Pease pudding hot, pease pudding cold...

Pease pudding currently in my fridge, one day old

Well, a good friend of mine came to visit from Newcastle upon Tyne this weekend and (yes of course we went to the theatre) brought with her a Geordie speciality; stotties... Aside from the fact that I thought for a long while this was a made up food, these are a kind of fairly flat, bread roll which is actually very tasty. Somewhat heavier (doughier maybe?) than normal bread.

It's traditional to have said stottie, with pease pudding (something else I thought was a made up food; well if you've only heard about it in nursery rhymes wouldn't you?) and ham. Pease pudding, is a bit like a plain houmous, which for a moment I thought I wouldn't like primarily down to the texture, but which is actually tasty; I think if I were to make it I would possible use some pepper or a spice to give it a bit of a kick, but plain definately has it's place. So this is what we had for our tea yesterday before we went out to see Hairspray at the Shaftsebury Theatre. Since you ask, AMAZING, high energy, wonderful cast and such fabulous vocals. I was laughing so much I had tears streaming down my face.

Sadly, stotties seem to be unavailable in London, but I think it warrants a visit up North to have another. Or maybe I could learn to make them. Now there's a challenge.