Young diners lose taste for traditional British dishes

The Normans boiled cows' hoofs and considered the resulting gloop a delicacy.

Their calf's foot jelly was flavoured with saffron and pepper and served at banquets.

Hundreds of years later, the Victorians were still making calf's foot jelly and serving it as a healthy treat for invalids.

In the 21st century, young people brought up on fish fingers and television dinners seem less keen on calf's foot jelly.

Almost none of them have any idea what it is. Even fewer wish to try it.

A survey has discovered that British dishes handed down from generation to generation in the past 1,000 years are a source of bafflement to the young.

Just 2 per cent of under 25s had heard of calf's foot jelly and most had no idea what spotted dick was.

But 20 per cent of pensioners had heard of calf's foot jelly.

Only one in 100 twenty-somethings recognised bath chaps, a once popular meal of pigs' cheeks smoked like bacon and rolled in breadcrumbs.

The pattern was repeated across a range of traditional and regional fare, including celebrated dishes such as jugged hare, tripe and onions, and lardy cake.

The findings prompted concern that offal-inspired dishes such as brawn (jellied pig's head) and puddings with quaint names are dying out.

The survey for UKTV Food asked 2021 people how many of a list of 10 main courses and 10 desserts they recognised and wished to eat.

Only one in 20 young people had heard of squirrel casserole, a stew that also includes cider, onions, mushrooms and carrots.

Few, too, had heard of the combination of scrag end of mutton or bacon served with kidneys or fruit that goes by the name of Bedfordshire clanger.

Faggots (26 per cent) and bread and dripping (35 per cent) were the only staples widely recognised by youngsters.

Only a handful knew of the puddings Dorset dumpling (apples served with suet) and junket (sweetened milk coagulated with rennet).

By contrast, many if not most of the older diners had heard of the 20 endangered dishes.

More than a third recalled hog's pudding, 40 per cent knew bath chaps and half recognised the oddly-named pan heggarty.

Even though few young people had heard of the examples of traditional culinary accomplishment, many were uninterested in trying them, perhaps because so many are high on blood and guts.

For instance jugged hare (named after the jug in which the hare is boiled) comes with a sauce of hare blood and port.

Seven in 10 young people told researchers they would refuse to eat jugged hare if it was served at the house of a friend or relative.

Only half would be comfortable cooking a traditional roast dinner.

However, two-thirds felt at ease cooking a stir-fry, suggesting that foreign tastes are more appealing to the young.

Fergus Henderson, the chef who has done so much to restore the reputation of offal at St John Restaurant in Smithfield, said the findings were "quite gloomy".

- INDEPENDENT