Book of Days Tales

The Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is usually called Holy Saturday, but in the north of England it is sometimes called Easter Saturday. In Bacup in Lancashire, it is a special day because it is when the Britannia Coconut Dancers, a.k.a. the Nutters, dance from around the town, and then head to Rawtenstall. They are unique among English traditional dancers because of their unusual costumes, clogs, and blackface. There are a number of stupid stories about their origins, all of which have zero evidence or merit.  They are colorful and fun to watch, though. When I was at university in England, and afterwards, I used to travel up to Bacup every year to see the dances.

Lancashire hot pot is the obvious choice of a recipe for the day.

Ingredients

30 gm dripping or cooking oil/fat
900 gm lamb or mutton, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 lamb kidneys, optional
4 onions, peeled and sliced
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
25 gm plain flour
500 ml lamb stock
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
1.5 kg potatoes peeled and sliced
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200º C/390º F.

Heat the fat in a large sauté pan and brown the lamb meat and kidneys in batches.

Sauté the onions and carrots until they begin to soften.

Sprinkle over the flour.

Return the meat to the pan, add the lamb stock and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a simmer.

Line the base of a large, lidded casserole with sliced potatoes and top with the lamb mixture.

Add a layer of potatoes to the top, brush with fat, put on the lid and cook in the oven for 1 ½ hours. Towards the end of cooking take off the lid, turn on the broiler, and allow the top potatoes to brown.