By now you know about World Food Sundays; it’s the Sunday-night equivalent of saying a big old ‘eff you’ to the Monday blues. Why should you spend 24 hours out of the 48-hour weekend getting ready for/dreading Monday?
So reclaim your Sundays by throwing a mini-party with your housemates, World Food Sunday style. This week, in honour of St David’s Day – we're off to Wales*. Cymru am byth!
*This costume optional.
The Food
It’s not all about leeks. Although if we’re playing on clichés, a lot of Welsh recipes do include sheep (no giggling at the back, please kids), so we suggest this traditional Welsh cawl (stew) from The Hairy Bikers that’s simple and cheap to make.
For afters, it has to be bara brith. If you’ve managed to get this far in life without sampling some, then it’s high time you got on board. It’s a bread-y type thing with dried fruit in and tastes INSANE fresh out of the oven and smothered in salty butter.
Here’s the OFFICIAL recipe
Ingredients
450g/1lb mixed, dried fruit
300ml/½pt cold tea
175g/6oz muscovado sugar
1 medium size free-range egg
2tbsp orange juice
1tbsp orange zest
1tbsp honey
450g/1lb self raising flour
1tsp mixed spice
Extra honey for glazing
Method
Put the mixed dried fruit into a mixing bowl, pour over the tea, cover and leave to soak overnight.
The next day, mix together the sugar, egg, orange juice, zest and honey, add to the fruit. Sift in the flour and spice, and mix well. Pour the mixture into a buttered loaf tin, 1.2L/2pt. Bake in a preheated oven at gas mark 3/160c/325f for about 1¾ hours. The loaf should be golden in colour and firm to the touch in the middle. Baste with honey while still warm. Allow to cool thoroughly before storing in a cake tin.
The recipe for Bara Brith can be altered slightly by adding a few flavours. When soaking the fruit, substitute a quarter of the fluid with a whisky liqueur. Replace the honey and fruit juice with two tablespoons of marmalade. Alternatively, replace two tablespoons of fruit with chopped stem ginger, and replace the juice and honey with lemon marmalade, and the orange zest with lemon.
The Drink
A few choices here. Wales is big on beer so if you’re a big fan then may we suggest the Snowdonia Ale from the Purple Moosebrewery in North Wales, which you can buy on their website. It’s not too heavy and for ale is surprisingly drinkable.
But if you really can’t stand beer and fancy a cocktail instead then how about the Uther’s Dragon (Uthyr Pendragon) from RecipeWise.
According to them;
‘This powerful red cocktail perfectly recalls this symbol, which is also the symbol of Uther, Chief Dragon of the Celts. According to Arthurian Legend, Uther, through Merlin’s help, tricks the wife of his enemy, Lady Igraine, and sleeps with her. Thus Arthur, “the once and future king” is born.’
So there you go.
Ingredients
For the raspberry puree:
Large punnet of raspberries
60g (2oz) icing sugar (powdered sugar)
1 measure orange liqueur
1 measure raspberry liqueur
For the cocktail:
1 & 1/2 measures vodka
1 measure orange liqueur
1 measure fresh juice from a blood orange
1 tbsp raspberry puree (see above)
1/2 tsp sugar syrup
1 fresh raspberry to garnish**
**
Method
Make the raspberry puree: Place the raspberries and powdered sugar in a small blender with the orange liqueur and raspberry liqueur, and purée until totally smooth, sieve the puree through a fine mesh to clear any pips (this can be done in advance and kept in the fridge).
Make the drink: Add all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with some cracked ice and shake very well. Strain into a cocktail (martini) glass, and serve garnished with a fresh raspberry or two.
If that all sounds a bit complicated, then there’s always a Prince of Wales.
The Playlist
Welsh songs from Welsh people. It starts with Land Of My Fathers. Because that’s the law – although not the Katherine Jenkins version, because that’s a crime.
The Film
Submarine! Richard Ayoade’s coming-of-age tale set in Swansea is the perfect snapshot of the trials and tribulations of being a teenager. Plus, it gives you a reason to Google pictures of star Craig Roberts and his adorable girlfriend Sal Bennett.
If you’re after something with a bit more ‘oomph’, rewatch the Cardiff-set Human Traffic and see Danny Dyer before he became er, Danny Dyer.
Follow Jess on Twitter @jess_commons
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.