County's foodie history stretches back centuries

A man who has spent years researching the history of cooking has said some of England's oldest recipes have their roots in Kent.

From oysters and apples to cherries, cob nuts and grapes, Kent's food heritage is "one of the richest areas in England", Paul Brewin said.

Brewin, who has spoken to Secret Kent about his research, found references to Jack of Dover and Kentish pudding in a manuscript dating back to 1250.

The food historian from Molash, who has written a book called Old Kentish Recipes, said: "Probably two of the oldest recipes in England come from Kent."

Jack of Dover, which was also mentioned in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and was later known as Kentish twice-laid, was a meal made from leftover fish and potatoes.

Brewin said Kentish pudding evolved over the centuries from a rice pudding into something closer to a custard pudding, and is "a little bit like a cheesecake".

Among the county's most enduring recipes are Kentish huffkins, a bread roll that can still be found in some bakeries today.

Kent was also famous for its watercress in the 19th Century, he said, and he found recipes for watercress soup and hop soup – another famous Kent crop.

Canterbury tart, which Brewin compared to a French Tart Maman, and Canterbury pudding have also stood the test of time.

His research uncovered about 340 recipes linked to Kent, although he says not everything commonly described as traditional is necessarily old.

"If we come to Gypsy Tart, which everyone knows, what is traditional?" he asked. "I haven't found anything before 1955."

Kent's history as both a farming county and a maritime county has left a lasting mark on its food culture, he said, with the most famous example being Dover sole.

And while Whitstable is best known for oysters today, Mr Brewin said Milton Regis, near Sittingbourne, was once regarded as home to some of the finest oysters in England.

He also points to the return of vineyards across Kent as evidence that food fashions often come full circle.

"We're going back to something that was grown in Kent a long time ago, the grape," he said.

Mr Brewin said he published the book to raise money for Pilgrims Hospices, which cared for his late wife. So far, the project has raised about £1,300.

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