A local saying is, "An apple pie without ths' cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze".

Lots of local beers. My favourite is "raspberry blonde" from Saltaire brewery which is about five miles away. I suppose it is a strange idea, but it is lovely and really tastes of raspberries. I don't suppose that a glass counts as one of the five a day though!

[janeg]

need manderlay's patisserie *groan and drool*

Which one ?

I tasted the "Dunois" and it was really wonderful. I am a big macaroons and meringues fan

It's funny how food can be linked to a precious memory. When I feel homesick or a bit down, I use to order things from England I love (tea, wine gums, rolos, dairy milk and other things), the same for some products of the mountain I so dearly love (cheese, ham, Morteau sausage). They are great comfort food with all the good memories they bring

[janeg]

the marzipan one pretending to be cheese. I'm so hungry......
and the others sound good too. J'adore patisserie

I didn't know this one until I looked at it on the site I gave the link. I will taste it next weekend for you and, with a bit of luck, it will be the perfect Christmas dessert

Local cheese has become very well known in Northumberland and beyond over the last few years

http://northumberlandcheese.co.uk/cheese

Also famous for seafood - up the coast Lindisfarne oysters, and Craster kippers especially, but also crab, mussels

http://www.kipper.co.uk/. http://www.lindisfarneoysters.co.uk/

Pease pudding is a local food I do not like - usually see with ham in a sandwich, but sold in pots like dripping

Pan haggerty is onions and potatoes cooked in a pot sometimes cheese added - it's the local cucina povera.

And at the other end of the scale - Earl Grey's home was at Howick Hall, up the coast a bit from me, and the tea was first specially blended here for his family.

http://www.visitnorthumberland.com/food ... s-tearooms

Also a growing number of food festivals - Berwick, Alnwick and now Morpeth, as well as a lot of good things in Tynedale, and North Tyne and South Tyne areas - so maybe we'll see you up here one day Penny??

Well yes,@Silverdarling you may well do so! I've said for a while that I'd like to go back and visit places like Bamburgh, Craster, Warkworth - the list could go on! In fact, right beside me on the table is next year's camping and caravan club brochure... I foresee another lost Sunday dreaming of holidays next year!

@PennyForthem - All the food festivals seem to be in mid Sept - late Oct (Berwick, Alnwick and now Morpeth) loads of caravanning sites, lots near the sea too! And there's always Gillb ...

There is a chutney maker near us just off the A1 at Eshott ... Can't remember what they're called but they do the fiery chili sort ...

Duck, duck and more duck, cooked in a variety of ways, using all bits. When I explained to my neighbours that I didn't eat meat, "what, not even duck" was the response.

September/October is my busiest time for food festivals, so holidays have to fit around them!