Wales

needs of the hardworking people of the nation. The geography is unsuited to all but the hardiest of crops. The bleak uplands ensured that, apart from oats, very few cereal crops could flourish. Consequently (and in common with other Celtic countries), oats became part of the staple diet and were incorporated into soups, porridge and cakes.

According to the 10th century Laws of Hywel Dda, the only two vegetables cultivated in Wales were cabbages and leeks. Up until the development of coal mines in the South and slate quarries in the North, Wales was essentially an agricultural country consisting of numerous small holdings and tenant farmers.

The foods that are considered to be most traditional throughout Wales include bacon, cheese, Bara Lawr (laver bread), crempog (pancakes), Bara Brith (tea cake) and cawl (somewhere between a broth, a stew and a soup).

Contemporary agriculture has seen Welsh lamb being exported globally but, in the past, lamb was strictly reserved for holidays and special occasions. The mainstay of Welsh meat consumption was pork. Homes in rural and in semi urban parts of Wales such as mining villages would have a pig-sty at the bottom of their gardens. The annual pig slaughter was a highly regarded occasion. Bacon was an essential element in Welsh cuisine due to it forming the traditional, and now the national, dish known as Cawl. This classic one-pot meal varies from region to region and even from house to house.

The fishing industry along the West coast of Wales was, and to some extent still is, highly important, with herring and mackerel proving to be the most popular catches. The Gower Coast used to enjoy an abundance of oysters. Sadly not any more due to over fishing, but there are still plenty of cockles and laver (seaweed). This was cooked and prepared to make laver bread or bara lawr and was usually sprinkled with oatmeal and cooked in bacon fat.

Although there are now many artisan cheeses hailing from Wales the main UK-nationally known cheese is Caerphilly.

The Welsh are not that enthusiastic about their food traditions as they see them as being borne more out of necessity than anything else. To make ends meet, the Welsh had to tolerate less prosperous times and to eat the same things over and over again, perhaps dressed in different guises. More importantly they had to make the food last for days as, poorer people never really knew were the next meal would be coming from. The change in focus towards nationally produced ingredients and cuisine means Wales has evolved