English Cream Teas

5. Crowdie, a soft, fresh milk cheese, also known as ‘gruth’ in Gaelic is the result of traditional methods dating back to Scotland’s Viking occupation. The first farm to flavor it with garlic only did so after their cows had escaped from their field, wandered into woods and ate wild garlic. The flavor that went into the milk was so good that garlic crowdie quickly became a favorite item.

6. ‘Bletted’ Medlars were a much loved after dinner treat in Victorian homes in November and December. The fruit was gathered from trees in September, laid in sawdust and kept until the flesh turned dark and soft, as they had to be ‘rotten to be ripe’. I’ll give this one a miss!

7. It is not only Stilton cheese that is important to the people of the Heart of England. In 1734, the Mayor of Nottingham was bowled over with a 100 lb. wheel of cheese during a riot after stall-holders at an annual street market had increased cheese prices by more than a third.

8. The world’s first chocolate bar was made in Bristol in the late 1720s by Joseph Fry. His company was eventually taken over by Cadbury, another British, family owned firm.

9. Mint sauce became the ‘essential’ accompaniment to roast lamb in Britain thanks to Queen Elizabeth I. To stop her subjects eating lamb and mutton (and help the wool industry), she decreed that the meat could only be served with bitter herbs. Enterprising cooks discovered that mint made the meat taste better, not worse.

10. Ice cream was so popular in London in the 19th century that massive ‘ice wells’ were dug in the city. Ice was imported from America, and later from Norway to fill them.