Food and drink

Hi We are hoping to enjoy haggis with neeps, to christen our new dining suite later to day. Coventry had a 'pancake parlour' once. Are there any foods or dishes specific to Coventry? What are your favourite dishes or as we are approaching Shrove Tuesday, what are your favourite ways of making & eating pancakes? Yum! I can't help the fact that both Pam & I love food. "O'h you have noticed!"

How about the large slices of chitterlings that Hurrell's used to sell from their stall in the old Barracks Square market?

My mother-in-law used to make wonderful home-made faggots. When I first came to Coventry and she told me what we were having for dinner my imagination ran riot because they sounded awful. I had never heard of them before but I absolutely loved them. She was a wonderful cook and made some excellent dishes out of next to nothing.

Faggot batches mean Cov to me. Can you still buy them in the town? Very few old fashioned cooked meat shops about. Can't think of any in this neck of the woods.

Hi Tricia & I know where proper butchers faggots can be bought at a Bedworth butchers, but as to a faggot or faggot & pea batch, you may have to wait for my Pam to do one. I don't know of a current sort of take-away that you are reminiscing, Argon. We love them too. Thank you all for your posts on this food topic.

Back in the early 80s I was a member of the Midland Arqubusiers (might seem strange, but I shot pistol!) Sometimes we went to a bell-target meet in one of the pubs where the Barwell-Hinckley-Bedworth-Nuneaton Bell-target league held their contests. The nosh afterwards was always faggot and pea batches. Blimey, they are cruel for a dieter....!

Mod: For those who might be wondering what an "Arquebusier" is Click Here

If you'll excuse me getting all historical on you all, Coventry does indeed have its very own dish - the God Cake, which goes back centuries, although I can't remember what era they're actually from. I've even located a recipe for you all... http://bakingforbritain.blogspot.com/2007/01/coventry-godcakes.html I'd read about them ages ago, but only last year got to taste one for the first time. They are triangular in shape, apparently representing the Holy Trinity. Leigh, the lady who works in the Guildhall with David McGrory, made some, and I can tell you.... they're absolutely delicious! Certainy, if you like Eccles Cakes, than you'll like these, too.

Hi Rob I have a feeling that you may have mentioned God Cakes on here before.

Ah, I've just found a mention of it from a while ago on this topic from last March.... Unique Coventry Words and Phrases mrwilliam and InnisRoad mentioned them.

Well, historical is what it is all about but having said that I like the sound of the cookbook mentioned Rob. Have a good day

Hi again Speaking for Rob,who I believe goes to work on his bike, we might all have a better day here as the 'sun has got his hat off'. It's a cold fresh beautiful morning. Please give our tennis man a cheer. I often get my historicals & hystericals mixed up, or as Ronny Barker once said he was not sure if he had missed a history lesson or a mystery lesson. Best wishes to you, Dreamtime

More cruelty to dieters!! I wonder if they might have something to do with (a) medieval Mystery Plays (I think Coventry was well-known its own ones?) and/or (b) the Coventry Carol...?

Mayjan, chitterlings are pigs' intestines. Sweetbreads are the pancreas and thymus glands, although some people mistakenly believe them to be testicles. I love a good black pudding. Likewise fish & chips with mushy peas, a taste I acquired at 'Fishy' Moores as a child. I'm not sure what really constitutes uniquely Coventry food. Faggot & pea batches, perhaps. Or pork & stuffing batches. They are things I never seemed to eat anywhere else. Then there was faggots, chips & mushy peas from the Parson's Nose after a night out in Coventry, known colloquially as an 'All-in'.

Scallops from North St chip shop, in the 50/60s......

Hi All Responding to the Hillfields photo thread has prompted me to ask if a D-Di ice-cream ranks as a Coventry food? I never tasted nicer or found it anywhere else.