Treacle

 "The last dregs of an Empire's dark sump" 

(Paul Farley: Treacle)

Treacle is really weird stuff. For example I have made treacle tart a couple of times during lockdown (maybe one for a future post) but treacle tart doesn't have treacle in it (no I don't know why). Paul Farley's poem, which I came across at the Museum of Liverpool (I miss museums. And Liverpool. Sobs...) reminds us that sugar (and its by products) has a dark past steeped in the slave trade.

 As if that wasn't enough to put you off eating the stuff there's also its explosive qualities. Your tin of treacle quite clearly states on the lid - dispose of on expiry - which is a bit more direct than best before. And you have to ask yourself - what would happen if I left it. Well, twenty one people died in the Great Molasses Flood of 1919 in Boston MA so let us now very carefully check our cupboard and very slowly pour that out of date treacle away...

Which is exactly what I did when suddenly I realised it was the end of October - I mean how did that even happen. And very soon it will be Bonfire Night and Bonfire Night in my book is not Bonfire Night without parkin, that most northern and treacley of cakes. Of course this year I won't be having a bonfire or indeed fireworks but perhaps that's as well because Bonfire Night with its anti-Catholic overtones is getting on for as problematic as treacle. I'm sorry - this might be a blog about food but history has a habit of just getting in the way.

Anyway, parkin is less problematic although Lancastrians will insist it is a Lancashire cake and Yorkshire folk claim it for their own. In truth I think its just "northern" and delicious any time of the year but its warm spiciness suits the cold dark months. I use Delia Smith's recipe not one handed down to me through the generations (I only have one of those and its actually from the Church Times from 1964) but I think it works a treat.

I mix the dry ingredients (225g medium oatmeal, 110g s-r flour, 2 generous teaspoons of dried ginger, pinch of salt) into a bowl. If you don't have medium oatmeal (and I didn't) you can grind standard rolled oats in a mortar and pestle or if you can't be bothered to do that you'll just get a slightly different texture. It's poor folks' food hence the oatmeal bulking out the expensive flour... I mix the 110g dark brown sugar, 225g golden syrup, 50g black treacle and 110g margarine (Delia says butter but I don't think I could tell in this recipe) in a pan and melt them all together gently. Don't let them burn boil or stick. Pour them into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Then beat an egg and add that fairly quickly (unless you want scrambled egg which you don't) and finally add a tablespoon of milk. Line an 8" tin (I use a square one because parkin is quite rich and you may (or maybe not) only want a small chunk at a time. Bake for 1 and a half to 2 hours in a low (140 degrees/ Gas Mark 1) oven.

Now comes the really annoying part. Like fruit cake this is a cake which is much much better if left to "mature" for at least a couple of weeks. Of course you can start it straight away but I guarantee it will be even better in a fortnight. I've never managed to keep it any longer than three weeks...

Anyway - happy festival of light to you all and don't touch the cake for a week or so!