Cawl Cig Mochyn A Chig
A wonderful Welsh recipe for Cawl Cig Mochyn a Chig, a very tasty Bacon and Beef Broth from Victorian, Rural Pembrokeshire. Cawl (broth) was the dish most commonly served for dinner after a hard day of working on the farm in Wales. It was tasty and nutritious, served in wooden bowls, eaten with wooden spoons and mopped up with slices of bread. Still served in Wales, and much admired for its simple, yet earthy flavours, this Cawl would be welcome in any home today. Historically, this flavoursome broth is much older than the Victorians, with regional and seasonal differences it can trace its roots right back to the broths of the ancient Celts, in the age before the Anglo-Saxons came.
Cawl Cig Mochyn A Chig Recipe
Make the day before you want to eat it and leave for the flavours to develop in the broth overnight in the fridge.
Recipe Ingredients:
- 600g Beef (stewing steak, cut into cubes)
- 600g Bacon (very thick sliced from your butcher, cut into cubes)
- 500g Potatoes (peeled, diced small)
- 60g Oatmeal
- 6 Large Carrots (diced)
- 1 Small Swede (diced)
- 1 Small Cabbage (finely shredded)
- 3 Large Leeks (finely sliced)
- Handful of Parsley (finely chopped)
- Water (enough to cover everything)
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp ground black pepper
Recipe Method:
First cut up your meat into similar sized cubes, or ask your butcher to do it when ordering. In a very large saucepan add the cubed beef and bacon, and cover generously with water. Bring to the boil and simmer like this without a lid for an hour. Skim off any impurities that rise. Add more water if needed.
Prepare all the vegetables by peeling, chopping, dicing and shredding them, (according to the ingredient list). After an hour add the potatoes, carrots, swede, and cabbage to the boiling meat, season with the salt and pepper, stir and cover with some more water, and simmer for another hour, with the lid on the saucepan.
After this further hour add in the leeks, oatmeal and parsley, taste the broth and season with more salt and pepper. Simmer for a further 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, allow to cool and store in the fridge until the next day to allow the flavours in the broth to develop.
Serve: The next day reheat the Cawl Cig Mochyn a Chig broth on a gentle simmer for 30 minutes and serve in bowls with thick slices of buttered bread.