Worcestershire Regional Recipes

Worcestershire is a county in the central region of England and these are a collection of local and regional recipes handed down within families who have lived and worked in the Worcestershire area. All of the recipes below are regionally authentic, originally coming from recipe books published in the 1800s or 1900s, with the weights and measurements adjusted (alongside the old standards) where appropriate for the modern kitchen.

 

LEMON CREAM

2/3 pint (470ml) cream, 1 lemon, caster sugar.

Put the cream in a pan over the fire and bring it to blood heat, stirring all the time.  Sweeten the juice and meat of the lemon with the caster sugar, making sure that it has all dissolved, put it through a sieve, then add to the warmed cream, and stir in well.  Rub over the dish or custard cups with a piece of lemon peel, pour in the mixture and chill thoroughly.

 

RAGOUT OF SWEETBREADS

1/4 lb (125g) mushrooms, 1/2 lb (250g) sweetbreads, 1 oz (30g) butter, stock, seasoning, bunch herbs.

For the forcemeat balls:  breadcrumbs, fresh parsley, thyme and marjoram, grated lemon rind, butter, beaten egg.

First make the forcemeat ball.  Mix the dry ingredients together, add beaten egg and roll into balls in flour in the palm of your had.  Soak sweetbreads for 2 hours in salt and water and a little lemon juice, changing water several times.  Then put in cold water and bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.  Press the sweetbreads between two plates and then slice into small pieces,  Put the butter into a pan, and when melted add sliced sweetbreads.  Cook for a few minutes, then add mushrooms, cook a bit longer and then add forcemeat balls.  Keep the contents moving so that they don’t stick to the pan.  Add a ladleful of stock, seasoning and a bunch of parsley and thyme and powdered mace.  Simmer very slowly, with lid on, for 1/2 hour.  Thicken gravy with 1 oz flour.  Add a little cold stock to flour and mix until smooth.  Add this to the gravy until it is thick enough.

 

APPLES IN CUSTARD

3 apples, dates and nuts, 2 oz (60g) sugar to make syrup, 1/2 pint (300ml) milk, 2 eggs, vanilla flavouring.

Peel and core apples, and stuff them full with stoned dates and chopped nuts.  Put them in a pie-dish and pour over them a thick sweet fruit syrup and bake for about 20 minutes at 400F (200C).  Remove from oven and take juice from the basin.  Beat up eggs and add flavouring.  Add cold milk and pour into dish round the apples, sprinkle with chopped nuts and cook in oven until the custard is set.

 

CAULIFLOWER CAKE

1 small cooked cauliflower, 1 cupful breadcrumbs, 1 cupful milk, 1 oz (30g) butter, 2 eggs, 2 0z (60g) cheese, seasoning, brown breadcrumbs.

Warm milk and dissolve butter in it.  Add breadcrumbs and stir till they have swollen.  Sprinkle the grated cheese in, add seasoning and the beaten yolks of eggs.  Cook gently for a few minutes, then remove from fire.  Divide the previously cooked cauliflower into sprigs and add to the mixture (a sharp-edged spoon is the best tool for this).  Pour into a tin which has been greased with butter and dusted with brown breadcrumbs and cook in the oven at about 400F (200C) until firm.