Stotty 'n' Spice Cake

Stotty 'n' Spice Cakebrings together regional recipes, dialect, social history and kitchen technology to give us an insight into how kitchen skills, tools and diets have developed. Bill Griffiths takes us on a journey through cooking history - from the griddle on an open fire and the 'beehive' oven to the widely used, much loved and polished kitchen range (th' yuven). This book describes the changing tastes - as well as changes in supplies of meat, fish and grain over the years to include traditions such as the popularity of oatcakes, broth and bread. Recipes from across the region, such as Leak Pudding, Carlins, Singin'-hinny, Taffle Apple, Barley Broth and wartime recipes 'Warton Pie' (Wartime Pie) of course, all served with much home grown North East humour. A joyous celebration of the history of the food and its people from the North East of England.

The late Bill Griffiths (1948-2007)was an extraordinary writer and poet: radical, experimental and scholarly, but also had a great sense of humour. He was a wonderful champion of the North East, its people and heritage. Born in Middlesex, he read history before graduating in 1969. A former Hell's Angel, Bill ran his own independent press and published political pamphlets and essays on the arts and poetry. After gaining a PhD in Old English he fled London and settled in Seaham where he embraced the northern way of life. 'He was also a scholar of Old English and dialect who know how to make his work accessible... Private and uncompetitive, he was at least these things: poet, archivist, scholar, translator, prison-rights campaigner, pianist, historian, curator, performer, editor, short-story writer, essayist, teacher, book-maker and lyricist... The Saturday before he died, Bill discharged himself from hospital to host the Dialect Day at the Morden Tower in Newcastle upon Tyne. He died as he lived: cataloguing, awarding Best Dialect prizes, opera on his radio, the poetry paramount.' Obituary, The Independent, 20 September 2007.