Lancaster House is proud of the region’s rich food history and heritage. Nevermore so than on Lancashire Day. Indeed, the walls of our Foodworks Restaurant pay homage to the tradition of good honest food eaten by the ordinary working class families of the area. We’ve elevated lots of humble and homely Lancashire dishes from our past and are delighted to serve them in our restaurant and bar menus and within our Lancashire Afternoon Tea.
Flat Caps, Potted Shrimps, Smoked Delights and Ginger Parkin
The flat cap is synonymous with the workers of the north and can be traced as far back as the 14th Century. In 1571, an Act of Parliament, designed to stimulate the woollen trade, decreed that all males over 6 years of age (non-noble) were to wear woollen caps or pay a fine of three farthings per day. Needless to say, the fashion caught on.
The Foodworks Restaurant celebrates the Lancashire flat-cap tradition
The every-day food of those cap-wearing families was simple and nutritious and was required to fuel farm workers, fishermen and, when the industrial revolution took over, miners and factory workers.
Lancaster House features the best of Lancashire’s culinary past in the Foodworks Restaurant menu and in our sumptuous Lancashire Afternoon Tea that celebrates every aspect of the Red Rose county’s culinary creativity.
Frank Benson’s Morecambe Bay Potted Shrimps
With a glorious reputation around the globe, the best way to describe these little beauties is by sharing the video taken by the General Manager and Head Chef of our sister hotel, The Midland, when they went shrimping with Frank Benson himself a few years ago.
Smoked Salmon, Haddock and Mackerel
The Port of Lancaster Smokehouse prepares food using time-honoured traditional methods. Adamant that none of the flavour be lost by cutting corners or rushing the process, they believe that the vital ingredient is time. It’s got to be the shortest time possible from the catch to the Smokehouse. This way they can guarantee the depth of flavour from the fish. Then time slows down with the slow smoking of the produce that lends the broad, rich flavour that has won them countless awards.
Jade from Port of Lancaster Smokehouse joined us for Lancashire Afternoon Tea and brought a beautiful smoked salmon
We are delighted to partner with Port of Lancaster Smokehouse and use their smoked salmon in our Lancashire Afternoon Tea. Our Foodworks menu proudly presents Port of Lancaster Smoked Haddock Chowder and a beautifully zesty Smoked Chilli & Lime Mackerel. The Port of Lancaster Smokehouse platter is a popular choice on our Sandemans Bar menu.
Scotch Egg with World Famous Bury Black Pudding
The best black pudding claims its roots in Bury, part of Lancashire until 1974. The main ingredient – look away now vegetarians – is local pig’s blood. However it also contains a complex and careful mix of pearl barley, hulled and crushed oats (groats), onion, pork fat, oatmeal, flour and seasoning.
Brendan Baury of the Happy Belly Pie Company is passionate about Scotch Eggs, and he’s a bit of a master at making them! He uses award-winning Bury Black Pudding to wrap up the eggs and takes the Scotch Egg in our Lancashire Afternoon Tea to new heights. It’s a firm favourite in our tasty savoury selection and a splash of runny sunny yellow as well.
Lancashire Ginger Parkin
Traditionally eaten on Bonfire Night, fortunately it is now a year-round favourite. A substantial energy snack – great for taking down the mine where the blackness of the coal dust met its match in the black gooey depth of the treacle used in this local delight.
We make our own ginger parkin and serve it with a rich toffee sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream in our Foodworks menu, or as a miniature version in our Lancashire Afternoon Tea – eat your heart out sticky toffee pud! Read the Ginger Parkin Recipe here.
Lancashire Cheese
Mrs Kirkham of Beesley Farm, Goosnargh knows how to make cheese! Her happy 100-strong herd of Holstein Fresian cows is the key ingredient, and what she attributes to her successful tasty cheese. This crumbly flavoursome cheese features in Chef’s signature Cheese Scones and in Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire Cheese & Red Onion Marmalade Quiche on our Afternoon Tea savoury tier.
We’ve also got a full range of Lancashire cheeses – perfect for eating with a glass of Sandeman Port in front of a roaring fire!
A bottle of Sandeman Port and a selection of local cheese
Book Now for a Taste of Lancashire
These Lancashire delicacies and several others can be enjoyed in our Foodworks Restaurant and in our Lancashire Afternoon Tea. To make a reservation call 01524 844822.
