Some Welsh Delicacies Trivia Quiz

Answer: Welsh cakes or pice ar y maen

All of these have dried fruit in them. Dundee cake is from Scotland, and Eccles Cakes from the northwest of England. Lardy Cake comes in different recipes from all parts of England.

Welsh cakes are just divine - especially eaten hot off the bakestone. I have written another quiz which will tell you more about these delightful cakes - and which also explains how to make them.

I first experienced these Welsh specialties at my Grandmother's house (my "Mamgu" in Welsh) in Clunderwen, in Pembrokeshire.

Answer: Glamorgan Sausage

The first mention of these delicacies comes from Welsh "travel" writer George Borrow, in the 1950's. They were originally made with Glamorgan Cheese (hence the name), but this cheese gradually disappeared, and the Glamorgan sausage is now made with Caerphilly Cheese. Caerphilly is a town in Glamorgan.

Mix in Breadcrumbs, egg and a bit of seasoning (mustard will do the job nicely) and you're ready to fry them up - they make a lovely accompaniment to all sorts of meal. Fry them in a little oil, or coat them in oil and grill or bake them in a very hot oven.

I first tasted these at a St David's Day breakfast in Caerphilly Castle (ironically!) some 10 years ago - and now I can't get enough of them!

Answer: Laverbread

Although this sounds disgusting to many people, it is absolutely delicious - a sort of salty, slightly sticky version of spinach. You can roll it in oats and fry it as a little "cake", or just throw a good old dollop of it in the frying pan with the bacon and eggs.

When I was little, we used to stop in Swansea market whenever we could (just about the best place in Wales to get delicious, fresh laverbread, harvested from the beaches of the Gower Peninsula), and then rush home to Cardiff to cook it up with home cured bacon, free range eggs and bread still warm from the oven. Now I'm older - I still stop by at Swansea market whenever I pass to get some laverbread - a real taste of Wales!

Answer: sewin

Sewin are caught every spring in virtually every river in Wales, from the Wye in the south east to the Dee in the north east of the country. It is related to the Brown Trout, and migrates into the rich feeding grounds of the Severn Channel and the Irish Sea every Autumn, before returning to spawn in the rivers next spring.

In looks and in taste, it really is half way between a trout and a salmon, though the majority of fishermen - and gourmets - prefer a sewin over either of these other two fish. A restaurant in Wales with sewin on the menu in the spring or early summer is usually a very popular restaurant! I ate my first fresh sewin in a restaurant in Carmarthen on the River Towy some 20 years ago - and remember the delicious experience to this day!

Answer: Bara brith

My auntie from Barmouth always used to make this tea time treat by soaking the fruit overnight in cold tea. Then early the next afternoon, she'd add this to some sugar, spices, an egg, some self raising flour and the rind of a lemon before putting it in a loaf tin and baking it in the oven. The smell would greet us as we came into the house, and we couldn't wait till tea time!

Answer: Cawl

Traditionally, this is made with lamb left overs, but personally I think it's even nicer when made with chicken or turkey. Very simple too - throw all the scraps into a big pot, add a bit of water, some vegetables (leeks are a must, carrots, potatoes, swedes and turnips also work well) and boil away for as long as you want to. Keep adding more vegetables as the week goes on, and the stock will last for days.

Literally translated, the word "Cawl" (it rhymes with howl or foul) means "a mish mash" which accurately describes the lack of a definitive recipe for this meal. The use of the word can be traced back as far as the 14th century in Wales, and would have been the traditional shepherd's or farmhand's meal - if they could get hold of scraps of meat, then adding some vegetables to it would have been the most nutritious and satisfying meal of the week - and all the more reason for trying to make it last for as many days as possible by replenishing the stock with more vegetables every day.

I've eaten this since as long as I can remember - every Welsh "mam" knows how to make "Cawl"!

Answer: Penderyn

Richard Lewis, known as "Dic Penderyn", was the young man hung in Cardiff Goal for his part in the Merthyr Uprising.

Guto Nyth Bran is a legendary runner who died after a famous race at nearby Mountain Ash. The Chartists also have their roots in the same area of Glamorgan, and Owen Money is a Welsh entertainer and football fan from Merthyr.

Penderyn whiskey is quite unique - I was given my first bottle for Christmas some 4 or 5 years ago, and am very happy if someone in my family manages to keep up the annual tradition! For aficionados of Malt Whiskey, it has a little bit of the iodine of an Islay Malt, but with the the underlying sweetness of a Highland Malt, if that makes any sense - so the best of both worlds, if you like your malts like I do!

Answer: Faggots

Many valleys terrace houses had pig sties in the back yard - the only animal practical to keep in such confined spaces. Every part of the animal was used to feed the family, and legend has it that the faggot was developed from the need to utilise the offal in a reasonably tasty way! Whilst they are now often served in fancy sauces in posh restaurants, the best place still to get a good, traditional plate of faggots, mushy peas, gravy and chips is upstairs at Cardiff market - as I still do on a regular basis. I reckon it's in my roots!

Answer: Clarks Pie

Better known as the "Claaarkies" or the "Claaarksies" in Caaaaardiff, like! Mrs Mary Claaaark of Grangetown staaaarted baking them in her home in 1909, before her son, Harold Percy Clark, moved to Bristol in the 1920s and took the recipe there. Although they now come in all shapes and flavours, the traditional Clarksies is an oval shape, and contains either Beef and Onion or Steak and Kidney.

I had my first Clarksies as a little lad on the Bob Bank at Cardiff City's Ninian Park - as my father did before me, and my son has after me. I don't care what those Bristolians say - the Clarksies is ours!

Brian Clark (a Bristolian!) scored the goal that beat Real Madrid in 1971 - but has never confirmed whether or not he's partial to the pie which bears his name, and is still enjoyed at the ground where he scored that famous goal.

Answer: Welsh rabbit or rarebit

The precise origin of the term "Welsh rabbit" is unknown, though references to it are first seen in the literature of the early 18th Century. It could be a slightly sarcastic name created in the days when the Welsh were a notoriously poor race: only a few people could afford butcher's meat, and whilst in other parts of the UK, rabbit was the poor man's meat, in Wales the poor man's meat was cheese. This apparent nationalistic "slight" was rectified by changing the name to "Rarebit" under some interpretations - whilst other interpretations simply say it changed to "rarebit" as no one could make a logical connection between "rabbit" and a dish which had no meat in it whatsoever!

Whilst I've been fed this tasty snack since I was a small boy, I have two abiding memories of it, both associated with West Wales - once, after being stranded on Caldey Island and being "rescued" by a lifeboat, cold, shivering, frightened and starving, the only food available in the local pub in Tenby was Welsh Rarebit - manna! The second one is eating the most divine interpretation of the feast at Pemberton's Chocolate Factory, near Whitland. What cheese, chocolate and rabbits have in common mind, goodness only knows!

I hope you feel inspired to try out some of these "Welsh" delicacies now - and maybe even retracing some of my steps around Wales inspired by some of the wonderful memories I associate with just some of my country's interesting foods and drinks!