Swansea Market has a wealth of superb Welsh foods, many of which have been found in the Market throughout its history. The fishmongers, butchers, greengrocers and cockle and laverbread stalls have inspired cooks and chefs for generations and are part of the rich history of markets in Swansea.
Below is a selection of recipes for you to try at home. Remember that the freshest ingredients are available everyday from the large variety of specialist food stalls to be found in Swansea market.
Further recipes can be found at http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/cymraeg.php
Seared Bass with Butter Sauce
1 – 1½ generous fillets of sea bass per person
2 shallots
½ pint of dry white wine
1 tablespoon cream
250g unsalted butter
Mixed greens – spinach, rocket, chard, leek, shredded mange tout
Ask fishmonger to fillet, scale and pin bone sea bass. Allow 1 generous fillet per person. If bass not large enough allow 1½ fillets. Cut to make 3 equal pieces per person.
To make butter sauce, chop 2 shallots, place in a small stainless pan with ½ pint dry of dry white wine, and reduce to a syrup.
Add tablespoon of cream bring back to the boil.
Remove from the heat and beat in gently 250g butter (unsalted) in walnut sized pieces. When all butter is whisked in, strain and keep warm.
In a very hot pan, sear bass fillets turning once. Do not overcook.
Heat a wok until hot add a little oil and stir fry until the greens are just cooked, arrange on the plate and place bass on top. Surround with seasoned butter sauce.
Bryony Jones
Head Chef
Fairyhill
Cockle, Crab and Smoked Salmon Fritters with Garlic, Laverbread, Leek and Ginger, Deep-Fried in a Cajun Butter
2oz smoked salmon
3oz crab
8oz tub cockles
2oz laverbread
2 cloves garlic
2oz leek
6oz flour
2 eggs
1 chilli
2 pinch Cajun spices
2oz cream
pinch salt
pinch pepper
Place cockles, crab meat (claw if possible) and smoked salmon into a mixing bowl. Add laverbread, finely chopped garlic and leeks, then add 6oz of plain four, eggs, cajun spices and chilli (finely chopped without the seeds, or the mix will be too hot).
Mix together; the mixture will be quite stiff so slowly add the cream until the mix becomes slacker (you may not need all the cream if the cockles are wet). Then add salt and pepper to finish.
Roll the mixture into little cakes with your hands and place them onto a flat tray and refrigerate to relax. You can then deep fry them at a medium heat, about 140C, to ensure the batter is cooked right through but does not burn.
Serve with a chilli and soya dressing or a tarragon and lemon cream and baby spinach leaves and watercress.
Cockles Mariniere
Farmed locally along the Gower coastline for hundreds of years, cockles are sold freshly cooked of even live in their shells.
50g butter or oil;
100g chopped shallots or onion;
1 sprig fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried;
4 sprigs fresh parsley, roughly chopped;
3 bay leaves;
150ml dry white wine, cider or sherry;
Freshly milled black pepper;
1 kilo cockles in the shell-rinsed.
In a large pan, melt butter or oil (or half of both) and cook shallots until soft. Add wine, thyme, bay, pepper and half the parsley. Simmer for five minutes, then add cockles, cover pan and steam for three minutes on a high heat, shaking pan regularly. Allow to cool slightly and then remove the shells. Reheat without boiling and ladle the cockles and juice into heated bowels, leaving the very bottom which will contain any grit. Top with remaining parsley and serve with a crusty loaf, freshly baked from Swansea Market.
Laverbread Cakes
Laverbread is seaweed which grows on the inter-tidal zones, particularly on the Gower coast-in Wales it has been eaten for centuries as an inexpensive and nutritious food.
200g of laverbread;
100g of oatmeal;
Seasoning;
Oil for frying.
Put oatmeal on a plate and season. Take a dessert spoon of laverbread and coat well with oatmeal to form small rissoles. Heat a frying pan to medium. Traditionally families would cook bacon then fry the laverbread in the bacon fat, which is truly delicious. As a vegetarian alternative, use sunflower oil.
Put the rissoles in the pan and cook for 5-7 minutes either side, turning carefully and reshaping as necessary.
Serve with a cooked breakfast or with any roast or grilled fish or meat or with grilled vegetables for a vegetarian treat.
Honeyed Lamb
Beautiful Welsh lamb, available from the butchers of Swansea Market, has a long and distinguished tradition as a top quality meat for chefs and cooking at home.
2 kilo shoulder of welsh lamb;
sprig of fresh rosemary;
seasoning;
1 teaspoon dried ginger;
200g welsh Honey;
500ml of Welsh Cider;
250g chopped onion, carrot and celery.
Heat oven to gas mark 6, 200 degrees C (400 degrees F).
Trim excess fat away, but leave a good coating all over, lightly scoring with a sharp knife. Dust with ginger and season lightly. Sprinkle half the rosemary, finely chopped.
Line a baking tin with foil as the honey will caramelise. Put vegetables into the pan and place the prepared shoulder on these. Cover with honey and put in the oven for 30 minutes. Heat the cider and pour around the meat, then lower the heat to gas mark 4 (175C/325F) and continue to cook for a further one hour, basting and seasoning lightly a few times, adding a touch more cider if necessary and topping off with rosemary 15 minutes before it is ready. Carefully remove the meat to a carving dish and keep warm to set.
Pour off excess fat, add about 300ml of light stock and rinse out all the caramelised vegetables. Transfer to a pan and reduce by about a third, thickening slightly if you wish by liquidising the vegetables or adding some granules.
Carve the joint both sides away from the blade bone and serve with the rich honey, cider and vegetable gravy.
This recipe works equally as well with chicken or pork.
Welsh Cakes
Traditional Welsh cakes, warm off the griddle, are synonymous with Welsh teas and Welsh hospitality generally.
500g plain flour;
1 teaspoon baking powder;
250g butter;
pinch salt;
150g sugar;
150g mixed currants and sultanas;
1 teaspoon mixed spice (nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger);
1 egg;
50ml milk.
In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Rub in the butter; add sugar, spices and fruit. Beat the egg with the milk and mix in to become the texture of short crust pastry. Turn onto a floured board and roll to just over 1cm in thickness. Use a 7cm cutter, and then re-roll all the trimmings. Heat a griddle or heavy frying pan to a medium heat, lightly grease and cook the cakes for 3-4 minutes on either side until golden brown. Take care not to brown to quickly as the cakes need to cook right though. Sprinkle with a little castor sugar and serve hot or cold.
Many people everyday enjoy a Welsh cake while shopping in Swansea Market fresh from the griddle and cooked to secret family recipes handed down through the generations.