2011 Local History Exhibition

Bacon Badgers Go Down In History

When Rosemary asked the Afternoon WI to do a few cakes and one or two bacon badgers for the history weekend we, of course, said 'No problem!' (Rosemary said she would make the puddings).

Well, a few cakes turned into tea and cake for a hundred and the bacon badgers into lunch for fifty.

Several members rose to the challenge and a splendid array of cakes and biscuits appeared for tea on the Saturday. We served about a hundred people in an hour and a half - some of them came round twice! There wasn't much left by five o'clock and all the helpers retired home for a quiet sit down.

Sunday dawned, the gang all reappeared, ovens were turned on and kettles boiled and we girded ourselves for the battle. The bacon badgers and the baked apples for fifty had all been made in advance so simply needed reheating. We would have liked to serve buttered cabbage with the badger but it is difficult to get that right when catering for large numbers, so we settled for peas and carrots which are easier to keep warm. Jean made her lovely parsley sauce at home and brought it in a flask. In theory, the pre-booked lunches had a time slot but of course that all went awry and we just served people as they turned up. From the comments made at the time and later, everyone seemed to enjoy their lunch and, despite the hard work, we enjoyed serving them.

I would particularly like to thank Rosemary for making the baked apples, Mary Hazleton, Joyce Walker, Jean Gabbitas and Daphne Williams (all WI members) for all their help over the weekend, but our particular thanks go to Joyce's friend Jenny and her niece Connie for their sterling work washing up. They were wonderful and we couldn't have managed without them. (No, they're not WI members but they should be!)

Here is my mother-in-law's recipe for Bacon Badger and no,I don't know where the name comes from, I'm just a northern incomer.

Suet pastry made from 8oz self raising flour, 4oz beef suet and a pinch of salt.

Filling made from 1lb chopped bacon, 1 medium to large onion, chopped, 1 large potato, chopped and a teaspoon of chopped sage (or any other herb you prefer), plenty freshly ground black pepper but no salt.

Mix the filling well together then make the suet pastry. Roll out the pastry to an oblong and spread the filling on top. Dampen the edges and roll up. Wrap in a well floured boiling cloth and tie into a neat parcel. Drop into a pan of boiling water and simmer for 2.5 to 3 hours. Serve with a good green vegetable and parsley sauce (or whatever you like, really.)

Alternatively, use the pastry to line a large pudding basin, saving a little pastry for a lid, put in the filling, put on the pastry lid , cover and steam in a saucepan for 2 '/2 to 3 hours. Which is what I did.