Back on food, and I hadn’t sampled Patum Peperium before the beginning of this year. Plenty of people in this country remember it as a store cupboard staple when they were growing up, whether they liked it or not. Sadly, it wasn’t an item on me old Ma’s shopping list. Saying that, it’s not particularly widely available now and I don’t have any perception of it being more so when I was a kid.

So I had very little idea of what to expect when my delivery arrived from an online deli other than Gentleman’s Relish was a fermented, spiced anchovy paste whose secret recipe dates back astonishingly to 1828 and whose perfect partner is hot, buttered toast. Deciding to do it the traditional way I popped the top off the small, white plastic pot and spread a little on the corner of a sippet of toast. Wow! This stuff is potent. The saltiness hits you straight away, but the intensity of the fermented anchovy creeps up and keeps creeping up, similar to a first Marmite experience (which in turn is like a near-death experience). But this crescendo peaked and I began to find myself enjoying it thoroughly. Yes, these are very strong flavours but not severe. The intensity of its fishiness is comparable with that of Thai shrimp paste (if you’ve ever sampled that straight from the tub) and the spice is well balanced. On texture, well it is exceptionally salty to the extent of being grainy, but Patum Peperium is good, ballsy stuff, befitting of any gentleman’s breakfast table.

Actually, I think that’s what might entertain me the most, that in a world where peasant foods have become that of the elite, (oysters, monkfish, cassoulet, etc) Gentleman’s Relish has done the reverse. Originally designed for the bow-tied hoi polloi, Patum Peperium is ours for a couple of quid a pot. Although, it is still best served with the morning broadsheet, ironed by one’s butler.

GDave

Okay, so this is a food website, but as a Manc I can’t really let this one pass.

The curtain has all but dropped on another football season but what a great season it’s been for my hometown team, Manchester United.

The UEFA Champions League title wasn’t to be this year, soundly beaten 2-0 by FC Barcelona in last night’s final at the Stadio Olimpico, Rome. Stepping out from behind my own partisanship, it was well earned and Barca were deserved winners. Despite this deep disappointment it’s important not to overlook the achievements of this year.

The English football league season drew to its conclusion last Sunday with United once again taking the spoils, their 11th triumph in the FA Premier League era and 18th in England’s top division - a joint record. Further more it becomes the second time that United have won three successive Premier League titles, a feat not matched even once by their rivals.

Back in March, Manchester United took the Football League Cup (aka Carling Cup) in a Wembley final against Tottenham Hotspur but an FA Cup semi-final loss to Everton prevented United from a clean sweep of domestic trophies. However, just before Christmas they achieved their first ever victory in the FIFA Club World Cup, a relatively new tournament represented by all six of the continental football confederations, being dubbed World Champions.

It’s been a wonderfully memorable football season for us Mancs and for the hundreds of thousands of Manchester United supporters worldwide, due solely to the dedication, determination and abilities of everyone involved with the club. Until August, “Forever and ever, we’ll follow the boys…”

GDave

It’s only fitting that I kick off this whole malarkey with something from my own neck-of-the-woods and something which, not entirely out of bias, is one of my all-time favourites, Eccles Cakes.

Eccles used to be a borough unto itself and bordered my own district of Flixton. These days, however, the town of Eccles is part of the borough of Salford, about 4 miles west of Manchester. By most accounts Eccles led a reasonably low-key life up until the Industrial Revolution when the Bridgewater Canal and the Liverpool & Manchester Railway brought industry to the area in the form of textiles and iron. But mention the name of Eccles to anyone on these shores and, “Eccles Cakes,” will be the first words you’ll hear. They are delicate little pastries filled with a currants, candied fruit peel, bound with butter and topped with a sprinkling of caster sugar.

Accounts of the Eccles Cake go all the way back to the 18th century and were sold commercially from 1796 by James Birch from a small shop on the corner of Church Street and Vicarage Road in the town. The annals of the Eccles and District History Society tell of Birch moving to larger premises in 1810 only to have the old shop occupied by a former employee, James Bradburn, who set himself up as a rival Eccles Cake maker, the scoundrel. There are a couple of lovely photos of the two shops on their website.

Okay, so my pastry experience is limited at best and I’ve never tried flaky pastry before so this could be messy. This version using frozen butter and lard appealed more than endless rolling, dotting and folding. > > Read on > >