The Taste of Britain. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
has a long connection with the beast. The breed may have evolved from the now-rare Portland, a relic of the old tan-faced primitives once widely known in Britain and centred in the South West (Hall & Clutton-Brock, 1989). Further details are mysterious, although the influence of Merino blood is postulated. For a long time, the Dorset has been favoured for its extended breeding season. This was exploited to provide out-of-season lamb. In the mid-1700s, a manual of husbandry described the production of ‘Dorset House Lambs’ in Essex during late autumn for the London Christmas market. Such meat was associated with status; William Kitchiner (1817) remarked, ‘House lamb is … prized merely because it is unseasonable and expensive,’ and Mrs Beeton (1861) commented on the system of intensive rearing pursued ‘to please the appetite of luxury’. A flock book was established in 1892 and the breed has continued to be valued. The intensive rearing system was abandoned before the First World War, but the Dorset Horn and the relatively new Polled Dorset are still used to provide young, new-season’s lamb.
TECHNIQUE:
Lambing time can be adjusted to the demands of the market. The ewes breed from a young age and are excellent milkers. On mixed farms where lamb is just one part of the business, farmers tend to concentrate on producing meat for Christmas and New Year and then through to Easter. The lambs are born between mid-September and November; the flocks may be housed at lambing for ease of management and protection from predators. Shelter is otherwise unnecessary. Soon after lambing, the flocks are turned out to graze on the flush of autumn grass which follows hay- and silage-making. Sheep farmers who keep Dorset Horns produce 3 crops of lambs every 2 years.
‘Methinks sometimes I have no more wit than a Christian or an ordinary man has; but I am a great eater of beef, and I believe that does harm to my wit.’ WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, TWELFTH NIGHT
REGION OF PRODUCTION:
SOUTH WEST ENGLAND.
Gloucestershire Old Spots Pig
DESCRIPTION:
USUALLY SLAUGHTERED TO YIELD A PORKER OF 50-55KG AFTER DRESSING; IT IS A DUAL-PURPOSE ANIMAL WHICH CAN, IF DESIRED, BE GROWN TO REACH BACON WEIGHT. IT IS CHARACTERIZED BY LARGE, IRREGULAR BLACK SPOTS ON THE SKIN WHICH LEAVE MARKS AFTER THE BRISTLES HAVE BEEN REMOVED; OTHERWISE, THE MEAT IS DEEP PINK, WELL-MARBLED, WITH WHITE FAT AND A PALE SKIN. FLESH IS TENDER, SUCCULENT, WITH AN EXCELLENT FLAVOUR. HERE IS PIG WHICH MAKES EXCELLENT CRACKLING.
HISTORY:
The breed developed in response to farming conditions of the 1800s which required a hardy animal that could flourish on a varied diet. The Severn Valley in which the race evolved is a cheese and cider region and excess whey and windfall apples formed part of its diet, as well as household and garden waste. It is sometimes referred to as an orchard pig, because of where it prospered. Gloucestershire Old Spots were first noted in the early twentieth century, when the Breed Society was formed. It was then talked of as an ancient breed and the word ‘Old’ has always been part of the name, implying a long history. A Gloucester pig was noted in the 1850s but was described as white with large wattles. It is possible the breed arose from these Gloucesters crossed with Saddle-backs or unimproved Berkshires, black animals whose genes may have contributed the spots.
A drive towards home production of bacon by the British government in the 1930s led to a decline in numbers of Old Spots. It is slower maturing than improved animals and the spots were disliked. A trend towards leaner meat also worked against its use for pork. Breeders have eliminated all but a token spot. In the 1970s, renewed interest in rare breeds led to conservation of breeding stocks and reintroduction of old strains to modern farming and the food chain. This has been quite successful with Gloucestershire Old Spots.
TECHNIQUE:
The breed has a strong following in the Severn valley and environs. It is popular with hobby farmers who keep a few animals. The blotched skin is currently thought less of a problem and the spots have been bred back in. The pigs now resemble those known earlier last century. It is still used to forage apple and pear orchards by some farmers; whey, generated by West-Country cheese-making, is also available. These are supplemented with grain-based rations; the pigs may also be turned out to feed on residues of arable crops or on specially grown forage crops. It is still renowned as hardy, requiring minimal accommodation. The sows are good mothers. The breed is slow to mature, reaching a weight for slaughter as pork at 18-22 weeks.
REGION OF PRODUCTION:
SOUTH WEST ENGLAND.
Gloucester Sausage
DESCRIPTION:
UNCOOKED, FRESH PORK SAUSAGE, WEIGHING 75-100G - LARGER THAN OTHER FRESH SAUSAGES; PALE PINK; SHORT LINKS; GOOD, RICH FLAVOUR, WITH HERBS.
HISTORY:
Many Gloucester butchers include ‘Gloster sausages’ in their display. No early references have been located, but oral tradition is that they have been made for as long as anyone can remember. One factor in their excellence is the distinctive pig, Gloucestershire Old Spots. This produces fine fresh pork, hence also sausages. In a letter dated 1766, the Georgian man of fashion, Gilly Williams, wrote to his friend George Selwyn anticipating a meeting near the city. ‘We shall eat Gloucester chine together,’ he mused. Here, at least, there is a conjunction of Gloucester and pork that goes back a while.
TECHNIQUE:
Gloucestershire Old Spots are raised extensively on grain, dairy by-products and windfall apples, resulting in succulent, well-flavoured meat with good marbling, excellent for sausage making. The Gloucester recipe is not exceptional, using minced lean and fat pork, plus cereal (in the form of rusk) and a seasoning of herbs, salt and pepper. They are filled into natural casings.
REGION OF PRODUCTION:
WEST ENGLAND, GLOUCESTER.
Hog’s Pudding
DESCRIPTION:
A COOKED PORK AND CEREAL SAUSAGE; ABOUT 3 CM DIAMETER AND OF VARYING LENGTHS. COLOUR: A GREYISH-WHITE OR MOTTLED PINK AND WHITE; IN SOME TYPES THE CEREAL CAN BE SEEN AS WHOLE GRAINS. FLAVOUR: A BLAND COMBINATION OF PORK AND CEREAL, OVERLAID BY THE SPICES FAVOURED BY THE MAKER; SOME CONTAIN DRIED FRUIT.
HISTORY:
The first specific reference to hog’s pudding in the Oxford English Dictionary is from the early eighteenth century. However, the word hog (used in English to mean a bacon pig since at least the fourteenth century), combined with recipes including spices and currants in a savoury dish, suggests the tradition is far older, with roots in medieval practice. White puddings of cereal, spices and dried fruit were known in the 1500s, and were probably made throughout southern England. Much later, Flora Thompson (1939) describes how the country dwellers of Oxfordshire used the various parts of a pig when it was killed in the winter months - hog’s puddings bulked large.
Recipes varied; often they would have formerly included lights and spleen. Others emphasize the cereal content: a quotation from Hampshire (Wright, 1896-1905) describes it as ‘the entrail of a pig stuffed with pudding composed of flour, currants and spice’. A late Victorian recipe from Sussex describes hog’s puddings as small ball-like sausages, stuffed with pork, flour, spices and currants (White, 1932). Modern puddings have evolved from these heavily cereal-based, sweetish products. Although some containing fruit are still made, other examples are closer to a sausage, with groats (hulled, crushed cereal grains), lean pork and savoury spices, especially black pepper. In the past, they were used for any meal but now tend to be served at breakfast. The customary method of reheating was in simmering water, but they can be baked, fried or grilled.