Welsh Food Recipes

What is most interesting with Welsh food recipes is how they separate themselves quite a bit from others of the British Isles. This is due to the fact that the cultural heritage is different, it is generally accepted that the Welsh are descendants of Celtic tribes that lived in modern England. When the Germanic Saxons arrived the Celts were driven westward.

History
The history of Wales is of course intertwined with that of England's. The Welsh used to refer to themselves as Britons and today many consider themselves to be descendants of the 'true' inhabitants of the British Isles. In many ways the region that today is Wales held its own a lot better than the inhabitants further east, or rather the Celts were pushed to the west were they made their final stands agains Romans, Saxons and Normans. Since the Middle Ages always their own country, Wales (or Cymru as they call it themselves) has been very closely involved with England. The membership of the United Kingdom made Wales participate in the expansion and fall of the British Empire. Although it got industrialized in the 18th century, the main income far in to the 20th century was from keeping livestock like sheep and cows. The mineral rich mountains created large scale mining. Regardless of the closeness to England they have always held their own, the country is still bilingual, their traditional Welsh food recipes are also quite different from the English. However the last decades have brought the Welsh much closer to the English; Chinese, Indian and US American fast food is very popular.

Some Typical Dishes
Here are some typical traditional Welsh dishes, many of them date back to the Middle Ages. Typical ingredients are seafood, various dairy products, mutton and leeks.

Welsh rarebit Also known as Welsh rabbit. Basically a piece of toast with a savoury spiced cheese sauce that is baked in an oven.
Cockles Small salt water clams that are eaten in various forms.
Laverbread This is made from a type of seaweed known as laver. It is prepared by mincing the seaweed in to a paste, this paste is traditionally fried before serving. Lately it has been receiving attention for its nutrional values.
Cawl Is a stew mostly made from lamb leeks and various root vegatables.
Roast lamb with laver or mint sauce A really traditional dish. The variety with laver sauce is by many regarded as the national dish of Wales.
Faggots Each country have their meatballs. In Wales they are often made from pig and lamb liver.
Welsh cakes Raisin cakes prepared on a hot stone.
Leek soup Leek is the vegetable most prominently associated with Wales.

Beverages
The Welsh are mainly renown for their ale's based on pale malt.

Submitted Welsh Food Recipes
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