Tom Kerridge
My main course: Rags and Riches
My Great Briton: Sir Bobby Charlton
BBC
- Toby Earle
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Sir Bobby Charlton, the brilliant Manchester United and England footballer, is the Great Briton who has inspired my main course. He was a World Cup winner, one of the Busby Babes, a prolific goal scorer, and probably one of the most well-known footballers in the world. The way he conducted himself makes him a brilliant and great Briton.
There is so much about him that is inspirational, even if you’re not necessarily a follower of football, and he was a real advocate for the game and for gentlemanly and sporting conduct. I’m very fortunate to have cooked for Sir Bobby several times in the directors’ box at Old Trafford and there was an aura about this great man who had achieved so much.
To celebrate his life, my dish would be called Rags and Riches, based on a rag pudding, a well-known Manchester and Lancashire dish. It’s a steamed suet pastry, wrapped in cheesecloth or muslin, and the filling is roasted and minced beef with onions.
Inside my pudding would be braised shin of beef, oxtail and roasted mince, running through an incredibly rich gravy made from the braising liquor. Whole silverskin onions would be mixed throughout, with great big pieces of roasted bacon and Lancashire’s famous black pudding. I’d then wrap this in a suet pudding pastry, which is in turn wrapped in the rag – a cheesecloth – and then steamed so the pastry puffs up. I’d add a number nine on the pastry, in honour of Sir Bobby’s number at Manchester United.
We’d leave it to cool a little, before brushing the pudding with melted butter and crispy black pudding crumbs. I’d then bake the pudding in a very hot oven so the dish almost has a crisp bread crust.
There would also be a serving of parched peas, which are a little bit like mushy peas, but you use black peas, with loads of butter. They are very famous over Oldham and Lancashire way and they are absolutely delicious. Squares of set mint jelly would top them off.
For the green, I’d like braised kale that has been cooked slowly for two hours, served with anchovies and grated lemon, so the kale has an almost salsa verde-style kick. And you can’t go up North without having chips, so on the side, I would have great big chunky chips cooked in beef fat. There would be extra gravy available to the side of the dish, served in a small replica of the Jules Rimet Trophy.
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This would most definitely be served family-style in the middle of the table. Rag pudding is one of those dishes that doesn’t look very pretty once you start messing around with it, but it’s all about the flavour.
Authors
Toby Earle
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