Scotch Eggs And Whitby, Yorkshire, England -- For The Archives -- November 18, 2022

Of the thirty years and one day in the USAF, perhaps the most memorable was the time I spent in Yorkshire, England, between 2002 and 2004. 

But in all that time, I never came across Scotch eggs, and now, two days ago, I had my first Scotch eggs, in north Texas of all places. Wow. 

From wiki:

Scotch eggs: other claims include the name coming from a nickname used by Londoners who lived around Wellington Barracks after Officers of the Scots Guards stationed there, and who developed a taste for the snack.

According to Culinary Delights of Yorkshire, they originated in Whitby, Yorkshire, England, in the 19th century, and were originally covered in fish paste rather than sausage meat. 

Wellington Barracks: 

Wellington Barracks is a military barracks in Westminster, central London, for the Foot Guards battalions on public duties in that area. The building is located about three hundred yards from Buckingham Palace, allowing the guard to be able to reach the palace very quickly in an emergency, and lies between Birdcage Walk and Petty France. Three companies are based at the barracks, as well as all of the Foot Guards bands and the regimental headquarters.

Whitby, Yorkshire, England: wiki.

• one Saturday, I hiked the English coast from Robin Hood's Bay to Whitby;
• the Whitby Abbey
• St Hilda
• Easter
• Dracula
• jet: I got a "jet" cross for our daughter Laura; priceless; the memories;
• Its attraction as a tourist destination is enhanced by the proximity of the high ground of the North York Moors national park and the heritage coastline and by association with the horror novel Dracula. Jet and alum were mined locally, and Whitby jet, which was mined by the Romans and Victorians, became fashionable during the 19th century.

Scotch eggs: link here.

• along with the "right" Scotch, my Saturday brunch: Scotch eggs and Scotch
  
• Thirsty Lion: pub with food
  
• eleven of them across the US
• only eleven
• another one soon to come to north Ft Worth 
• strictest confidence; don't tell anyone
  
• one of the eleven "owns" Denver"
• one of the other eleven: one minute -- by foot -- from my house.

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Culinary Delights of Yorkshire

Link here.

The site lists ten. 

Most of which I was familiar.

Favorite: Wensleydale cheese.

Although first produced in the 12th Century by Cistercian monks in the valley, it wasn’t until 1897 that the cheese was first produced on a large scale. It’s so loved in fact that it recently achieved Protected Geographical Indication (PDI), putting it in the same company as the Cornish Pasty and the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie.

But of this I did not know. Most interesting. My mom made the best rhubarb pie -- she grew her own plants.

Forced rhubarb:

Yorkshire is famous for the Rhubarb Triangle, a nine-square mile area between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell which is renowned for producing early forced rhubarb.

West Yorkshire remains a very important area in rhubarb production and once accounted for 90 per cent of the world’s rhubarb production.

Marking the significance of the region every year is the Wakefield Festival of Food, Drink & Rhubarb.

Forced rhubarb? I'm glad you asked:

Rhubarb is usually known for its extremely sour flavor that’s best tempered with a generous amount of sugar and other fruits to produce sweet stalks. Want to learn how to grow rhubarb that doesn’t need sugar at all?

Forcing rhubarb is the growing technique that makes this happen, and it also gives growers an early crop.

What Is Forced Rhubarb?

Have you ever brought a plant bulb from a cold garage to grow it inside, like a daffodil or crocus? That technique is known as forcing. A dormant plant is exposed to cold or even frost, and then brought to an ideal climate to start growing.

With rhubarb, forcing goes one step further by also blocking all light from the plant in order to get rapid growth.

Why Should You Grow Rhubarb in the Dark?

Growing rhubarb in the dark, and we mean total darkness, accomplishes two things. First, the rhubarb stalks grow faster than usual as the plant searches for light to make chlorophyll. Second, the sweet glucose produced in the rhubarb that would normally be used to grow the plant’s huge leaves is instead stored in the stalks. This means that the stalks of forced rhubarb are sweeter instead of sour.

During forcing, the rhubarb plants will be on the alert for even the tiniest bit of sunlight so that it can begin its natural growing process. Even the beam from a flashlight would be enough to break the forcing! For this reason, rhubarb farmers have been known to pick forced rhubarb by candlelight so as not to disrupt the plants.