Care home game: do you know where these UK regional dishes are from?
So many memories are tied up with the food. It’s a subject we all love to talk about! That’s why care home caterers are finding that food and mealtimes provide great opportunities for sparking conversations and making dining a sociable part of their residents’ day.
Take the time to unlock the memories and the stories our favourite foods contain and, according to advice by the Alzheimer’s Society, residents can benefit from improved levels of nutrition, hydration and increased social interaction. One way is to incorporate food with a sense of place. Classic regional dishes are not only comfortingly familiar, they’re also packed with goodness. So, take a trip down memory lane, to give your residents a meal to remember.
How many of these could you place? Turn it into a game for your residents, with the winner getting to choose the first dish! Scroll down to download the game.
Scouse
Who knew Liverpudlians take their nickname from an ancient Norwegian mariner’s stew of lamb, potatoes and carrots? It must be the city’s seafaring roots that led to this meal’s introduction into their kitchens, and hearts!
Cranachan
Who wouldn’t love this Scottish concoction of fresh raspberries, cream and a generous sprinkling of toasted oats? Try it with a dram of whisky folded in for extra brownie points!
Bara brith
Welsh for ‘mottled bread’, this moist, moreish treat is Wales’ answer to a yummy fruit loaf. It’s flavoured with tea, dried fruits and spices.
Pease pudding
Pease pudding hot, or pease pudding cold, its blend of split yellow peas, salt and spices goes perfectly with a hearty joint of ham. Ask any Geordie!
Bedfordshire clanger
Also known as the Hertfordshire clanger, these portable lunches kept farm workers fuelled up until supper time with their suet cases crammed with meat.
Arbroath smokies
A firm fixture in Fife and the villages along Scotland’s east coast, ‘smokies’ are whole wood-smoked haddock, and are wholly delicious.
Lancashire hot pot
The ‘hot pot’ was usually a cast iron pot left to stew for hours. Tender mutton is joined by onion and sliced potatoes in this meaty stew.
Toad in the hole
A souped-up Yorkshire pudding, toad in the hole consists of sausages in Yorkshire pudding batter, usually served with onion gravy and vegetables. A square meal in itself.
Parkin
A high tea treat from the North, this sponge cake is a gooey mixture of molasses, oatmeal and ginger.
Melton Mowbray pork pie
There is only one place to go for a traditional English pork pie, and that’s the pretty Leicestershire village of Melton Mowbray. Served hot or cold, it’s perfect for an afternoon snack.
Haggis, tatties and neeps
For Burns’ Night, New Year or warming winter suppers, the Scottish holy trinity of haggis, mashed potato and swede (‘neeps’) is a spicy, savoury treat. For a veggie haggis, swap lamb for lentils.
Stargazy pie
Curiously styled with fish heads poking upwards from the crust, this Cornish pie hides pilchards, eggs and potatoes.
Cromer crab cakes
This Norfolk delicacy is caught in the North Sea and is often transformed into delicious crab cakes. Cromer crabs are known for their high proportion of sweet white meat.
Cornish scones
The big question is – jam or cream first? In Cornwall, jam goes first, then cream, and in Devon vice versa. This afternoon tea delight has become popular country-wide.
