Starbucks has taken over Queen Street and it’s often easier to find a panini than rarebit in the Welsh capital, with traditional dishes nowhere to be seen. So, in the spirit of St David’s day, I went on the hunt to see if Welsh staples like cawl, bara brith and laver bread still exist in increasingly cosmopolitan Cardiff.
First on the list is the Bull Terrier Café in Cardiff market, one of the few places left in the city where you can still find a traditional Welsh breakfast. Along with Welsh bacon, sausage and egg, the proper version comes with oat cakes, cockles and laver bread, made from seaweed. Bread is of course misleading. Chef Lenny Morris said when rolled in oatmeal and fried the dark green seaweed mixture forms a crucial part of the Welsh breakfast.
Bara brith
He said: “Normally we’re lucky if we sell one a day, but it’s popular on match days, mostly with the Valleys bunch. The Aussies like to try it sometimes too.” Mr Morris buys his laver bread from Ashton’s fishmongers downstairs in the market, where it retails at £8.65 a kilogram. Director Nick Adams said: “It comes from the Gower and it’s very popular. We sell about 60 or 70 kilograms a week.”
At St Fagans National Museum, cake rather than seaweed is the order of the day. General manager of the restaurant, Damian Brown, said; “As well as sourcing all our food locally we do all our own baking on site and we produce a range of cakes including Welsh cakes, bara brith and shearing cake. Shearing cake is a traditional 1930s cake made from lemon and caraway seed. It had nearly died out but we looked through our recipe books and decided to revive it.”
Welsh cakes
Even far flung dishes from the New York Deli in High Street Arcade have a Welsh twist. Owner Harriett Davies said they source all their charcuterie from nearby Tongwynlais, and their Cardiff hoagie with leeks and cheese is one of their most popular sandwiches.
But for a real choice of Welsh classics, the best option is Garlands eatery and coffee house in Duke Street Arcade. According to owner Ian Davis, their most popular Welsh dish is lamb cawl, which accounts for five per cent of their sales and takes two days to make. The chef roasts and boils lamb bones to make a rich stock and then adds winter vegetables to make the traditional hearty broth.
Welsh rarebit
They also make Welsh rarebit in the traditional way. Mr Davis said: “It’s not cheese on toast, it’s baked cheese. We mix cheese, beer and mustard together and grill it for speed, but traditionally it wascooked in an Aga.”
The small café, popular with first language Welsh speakers. also sells laver bread as part of their veggie breakfast, alongside Glamorgan sausages made with leeks and Caerphilly cheese. Mr Davis said: “It is good food, and it is always nice to make things which are just part of your heritage. My grandmother made all these things – we should not be the exception. The question is not why do we cook Welsh food, but why everyone else doesn’t. We don’t want to be a tacky Welsh-themed café, but in Cardiff you should expect Welsh cooking as the norm.”
The end for blueberry muffins?
Starbucks, take note. Seaweed may not be for everyone, but with classics like Welsh rarebit and lamb cawl making a comeback, half-fat lattes and blueberry muffins will have to watch out.
Horseradish on Toast 