More than cockles and lava bread...

One of the most memorable St David's Day hilarity moments occurred in 1987 at Ysgol Y Ddwylan, where I spent my formative years in education. We were all sitting on our backsides in the gym hall, legs crossed and hands clasped on shoes, and dressed in traditional Welsh costume - miners outfits with clogs for the boys, red cloaks, petticoats and tall black hats for the girls. We were also encouraged to wear either a leek or a daffodil on our breasts, as these are both traditional symbols of the nation. We were in the gym hall to learn of St David's many miracles. The most famous occurred in mid-Wales. David was preaching to a crowd who were all airs and graces until those on the back couldn't see anything. As you can imagine, this was intolerable. To avert a riot, David simply gestured to them, (I understand in an annoyingly nonchalant manner) the ground rose up under their feet, and the ruffians now had a grandstand view. Following that, they then saw a white dove come and land on his shoulder - a sign of God's blessing at this action. Other interesting "facts" included that David was born on a cliff during a storm (a sure sign of foreboding) and his diet refrained from meat or beer. Anyhow, back to the primary school gym. Some girl at the front who was only four and had red hair obviously got hungry during the lesson, and decided to eat her daffodil. This was swiftly followed by some screeching and screaming as she was rushed to the boys toilets and forced to throw it up by a teacher. I can only think that as some people were eating their leeks, she thought it was fine. Obviously, rather than showing some concern, we all fell about laughing and tried to storm the toilets to have a pee, thereby embarrassing to the poor girl further. Completely hilarious, God we were cruel at times.

We didn't particularly eat anything on St David's Day, but often people would eat Welsh Cakes, or some Bara Brith with some tea. If you were after something savoury, you might eat some Cawl [kow-ul], which is a half-way house between a soup and a stew, traditionally made from lamb, perhaps some bacon, potatoes, carrots and stock. All of this is very hearty stuff, and whilst fantastic for the home, full of history and love, it hasn't exactly created shock-waves through the culinary world. Thankfully, there are now some great chefs taking the undoubtedly great produce we have and refining them into delicious meals. Matt Tebbutt, owner of The Foxhunter in Natygarry, is a really good example of this. One of his signature dishes is Lamb with Saffron Leeks and Cockles - a delicious marriage of sea, earth and animal. You can find the recipe here, where there is also a video talking you through it.

So there, the obligatory St David's Day post quickly finished. To friends at home, enjoy yourselves, and make sure you only drink Felinfoel Ale. All day long. And if you really do want to cook something Welsh today, here you go:

Hwyl!

Welsh Cakes
Makes 20-odd

I first cooked these as a nine-year old in primary school.

God I felt impressive.

Ingredients:
8oz self-raising flour
4oz butter
3oz sultanas
3oz caster sugar
1 level tsp mixed-spice
1 egg

Method:
1. Sift all the dry ingredients, then add the butter as if you were making pastry. Try to get that nice 'bread crumb' consistency.
2. Mix through the sultanas.
3. Beat the egg, add it to the mixture, to make a dough. If the mixture seems to dry you can add a little water or milk to bring it together.
4. Now roll the mixture onto a floured surface, you need it to be a quarter of an inch thick.
5. Cut out circles, about two and a half inches wide.
6. Cook on a heavy bottomed frying pan, lightly greased with some butter. They should be browned well, but not burned, so don't cook on too high a heat. I like eating them with more butter and/or some Welsh Honey.