Gastronomy of Wales

 1. Welsh rarebit

Providing etymologists with a headache for centuries – it was originally known as Welsh rabbit, though at no point was rabbit one of the ingredients. This is, quite simply, the world’s finest cheese on toast. Individual cooks and experts will insist on certain cast-iron conditions, debating everything from the thickness of the toast to whether or not to add paprika. My personal, purist-angering tip would be to use the flavour-packed beer and mustard cheese Y Fenni (a cheese variety from Abergavenny), instead of the usual strong cheddar. You can always give it a French-style croque madame treatment and serve it with a fried egg on top, at which point it becomes buck rarebit.

2. Glamorgan sausage

The search for the perfect vegetarian alternative to the great breakfast banger was called off at the southernmost tip of South Wales where these intensely flavoured cheese sausages were created. The Glamorgan cheese that gave the sausages their name no longer exists, and has since been replaced by the intense, crumbly white alternative from nearby Caerphilly. If making them yourself, don’t lower yourself to cheating by adding mashed potato to the mix, as Glamorgan sausages are a lesson in purest simplicity. You'll need leeks, cheese, seasoning, mustard, herbs, breadcrumbs. Ta-da! Or rather, “dyna chi!”.

3. Bara brith

Take afternoon tea anywhere in Wales and the star of the show, usually to be found nestling on the highest tier, is the famous bara brith, a traditional fruit cake with a unique flavour. As is often the case with historic dishes, one suspects that the addition of half a pot of cold tea into the cake mix was the result of an accident made centuries ago, but without the comfortingly familiar notes of char, bara brith would be just another fruit cake. No visit to Wales is complete without at least one brith encounter.

4. Lamb cawl

With its bright, decorous use of daffodils, St. David’s Day may well be one of the first augers of spring, but let’s face it, it’s still teeth-chatteringly cold out there in March. Help is at hand courtesy of this classic Welsh dish, which has a history as hotly contested as anything in the great Welsh cookbook. Sharing its DNA with lobscaws from north Wales (and, it’s contested, anywhere else within a hundred square miles) and even the humble Irish stew, Welsh cawl (or soup, as directly translated) is a slow-cooked lamb and leek broth whose foggy provenance means that you can embellish it with your own ingredients and little personal touches. The crucial ingredients are well-sourced lamb, time and your patience, for which you'll be rewarded handsomely. It’s best enjoyed on a cold night in front of a roaring fireplace with a three-piece Celtic folk band playing in the corner. Try even more lovely lamb recipes for every season with our recipe collection.

5. Conwy mussels

The Medieval walled fishing village of Conwy in North Wales was recently the only UK town to be named by the Japanese tourist board as one of the most beautiful places to visit in Europe. If they plan their holidays judiciously, visitors will be able to enjoy what many people have cited as the best mussels they have ever tasted. The village sits on an estuary where the River Conwy meets the Irish Sea, meaning freshwater and salty seawater combine to give these plump, amber-coloured meaty molluscs the edge over any of their competitors. Meticulously kept beds and strictly observed time off for breeding means that Conwy mussels are very much a seasonal treat, loyal to the great tradition of only eating shellfish in months with the letter 'r' in the name. Find more irresistible mussel recipes in our best ever collection.