Essex delicacies - are there any?

"fish and chips?"

I'm an Essex girl and proud of it - or is it a defensive posture? - because to be an Essex girl is a bit of an insult these days. I think it means you are a lover of bling and not very educated - 'common' as we would have said in our day. Not that I am an Essex girl any longer - and not just because I now live in Australia, but also because Hornchurch, where I grew up, is no longer in Essex but has been absorbed into the Greater London Borough of Havering. I guess the southernmost part which extends along the Thames estuary is mostly populated by modest income families, and Southend - at the end of the line as it were is very much a working class seaside (not that's it the sea) day trip place. And the rest of it, which I think is pretty is nevertheless not spectacularly pretty, just flattish near the coast and gently rolling agricultural land elsewhere. Then there's that accent, nowadays they call it estuarine English I believe - epitomised by Jamie Oliver I guess, who is an Essex boy - though he is from the Essex countryside, not suburbia like me.

Why am I talking about Essex at all? Well it's my book for book group and it's called The Essex Serpent and it's written by Sarah Perry who seems to be a Norfolk girl. Well it's all East Anglia - an ancient part of England that bore the brunt of invasions from the Romans, Danes et al. and which was home for the feisty Boudicca and her daughters. It has a lot to be proud of. The book by the way is highly recommended. It's set on the Blackwater estuary south of Colchester, which was once an important Roman town. There are lots of Roman remains in Essex - not to mention castles, cathedrals, stately homes and pretty lanes and villages.

But what about the food? Does Essex have anything to be proud of? Well yes. But not really anything in the way of a specific dish I think. In terms of produce though it has a few things that are unique and/or traditional.

To begin with, East Anglia as a whole, including Essex is the wheat basket of Britain. You need a lowish rainfall, a mild climate and flat land for wheat - and East Anglia has all of that. Yes Britain does indeed import wheat from overseas - a lot used to come from Australia - but it also grows its own. Barley and oats as well - and nowadays I believe rape is also a cash crop.

Then there is the seafood - the oysters, the cockles and whelks and the eels. Well I'm not sure whether the eels come from Essex or from Norfolk - but jellied eels (ugh!) are an East end of London and probably, therefore, Essex delicacy for some. Colchester was famous for its oysters back in Roman times and they have continued to be harvested around those muddy coasts ever since. I believe the native oyster, which is concentrated in the Blackwater and Colne estuaries is now endangered, and so the oyster fishers have voluntarily stopped harvesting them. But there are still plenty of rock oysters to be had. They don't seem to farm them though. I think the native ones were overfished in the nineteenth century when they were so common that it was a subsistence food for the poor.

We used to visit Southend often enough when I was a child and there was always a plethora of sea food to be had - most notably cockles and whelks - I can't remember liking the whelks but I did like the cockles. And if you turn your nose up at such common stuff, remember that cockles are actually vongole - and suddenly they are more desirable aren't they? They used to be harvested from the river and the sea in baskets as shown here. And there was always fish and chips of course.

And what do you think they grow in Saffron Walden? Well just one farmer does these days, but he is reviving a tradition from two hundred years ago. Yes - saffron.

Saffron growing was a major industry back in Tudor times but eventually cheaper imports from places like Iran spelt the death of saffron growing - it's very labour intensive at harvest time - leaving only the name of the town which was its centrepiece. An entrepreneurial British farmer has apparently revived the practice and is selling to Harrods and Fortnum and Mason's amongst others. This is typical of the modern age really isn't it? Boutique agricultural and foodie products based on past traditions - hyped and sold to the rich foodies. I gather there are also several well regarded new products - a jam and preserves company, and turkeys to name but two. And they are also making wine again in England with Essex being one of the centres. We have climate change to thank for that.

Another traditional food is the Dunmow flitch, although it's more a food associated with a tradition than a food that is specific to the region. The tradition is that on the one particular day of the year on which the Dunmow flitch is awarded, couples who can prove that they have a happy marriage are given a side of bacon as a reward. The tradition still continues but I suspect there must be some sort of prior selection process these days. Anyway it's all good fun and it has meant that Dunmow has a tradition of making bacon.

Perhaps the most internationally renowned Essex product though is Maldon salt - a prized sea salt, formerly only available to the rich in Harrods and Fortnum and Mason's, but now sold in crystal form worldwide. You can get it in our local supermarket.

"Maldon Salt has a distinctive look with a glistening, pyramid structure that is so attractive to the eye. Secondly, to touch it, Maldon Salt has a soft, crumbly texture that is far-removed from a hard rock salt. Finally, the taste of Maldon Salt is so mild and slightly sweet, without any bitterness." Steve Osborne of Maldon Salt