The cuisine of Gower, a peninsula in south Wales, is based on ingredients grown, raised or collected on or around the peninsula. The cuisine is based on fresh ingredients with recipes based around a fish or meat dish. Until the twentieth century, the peninsula was virtually cut off from other markets due to poor roads, and no rail connection. The result was that Gower became self-sufficient in food.
Gower people also developed their own dialect of English, known as the Gower dialect, and their own traditions, which have since died out. The population of the peninsula was employed in agriculture, fishing, labour on the farms and larger country estates, weaving and, in the north, coal mining and cockling. With the expansion of motorized transport and road improvements, Gower became a popular tourist destination. Many residents now travel from Gower to work in the nearby city of Swansea. Much of the agricultural produce is now sold at Swansea Market, local farmers' markets, and further afield.
Background In the 18th century, surveys indicate that crops grown in Gower included corn, hay, flax, hemp, hops and fruit. Livestock kept included sheep, cattle, pigs, geese, fowl and bees.Bridges, E., M., "Agriculture and the Gower Landscape", Gower, Volume 25, 1974 Many Gower villages were self-sufficient in food, and residents paid a yearly rent to the lord of the manor for fishing rights. In south and west Gower a feudal or manorial system of open fields, and related areas of common land for the grazing of livestock, had developed after the Norman invasion. The land remained linked to this feudal pattern for many centuries afterwards, and tithes were paid in kind, comprising one lamb out of ten, a tenth of the wool shorn, and a tenth part of the grain crop.
Later, the inclosure acts consolidated the arable land holding but Gower's common lands were left untouched. North and east Gower retained the traditional Welsh landholding pattern, based on a family group and located around the gwely, or homestead. All rights of grazing, common pasture, and arable allocations stemmed from this system. The Norman and Welsh areas of Gower were roughly divided by the common lands of Clyne, Fairwood, Pengwern and Cefn Bryn.
The geology of the Gower Peninsula is made up of limestone, coal measures and old red sandstone. The Board of Agriculture's report for South Wales of 1814 commented:
"The soil in this limestone is excellent for both the tillage and pasture, being a brownish marly loam, of good tenacity in some places; in others, on a few degrees of declivity, light and somewhat sandy, so as to be occasionally damaged by the larvae of the cock-chaffer. It produces with good management, plenty of all kinds of grain, and swards naturally with the sweetest grasses".Davies, W., "General View of the Agriculture and Domestic Economy of South Wales", Board of Agriculture, London, 1814
The area has a mild climate due to the effects of the Gulf Stream near the coast. This results in mostly a frost-free winter in the south-west of the peninsula.
Vegetables
The combination of geology and climate means that Gower is well known for its root, and other, vegetables. These include potatoes, cauliflower, and swedes. In the case of cauliflower, a frost-free climate is required when the curd is developing. The area around Rhossili is an important supply area. Thousands of cases of cauliflowers are transported from here to shops nationwide during the winter months. Local farmers' markets and Swansea Market sell fresh Gower vegetables, as do farms such as Nicholaston Farm, owned by the Beynon family, which supplies asparagus, beans, and peas."Restaurant's air miles cut" , Wales Online, 28 May 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2016
Meat and game
Gower is well known for the quality of its lamb. On the sandstone areas, such as Cefn Bryn, Davies comments: "The sheep feeding thereon are noted for fineness of wool and well-flavoured mutton." Of particular note is the quality of the lamb grazing on the salt marshes of the Burry Inlet. The animals spend their life grazing on a diet of salt marsh grasses, samphire, sea lavender, sorrel and thrift, which gives the meat a fine flavour."Gower Salt Marsh Lamb" Retrieved 4 November 2009 Gower salt marsh lamb was awarded registered as a Protected Designation of Origin under UK law in 2021. and (despite opposition of France) under EU law in 2023.
Welsh Black cattle are raised for beef, and these can be found on the Penrice Estate, near Oxwich. The beef is supplied locally to restaurants, such as the Fairy Hill Hotel. In the 21st century, Welsh black beef is being newly appreciated; it is believed to be one of the most ancient breeds in Britain, resembling cattle existing in the country before the Roman invasion."Organic Beef Rearing" , Graig Farm website, Retrieved 1 December 2009
3 April 2022
Rabbits are plentiful around the coast of Gower. While living at Rhossili, Colin Pressdee created rabbit casserole with faggots. The faggots give the dish the bulk needed for hard-working locals.
Meat and game can be bought at a number of local butchers' shops. Paul Tucker and Son trade at Penclawdd, selling locally sourced beef, lamb (including Llanrhidian salt marsh lamb), poultry, and pork, and their own bacon, faggots, and award-winning beef and lamb burgers. Howells is another Penclawdd butcher, and supplies salt marsh lamb from the marshes at Llanrhidian. Weobly Castle Farm sells Gower salt-marsh lamb. In Swansea, Gower butcher Hugh Philips and his family have had a stall at Swansea Market since 1878, when his grandfather started the business. Meat is sourced from the family farm in Gower and neighbouring farms. They specialise in Welsh lamb, seasonal salt-marsh lamb, and traditional beef breeds, such as the Welsh Black. They also make home-made sausages."Hugh Phillips, Gower Butcher" , Food Passion, Retrieved 15 August 2011
Fish and seafood Laverbread () is made from the seaweed porphyra umbilicalis.Hayward, J., "Seaweeds of Gower", Gower, Volume 22, 1971 The seaweed is purplish-black and found strewn throughout the intertidal area of Gower, particularly the upper levels. It is more common in the winter period, from late autumn onwards, where the rocks are near, or overlain with, sand. This seaweed can be found on most of the rocky beaches of Gower; it appears to be in greater volume, probably because it is less frequently collected for laverbread than before. Traditionally, it is boiled for hours to render it into a thick puree. It is sold in Swansea Market but, if gathered fresh, it can be deep-fried into crisps. Other recipes include laverbread breakfast cake, laverbread and cockle pâté, laverbread with streaky bacon, and laverbread with mashed potato. There are still some small producers of Gower laverbread, but larger quantities are sourced from the west coast of Scotland. A Gower breakfast can comprise griddled bacon with cockles, laverbread and baked eggs.
Crabbing (which also collectively includes lobstering) was a traditional Gower craft. The true crabber used only his hands to pull out crabs from holes that he knew so well that he could find them at night.G.R.H., ‘"Gone Fishing": crabbing and fishing around Gower', Gower, Volume XL, 1989 A hook, traditionally made from the back of a worn out scythe, was used only for difficult and deep-seated crabs. Each crabber used to have a personal area of rocks to work from, and handed his knowledge down through the family, with youngsters learning the crab holes by carrying the sacks for an elder.
Legendary Gower crabbers, working before the Second World War, included Margaret Ann Bevan, of High Priest, and Johnny "Crab" Beynon, of Fernhill. Margaret Ann wore hobnailed boots without shoelaces, a long skirt, which she threw over her shoulder to keep out of the water, and no knickers. She waded out to the crab holes before they were fully uncovered by the tide to save time. Gower is washed by the Bristol Channel, which has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world; this exposes large expanses of rocks and sand at low tide, and the layered strata of the limestone rock provides many holes and ledges where crabs and lobster hide. The best crabs are caught under ledges. Welsh lobster fishermen often catch crabs as a bycatch, but a hen crab can have delicately flavoured dark meat. When buying crabs, it is best to select a smaller specimen that is heavy for its size, and has a solid, firm shell. Crab makes a good soup, especially in season, when they are relatively cheap. They also make fishcake, croustade and stew. Crabs and lobsters can be bought at Swansea Market. The male lobster is best used for salads, as it has large claws containing succulent meat. Female lobster is better for dishes with sauces, as the roe inside gives great depth to the flavour of sauces.
North Gower is famous for cockles. Families from the villages of Crofty and Penclawdd have been working the cockle beds of the Burry Inlet for generations. The cooked cockles are then sold in Swansea and are one of the specialities of Swansea Market Cockles are removed from the sand when the beds are exposed at low tide.Lloyd, D., "The Penclawdd Cockle Industry", Gower, Volume XXXV, 1984 The cockle gatherers follow the receding tide and, while the mud is covered by a very shallow layer of water, they gather the cockles by hand, raking them out of the sand assisted by a scrape. This is a curved metal blade with a handle. This is used for breaking the surface of the sand. The work is done in all weathers, with starts as early as 3am in the summer.
Originally, the cockles were collected by a donkey pulling a flat cart, this was replaced by pony and flat cart, and nowadays a Land Rover is used. Gathering cockles is regulated by The Burry Inlet Cockle Fishery Order, 1965. Two grades of cockles are gathered: boiling cockles are smaller and cooked locally before being taken to market; shell cockles are larger and obtained by more intensive sieving, using larger-meshed sieves on the cockle beds. Cockles need to be thoroughly washed clean, and cooked, so it is best to buy them from a cockle producer. Fresh cockles should be soaked in a bowl of lightly salted water for 24 hours so that they clean themselves naturally. A spoonful of wholemeal flour or oatmeal in the water assists the purging process. Traditionally, cockles formed part of a breakfast with Welsh bacon and eggs. However, as the cockle is a small clam, it can be adapted to a wide range of cooking styles from Mediterranean to American, and they make a particularly good chowder. Every year Swansea holds a Cockle Festival at the end of September, and local chefs demonstrate a wide range of dishes, using fresh Penclawdd cockles.