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Traditional Brummie Food

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True, Pete, and just out of interest, when did the Fish Market originate? According to Wiki, the Fish Market in Bell Street opened in 1869, so not long after the coming of the railway. This would imply, as we all know, that traditional Brummie food has changed substantially over the years, and certainly since the late 1950s with the coming of Chinese, Indian, and Thai restaurants, Spanish tapas, etc.

I'm guessing that if you go back farenough, the diet was predominanly vegetarian, as it was here in Crete until the late 1970s. Workers simply didn't have the money to buy meat and fish. Freshwater fishing is still popular, Alan, but few of the fish actually get eaten. Most get put back to provide sport for other anglers. Even in my young day, fishing in the canals only resulted in a few roach, which were either put straight back or into a keep net to be returned at the end of the day.

EDIT: Out of curiosity, I've just searched the directories on MidlandsHistoricalData for the word "fish" - their earliest is the 1815 Triennial - and it doesn't get a mention prior to the opening of the Bell Street premises, when lots of fish salesmen's names appear. Prior to that the only entries are the fish hook manufacturers in Redditch. This seems to confirm that fish was not a significant part of a Brummie's diet prior to the coming of the railsways at least.

Maurice :cool:
 
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sospiri said:
True, Pete, and just out of interest, when did the Fish Market originate? According to Wiki, the Fish Market in Bell Street opened in 1869, so not long after the coming of the railway. This would imply, as we all know, that traditional Brummie food has changed substantially over the years, and certainly since the late 1950s with the coming of Chinese, Indian, and Thai restaurants, Spanish tapas, etc.

I'm guessing that if you go back farenough, the diet was predominanly vegetarian, as it was here in Crete until the late 1970s. Workers simply didn't have the money to buy meat and fish. Freshwater fishing is still popular, Alan, but few of the fish actually get eaten. Most get put back to provide sport for other anglers. Even in my young day, fishing in the canals only resulted in a few roach, which were either put straight back or into a keep net to be returned at the end of the day.

Maurice :cool:
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the stratford canal was almost depleted by day and night tench fishing in the 50s
 
sospiri said:
True, Pete, and just out of interest, when did the Fish Market originate? According to Wiki, the Fish Market in Bell Street opened in 1869, so not long after the coming of the railway. This would imply, as we all know, that traditional Brummie food has changed substantially over the years, and certainly since the late 1950s with the coming of Chinese, Indian, and Thai restaurants, Spanish tapas, etc.

I'm guessing that if you go back farenough, the diet was predominanly vegetarian, as it was here in Crete until the late 1970s. Workers simply didn't have the money to buy meat and fish. Freshwater fishing is still popular, Alan, but few of the fish actually get eaten. Most get put back to provide sport for other anglers. Even in my young day, fishing in the canals only resulted in a few roach, which were either put straight back or into a keep net to be returned at the end of the day.

EDIT: Out of curiosity, I've just searched the directories on MidlandsHistoricalData for the word "fish" - their earliest is the 1815 Triennial - and it doesn't get a mention prior to the opening of the Bell Street premises, when lots of fish salesmen's names appear. Prior to that the only entries are the fish hook manufacturers in Redditch. This seems to confirm that fish was not a significant part of a Brummie's diet prior to the coming of the railsways at least.

Maurice :cool:
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there is a thread.......Fish Market Wholesale 1869
 
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Astoness said:
love bread pudding john...

lyn
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I hate bread pudding. A little shop made it every day. I bought some when I got my first job. It bounced off the door. What I did like was baked suet pudding.
I can smell the bakery from the night shift. Suttons. It wafted across the allotments and the common. It wafted for miles. Fwauuuugh!
 
Nico said:
I hate bread pudding. A little shop made it every day. I bought some when I got my first job. It bounced off the door. What I did like was baked suet pudding.
I can smell the bakery from the night shift. Suttons. It wafted across the allotments and the common. It wafted for miles. Fwauuuugh!
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I know the feeling Nico. I loved suet pudding but also loved the bread pudding too. Just can not get the same quality any more, so have to make to with my memories of the taste & smell. One shop I used to buy mine from was on the corner of sutherland street & Lichfield road. How I miss their cakes.
 
Edifi said:
Michael ,you ain't tasted my wife's Bread Pud

Whoooooooooooo Luvely
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I am salivating at the thought of it Edifi. Lol. I used to love making bread pudding, but have not been able to for over 10 years. I tried teaching my mum how to make it properly, but she could not get it right. Cake shops & bakeries are not like they used to be.
 
Edifi said:
Michael .every few weeks the wife makes my S/laws a bread pudding each.Until they met my daughters they had never tasted it.Now they love it.And it helps to not throw he bread away:yum
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It must be good Edifi. I was never too keen on it until I tasted some at Mountford's bakery, then I was hooked. Just a pity I can not stand for too long making it myself.:):)
 
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