Traditional Lake District Food

Traditional Lake District Food is spicy and distinctive. Lake District recipes as we now know developed in the 18th century ,when exotic spices, fruits and sugar came into the busy port of Whitehaven,Cumberland ( now part of Cumbria) one of the largest ports in the world at that time, from the Indies. These exotic West Indian ingredients gave traditional Lake District food its distinctive flavors.

The rich flavors of rum, dark sugar, dried fruits and spices feature in Traditional Lake District recipes, such as Lake District Tea Bread The rich flavors are particularly suited to winter foods, and Lake District recipes make excellent Christmas recipes.

On the savory side, every local butcher has his own secret recipe for Cumberland sausage (picture courtesy of the Daily Telegraph) Cumberland sausage is a very meaty pork sausage- minimum 90% pork, very little cereal, lots of herbs and spices- delicious.
All Lake District butchers have their own special Cumberland sausage recipes.
At White Moss House we serve Cumberland sausage on our English breakfast platter. Many pubs in the Lake District serve Cumberland sausage with mashed potato and onion gravy on the bar meals menus.

The most famous Lakeland dessert is gingerbread. There are many different recipes for gingerbread, probably the most famous of which is Grasmere gingerbread..

(Photo of Grasmere Gingerbread thanks to David Willis and Cumbria Tourism. Not for reuse.)

The famous Sarah Nelson Grasmere Gingerbread is a sort of biscuit, rather than a soft cake. In Grasmere and Ambleside every year there is a traditional event called Rushbearing , where the village people have a procession to take fresh rushes to the church to lay on the floor, and at these events the children are always served with a sticky, soft gingerbread.

Dates and rum also feature largely in Lake District food, as in the Cumberland Rum Nicky, and the Cumberland rum butter-click through for the recipes below.
My recipe for Lake District tea bread is a great traditional recipe- here's the recipe for Lakeland tea bread from our kitchen at Wordsworth's White Moss House
Here we'll look at what makes Lake District food distinctive, and give you some recipes and ideas to whet your appetite.
Recently I visited the Westmorland County Show ( the Lake District is mostly in the old county of Westmorland) Together Westmorland and Cumberland are now united as Cumbria. This year the Taste of Cumbria food hall was absolutely magnificent. I bought relishes, pickles and herb jellies. I tasted local cheeses, Cumberland sausage, air dried Cumberland hams, smoked fish, local cakes, and so many good things .

Then of course, there were Lake District Ales and beers, and special Lake District treats such as Damson Gin.Recent years have seen lots of new micro breweries spring up brewing beer by traditional methods.
If you live in the UK and would like to buy Traditional Lake District food online, there are lots of useful links on this page.

If you can't visit the Lake District, or even buy the Lake District food because you live outside the UK, I hope you still enjoy reading about Traditional Lake District Food and maybe trying some of the recipes. The magnificent Lake District National Park is a magnet for vistiors, and the Lake District food is an essential part of a visit to the Lake District.