We spent a couple of nights in a B&B in the middle of the Cotswolds. The area is a interminable succession of hills and sheep punctuated by impossibly charming cottages, some 120 km from London.
We arrived at dusk, a little before 21:00 pm. We asked Jacki Harrison, the friendly manager of the B&B, for directions to the nearest pub. As it happens, the village has its own pub, unequivocally named The Snowshill Arms and, in Jacki’s worlds, they serve very good food. For a couple of Spaniards travelling by the first time to tiny village in the picturesque region known as “Heart of England”, this surely meant local gastronomy based in medieval recipes cooked with wood from some ancient forest.
Quite a wild guess. The burger and chips competed in English tradition and authenticity with the fried eggs with bacon. In a country full of sheep, sheep here, sheep there, sheep everywhere, not a single dish in the menu could be confused with a local specialty. Maybe there is not such a thing as traditional local specialties in England anymore. Or perhaps it is hard to find was is left of it in this country.
Tim and Jacki Harrison are the managers of the nice and comfortable Sheepscombe Bed & Breakfast, in Snowhill, Worcestershire, WR12 7JU, telephone 01386 85 3769.
Find pictures at Broadway Cotswolds.
1 comment so far ↓
There are many pubs in the UK countryside that serve traditional local specialities – it’s a case of knowing where they are. Sounds like you were unlucky. What sort of “medieval recipes” were you looking for? “Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie”, as the ancient nursery rhyme says? I don’t think they serve that dish anymore (fortunately).
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