English Recipes

Faggots

These are little round parcels made like crepinettes, but contain pigs liver and lungs and cereal, salt, pork fat or bacon. They are wrapped in the fatty membrane from around the stomach and guts of a pig that has been softened in warm water. They are then cooked slowly in the oven. They are also known as poor man's goose or savoury duck. They are best when home made from ground meats.

** ThinkQuest Editor's note: this recipe has many versions on the internet. Most call for pigs liver, some for pork belly, and one from the BBC for pork fry (liver, heart and "lights" - lungs?). Most also mention pork fat or pork suet, and a couple, but not many, mention bacon. Most recipes suggest bread crumbs rather than cereal. One recipe said the fatty membrane, or caul, was not needed, but most included it. These recipes have generated some controversy, so we thought we would cite a few of the regional variations.

Grorty Pudding

Grorty Pudding is another traditional recipe in the midlands. It is basically rice, leeks and lamb boiled and simmered to a paste for about two hours.

** ThinkQuest Editor's note: this is also called Groaty Pudding or Groaty Dick. Most recipes for this call for beef, not lamb, although one mentioned "leftover meats". All of them call for oats, not rice, cooked slowly to a porridge texture.