World Dumpling Champion 2024!

 

    Andy Barklem with judges Josh Smith and Zena Leech-Calton, photograph Nick Butcher.

Andrew Barklem talks dumplings with Eve Stebbing.

You are our this year's World Dumpling Champion. How does that make you feel?

Delighted to have a new dish inaugurated into the World of dumpling cuisine.

 

Were dumplings special to you growing up?

Not so much special, I always found them rather unique.

 

Can food express something about the soul of a place?

Scouse being adopted from the seafaring Scandinavian's stew 'Lob-Skause', is a favourite stew of Liverpudlians, I decided on the idea of substituting the potatoes with dumplings.  This dish has a restless soul and like its forebears, needs to travel.

 

Why do you think recipes like this get handed down from one generation to the next?

A good place to hang out in the home as a child is the kitchen as there you are permeated in the generations of your culture.

 

Can you imagine anyone in your family making a dumpling like yours? 

My Mother:  She'd spend all day Saturday cooking for a family of five; puddings, cakes and savouries, that would feed us throughout the coming week.  All I did was observe and then lick the bowls and utensils clean.  Food cooked with love is always good. 

 

If you could sum up what a dumpling makes you feel in one word, what would it be?

Fathombliss.

Andy-B's 'Scouse Dumplings

This recipe was created especially for the World Dumpling Championship 2024.  It is a variation of the Liverpudlian stew known as Scouse, a meat and potato stew with root vegetables.  Lob-Scouse originates from the seafaring regions of Scandinavia and can be found in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Northern Germany and has been adopted as a favourite stew by the people of Liverpool and also North Wales simply known as 'Scouse'.  For the Dumpling Competition I thought it would be a good idea to substitute the potatoes with dumplings, hence 'Scouse Dumplings'.

 As with all recipes, do be flexible with the ingredients and use what is to hand, I have used beef tallow, which is expensive. An ordinary beef suet will suffice.  Vegetarian is also an option; without the meat the dish is known as 'Blind Scouse'.

Ingredients serving 4 - 6.

 For the Scouse:

300g neck of lamb

300g stewing beef

2 large onions

1 carrot

1 leek

1 small turnip

1 small swede

1 parsnip

For the Dumplings:

200g white spelt flour

100g beef tallow

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

Water to mix

 

Method:

Firstly, prepare the neck of lamb well in advance as it needs to be slowly cooked, the stock then left to cool.

In a pan or ovenware dish pop in the lamb together with extra vegetables and herbs to help flavour the stock these can be carrot, celery stick, onion together with a fresh bouquet garni of parsley, sage, thyme and rosemary.  top-up with a pint to pint & half of water and a little salt & pepper.  Bring to the boil and simmer gently for a couple of hours until the meat is beginning to easily come away for the bone. When done lift out the meat allow to cool and leave the stock to cool until the fat has congealed on the surface.  Remove the meat from the bone and put aside.  Drain the cooled stock into a jug through a sieve and discard the veg, herbs and fat, this stock is the base of the stew.

 

Next, fry the onions in the beef tallow and pop into a casserole dish, then fry all the root vegetables cut into bit size chunks in some more beef tallow and pop on top of the onions.  Finally fry the stewing steak until nicely browned and place into the pan together with the boned lamb.  The frying pan will now be very hot and nicely browned. Pour some of the reserved stock into the frying pan to release the browning stuck to the bottom of the pan and pour this on top of the meat & veg.  Pour the rest of the stock into the pan just covering the top of the meat & veg.  Add a little seasoning and parsley if required.  Cook either on the hob or in the oven on low heat for approx. 3 hours until the beef is well tenderised.  

 

Mix the dry ingredients of flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl, add the beef tallow and thoroughly mix and break down the tallow so it blends with the flour as you would when making a short crust pastry.  When all the fat has been blended in add a little water and mix to make a smooth easy to handle pastry.  Pick off pieces and roll them into small balls and pop them in the stew.  Cook for a further 20 - 30 minutes when they should be nicely expanded and floating on top of the stew having thickened and absorbed the juices of the stock.  

 

Serve immediately & enjoy.  Goes very well with pickled red cabbage.