Faggot (food)

A faggot is a kind of meatball, a traditional dish in the UK, [http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/food_heroes/directory_midlands.shtml] [http://www.walesonline.co.uk/expats/expats-newsletter/page.cfm?objectid=14538007&method=full&siteid=50082] especially the Midlands of England.http://www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=128&Itemid=55] It is made from meat off-cuts and offal, especially pork. A faggot is traditionally made from pig heart, liver and fatty belly meat or bacon minced together, with herbs added for flavouring and sometimes breadcrumbs. The mixture is shaped in the hand into balls, wrapped round with caul (a membrane from the pig's abdomen), and baked. A similar dish, "almôndega", is traditional in Portugal.

The first use in print cited in the OED is in 1851, from Thomas Mayhew, although this appears to be a calzone- or pasty-like dish, with an outer wrapper of caul, covering a filling of mixed pork offal. This was in London.

The dish saw its greatest popularity with the rationing during World War II but has become less popular in recent years. Faggots are usually homemade and are to be found in traditional butchers' shops and market stalls.

A popular dish is "faggots and Peas". This is a common combination in the Black Country area of the West Midlands, especially so since the 18th century industrialisation onwards, but also for hundreds of years prior. It is still common to see small butchers shops in the area selling Faggots to their own (sometimes secret) recipe for a cheap price. Commonly, the faggot consists of pork liver and heart minced, wrapped in kel, with onion and breadcrumbs. Often, the Faggot should be cooked in a crock, with gravy and served with peas and mashed potato.

Faggots are also known as "ducks" in the Midlands, Yorkshire and Lancashire, often as "savoury ducks". "In Leigh market in 1905 you could buy a savoury duck rolled up in an oatmeal cake."

The best-known commercial brand is Mr Brain's Faggots, a frozen food product available in Britain and Ireland, which is made of liver and onions rolled into meatballs and served in a sauce. These faggots differ significantly from the traditional recipe.

Pictures of the product are a popular joke in some Western countries due to additional meanings of the name. Faggots were used as the subject of an infamous 2004 radio advert by the UK supermarket chain Somerfield [http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/obb/adv_comp/a13/a13.pdf] . The commercial featured a husband challenging his wife's repetitive routine of a set meal for each day of the week. While he wanted lasagne, he was told that, as it was Friday, he was to have faggots. He responded: "I've nothing against faggots, I just don't fancy them." This advert was subsequently deemed to have breached the rules on Good Taste, Decency and Offence to Public Feeling of the Advertising and Sponsorship Code, and was banned from future re-broadcast by the industry regulator, Ofcom.

References

Further reading

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2698507.stm BBC: Family of faggot fans fly the flag]
* [http://www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=128&Itemid=55 Great British Kitchen - West Midlands, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/food_heroes/directory_midlands.shtml BBC Food - Midlands and East England]