Cumberland Sausage - the quest continues

[Bob Jefferson]

I shan't be boring you with details of my holiday, nor sharing with you my holiday snaps since I remembered to take the camera but forgot the memory card. However, I thought you might like to hear of my ongoing quest for the ultimate Cumberland sausage.

I'm a bit of a traditionalist here and I won't have any truck with a Cumberland-esque sausage that is produced outwith Cumbria. I am aware that Findlays do a version and I was greatly amused to note that Heinz has added to its 57 varieties 'Baked Beans with Cumberland Sausage' but I was on the trail of the real thing, un saucisson sans pareil.

My mother still swears by Cranston's sausage, but I personally feel that it doesn't taste as meaty as I recall from my youth. As part of his 'Food Heroes' series Rick Stein featured a local producer, trading as Border County Foods, who uses rare breeds of pig to produce a more authentic flavour. It's made from 98% pork with no additives of any kind, other than salt and cracked black pepper.

Last year we set out to locate BCF in Crosby on Eden. It involved quite a long detour, but being a foodie this was a small inconvenience. Not sure that the rest of the family agreed, particularly when we finally arrived to discover that there are two Crosby on Edens in Cumbria and we were in the wrong one. Ironically, the one we wanted was only a few miles from where we had just come from. Anyway, this morning I finally tracked down the elusive sausage. I didn't have any cash so they gave me a pound of sausage as a free sample. (They don't get many customers from Edinburgh and I can be very persuasive!)

I then drove to my parents' house and presented my mother with said sausage. As usual, she had spent a fortune in M&S to provide lunch for us, but I insisted on the sausage. So how was it? Very peppery, very meaty, a bit dry. I overcooked it to be honest. So the jury is still out.

I've heard that Richard Woodall in Waberthwhaite is supposed to be very good. If anyone is planning to be in the Lake District anytime soon...?

[mr magnolia]

There is a good dance called the Cumberland (Square) Sausage, Bob. You probably know it.

Mrs M and I used to be good at that. And Cauldron Foods do lovely veggie ones. Thats about as close as I get I'm afraid!

[ecm]

I was greatly amused to note that Heinz has added to its 57 varieties 'Baked Beans with Cumberland Sausage'.

Hopefully, not to the exclusion of their Baked Beans with Hot Dog Sausages. I love those wee blighters and they give the beans an awesome flavour.


What can I say? I'm easily pleased!

[Pal of Porty]

....their Baked Beans with Hot Dog Sausages.

Yuk. Wouldn't feed this to a pet, which reminds me - are you sure they should not be named "Baked Beans with Hot Sausage Dog!"

[ecm]

Yuk. Wouldn't feed this to a pet,

Fine. All the more for me then.

[Pal of Porty]

I love beans but have always wondered who bought the cans with sausages in. Every time I go shopping now and see those tins I'll be thinking of you now ECM!

[ecm]

I love beans but have always wondered who bought the cans with sausages in. Every time I go shopping now and see those tins I'll be thinking of you now ECM!

They're one of my hangover comfort foods. Them and bran scones with cheese along with Heinz Tomato soup but the soup has to be in a mug.
I'm a bit hurt that you'll be thinking of me and having the dry boak simultaneously though, PoP.

[Pal of Porty]

I'm a bit hurt that you'll be thinking of me and having the dry boak simultaneously though, PoP.

Not at all. I will be thinking of how happy you are enjoying yourself!

[Bob Jefferson]

As with many foods I enjoyed as a child, I now find that Heinz baked beans are just too sweet. The reduced salt, reduced sugar variety is just as bad as they simply subsitute artificial sweetener.

Cumberland sausage aside, I'm aiming for a healthier diet this year. More fruit, veg and pulses and less alcohol, red meat, salt and fat. And since I'm the cook, the rest of the family are in for a shock as well.

As most of my favourite dishes are meat-based, I'm looking for some good vegetarian recipes to thrill my jaded palate. Nothing that's going to take too long to prepare though, and I don't like egg. Any suggestions?

[mr magnolia]

Spaghetti, coated in olive oil with garlic and chillies - 12 mins to cook, cheap as chips, and a whole lot of satisfaction. Don't forget the fresh parmesan!

[Sandra]

Heinz Tomato soup but the soup has to be in a mug.

I'm with you on this one ECM - one of the best hangover cures!

[Sandra]

Bob

We do a really good pasta dish - spaghetti, chopped up tomatoes with basil, marinated in olive oil and balsamic. Cook the spaghetti and when ready fold in the tomato mixture - its yummy. Also another one with courgette, red onion and brie (not healthy I know) but its rather good too.

[Lizzie]

I've heard that Richard Woodall in Waberthwhaite is supposed to be very good. If anyone is planning to be in the Lake District anytime soon...?

Bob, my brother is working down in the Lake District at the moment, if I could contact him (not easy as he is not into mobile phones) but I could try and ask him to bring some CS back for you, I'm sure he wouldn't mind.
Though having said that I checked out the Richard Woodall site, were you aware you can order on-line?

[Pal of Porty]

As with many foods I enjoyed as a child, I now find that Heinz baked beans are just too sweet. The reduced salt, reduced sugar variety is just as bad as they simply subsitute artificial sweetener.

I couldn't agree more. Millions of products do this and it drives me mad

[foxy]

Bob

Try Mushroom Stroganoff

Mushrooms, onions, garlic, creme fraiche and caraway seeds

Only takes about ten minutes and a fantastic alternative to the beef version

[Porty]

This thread is pasta its best.

[foxy]

I was greatly amused to note that Heinz has added to its 57 varieties 'Baked Beans with Cumberland Sausage'.

Hopefully, not to the exclusion of their Baked Beans with Hot Dog Sausages. I love those wee blighters and they give the beans an awesome flavour.


What can I say? I'm easily pleased!

Ecm, I agree. I remember my mum used to buy tins of beans and sausages. I didn't like the sausages but the beans tasted brilliant, much better than regular beans

[bellybabe]

Cumberland sausage aside, I'm aiming for a healthier diet this year. More fruit, veg and pulses and less alcohol, red meat, salt and fat. And since I'm the cook, the rest of the family are in for a shock as well.

As most of my favourite dishes are meat-based, I'm looking for some good vegetarian recipes to thrill my jaded palate. Nothing that's going to take too long to prepare though, and I don't like egg. Any suggestions?

Will send you some recipes when I get round to it (still owe Dadaist one for spicy scrambled eggs, and Wangi wants my courgette cake!). I often make veggie versions of meat meals - veggie lasagne is a favourite with the kids and when I blend it so they don't recognise the evil veg, they don't notice the difference between it and meat! Tonight we're having mushroom risotto; ratatouille is good with pasta. Oh, and cheese and spinach filo pie is rather nice, i believe .

We already have an almost completely vegetarian diet, but in the last month or two (except Christmas...oh, and a very exclusive party on Saturday ) we've been completely overhauling our diet. We eat hardly any red meat, little salt, hardly any fat, and I decided last week to cut down on wine. I've even cut down on chocolate. For now. We've all been feeling better for it. So I say go for it.

[Epykat]

I'm going down to see Prommy in a couple of weeks so I'll see what I can do. However, I've never heard of Waberthwaite so it might be fun trying to find the place although by the sounds of it there's probably only the one butcher/newsagent/coal merchant/post officey shop (and lots of sheep)

[Bob Jefferson]

Lizzie, Epykat - you are both so sweet. Waberthwaite is I'm afraid, nowhere near Carlisle. It's near Ravenglass on the A595, miles from anywhere really.

Border County Foods on the other hand is a bit more accessible. From Kingstown head towards Asda, continue on this road past the Gallo Rosso restaurant and take the next left and then left again into the Kingsmoor Business Park. There's a barrier but the guy in the gate house will let you in and direct you from there. Epykat, I don't want to put you to any trouble but if you think you can find it let me know and I'll sort something out with you. I don't think I did their sausage justice and I'd like to give it another bash.

Both suppliers do mail order but the carriage is prohibitive unless you are buying industrial quantities.

Thanks to everyone for the recipes so far - keep them coming. I'll definitely be trying them out and I'll report back. Mr M's chilli and garlic spag sounds great, though I think I might be tempted to add a few prawns. Bellybabe- whose mushroom risotto are you touting out of interest, as I have my own fave?

[bellybabe]

Bellybabe- whose mushroom risotto are you touting out of interest, as I have my own fave?

Er...mine. I make it up as I go along. Had no sherry left so had to throw in some Cava . Sounds weird but it worked.

Tasty low fat meal... Kids won't touch it though.

[Epykat]

Lizzie, Epykat - you are both so sweet.

That's all you know

Maybe Waberthwait didn't start off all that near Carlisle but perhaps it's floated a bit closer recently!

I know Ravenglass too. Sure I've got a photo of myself aged about 15 on the miniature railway there........just the kind of thing a 15 year old wants to be doing

[Porty]

I know Ravenglass too. Sure I've got a photo of myself aged about 15 on the miniature railway there........just the kind of thing a 15 year old wants to be doing

I don't know why you are rolling your eyes there Epykat? When I was 30 years younger I remember one or two girls that used to like going for a chug on a steamer, arf, arf...

[Jay]

If ecm can't get one for you, would you like me to try in Furness, next time I'm down? - or would you count that as not a traditional one, as Furness was never in Cumberland ..........? (it is now in Cumbria, but most people there still consider themselves Lancastrians).

I have meant to ask you, Bob, whether you heard about Carlisle football club and the two goldfish?

[Bob Jefferson]

Jay, if you are in the area then yes please but don't make a special detour on my account.

The goldfish story was bizarre. My mum had kept the local papers for me so I read all about the great flood in detail. A lot of people didn't have content insurance and have lost everything, house sales have fallen through, property value has nosedived and even those who were insured face a minimum of 6 months b&b before their houses are habitable again. Most things are replaceable of course but people will also have lost items of great personal value.

[Jay]

My 'local' in the village in Furness is a mine of information - a bit like POL! - I'll ask next time I'm down about where to get the best Cumberland sausage - and when the debates have died down (!) - I'll take a consensus and go and get one for you!

It broke my heart to see the pictures of Carlisle, Bob. I don't know the town really well, but I did do quite a bit of FH research in the library and the Castle, and I always liked the town - friendly people and a lovely town centre, preserving the old, but also modern and up-to-date. I was devastated to see the pictures. And I know exactly what it means to lose personal items in a flood, as I lost half of my things in the Millennium Floods. I was amazingly lucky in that really precious items, like photos, diaries etc., were the things that were saved (I wasn't there when it happened, so it was pot-luck what was grabbed), but all my precious books went, and a lot of other items that had sentimental value. I really feel for people who get flooded out.