One of our favourite things about visiting Yorkshire is getting to try its array of delicious food. From the famous light Yorkshire Pudding to the freshest seafood you will ever taste. There is so much to try; here are foods and produce Yorkshire is renowned for.
Our childhood memories burst with the fun we had exploring Yorkshire and spending time there. One thing we will never forget is the delicious Yorkshire food and full bellies we always had! When we visit now, we reel of the places we can’t wait to visit to try their lemon buns, fish and chips, or even just our family’s homes for a home cooked meal. We love that there is such a wide range of foods to try; Yorkshire food can be comforting and homely or exciting and unforgettable. Here are the different foods and produce Yorkshire is famous for.
Yorkshire Pudding
How could we not begin with the Yorkshire Pudding? Quite possibly the most famous Yorkshire food, to this day, Yorkshire even hosts regional Yorkshire Pudding championships with the highest standards you can imagine. This versatile accompaniment can be served with lashings of gravy as a first course, on top of a traditional Sunday Roast, or filled with sausage and mash to make Toad in the Hole as mains; some people even fill them with sweet jam and cream to round off a meal.
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Hundreds of places to eat in Yorkshire will serve homemade Yorkshire puddings, so we will leave the taste testing up to you. However, we have to mention The York Roast Co. does Yorkshire pudding wraps which are a must-try.
History of the Yorkshire Pudding
Easily made from a batter of flour, eggs and milk or water, this baked pudding was initially called a Dripping Pudding and cooked in England for centuries. However, Hannah Glasse, an 18th-century cookery writer, first called this a “Yorkshire Pudding” in print in her book The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy. It was suggested by William Sitwell that the Yorkshire Pudding got its name due to its association with coal in the region and that they could reach higher temperatures making a crispier and tastier pudding.
The Yorkshire Pudding was initially served as a first course alongside thick gravy to dull the appetite so that they would not need so much expensive meat on the main course. The pudding would be served as the only course in less well-off households using dripping.
Make your own!
Click here to get a great Yorkshire Pudding recipe to try at home, but remember that the Royal Society of Chemistry stated in 2008 that a Yorkshire Pudding is not a Yorkshire Pudding if it is less than 10 cm tall! Good luck!
Botham’s of Whitby Lemon Buns
We cannot visit Whitby without indulging in a Whitby Lemon Bun from Botham’s. Like an iced bun with currents, they are one of our favourite treats and are well-loved in Whitby. There is even debate on how you are supposed to eat them! Whether you tuck in head on or tear the bun in half and lightly butter before turning the icing inside, one thing is for sure, you’ll be buying them time and time again!
History of Botham’s of Whitby Lemon Buns
Botham’s has been a Whitby family-run business since 1865, initially created by Elizabeth Botham. Five generations later, it is still run by the Botham family. Over 150 years ago, Elizabeth Botham began making Whitby’s famous Lemon Buns in the Skinner Street bakehouse, and the recipe has remained the same to this day.
Order Botham’s Lemon Buns to your home
If you can’t get to Whitby, you can enjoy a lemon bun at home! Botham’s offers a delivery service and dispatch nationwide. You will receive six lightly fruited buns and a pot of lemony icing to top at home. Click here to buy.
We have a range of Botham’s hampers available to buy on our online shop, they make fantastic gifts, and a great way to taste a little of all Botham’s has to offer.
Yorkshire Tea
A good cup of tea solves everything; there is nothing better than a proper cup of Yorkshire Tea! Yorkshire Tea is built up of flavours of individual teas on top of each other to build a more complex flavour, building depth and a taste profile uniquely it’s own.
History of Yorkshire Tea
Yorkshire Tea is a family-run business founded in Harrogate in 1886. Charles Taylor set up a tea and coffee company with his two sons. They bought the best ingredients and carefully blended them to suit the local water. They set up tea and coffee kiosks all over towns across Yorkshire and a flagship store at 1 Parliament Street, Harrogate.
In the early 20th century, the water supply was less consistent than it is now, so they would blend tea individually for each customer at their flagship store in Harrogate. In the 1970’s they created a black tea blend specifically for the more consistent water supply in Yorkshire and sold it only in Yorkshire.
Visit Betty’s Tearooms
Today they are still family owned and work hard to produce high-quality, full-of-flavour tea. Today the flagship store is Betty’s, their sister company, an excellent place for a stop for afternoon tea!
Yorkshire Curd Tart
The recipe for this Yorkshire Curd Tart has changed and adapted over the years. Ingredients include a shortcrust pastry case and curd cheese for the filling. Spices and fruit are added to the taste of the baker and their customers. Nutmeg is often used, and some traditional recipes include rosewater. You can try this traditional bake at bakeries across Yorkshire, but many say Thomas the Baker sells the best!
History of Yorkshire Curd Tart
Yorkshire Curd Tarts were originally baked for Whitsuntide, a time when a lot of Yorkshire villages held fairs and feasts. They were initially made from ‘beestings’, the very rich milk from newly calved cows.
Make your own Yorkshire Curd Tart
Artisan bakers are the best source of authentic curd tarts, many of which also supply local farm shops and cafés. However, you can make this traditional Yorkshire Curd tart at home; we find this recipe easy to follow and delicious to share with friends and family.
Yorkshire Produce
Cheese
When thinking of cheese from Yorkshire, Wensleydale most likely springs to mind. The Wensleydale Creamery is based at Hawes in Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Although Wensleydale remains the main cheese, the Fountains range includes cheddar and red Leicester.
Yorkshire has a long history of cheese making. After the Norman invasion in 1066, many French Cistercian monks set up monastic estates across the Yorkshire dales. They brought cheese-making techniques that resulted in delicious creamy and crumbly cheeses such as Teesdale, Swaledale, Nidderdale, Wensleydale and Coverdale. After the dissolution of the monasteries, Yorkshire continued to make cheese, and production began at farms.
Over time, advances in cheese-making produced consistent, firmer, drier, and sharper cheese, such as the white Wensleydale we know today. The last farmhouse production of Wensleydale ceased in 1957. However, if you look beyond Wensleydale, you will discover more than 85 brilliant Yorkshire artisan cheeses made with cow, sheep and goat’s milk.
Courtyard Dairy is a great place to start your discovery of Yorkshire cheese; its ethos is to support cheese-makers that still make cheese using traditional methods on their farms. You can find a list of small Yorkshire producers that still make traditional cheese with milk from their herds here.
Smoked Fish
Believe it or not, smokehouses in Yorkshire are still thriving today. It is best to try kippers from many different smokehouses; that way, you will discover the degree of smoke that best suits your taste.
Our favourite has to be Fortunes in Whitby on Henrietta Street; you’ll smell them from the bottom of the street. Established in 1872 by William Fortune, Fortunes Smokehouse has been passed down through the generations using unchanged traditional smoking methods to produce the most delicious smoked kippers. They smoke the kippers over three fires for eighteen hours or more using a mixture of oak, beech, and softwood. A true Whitby delicacy that you can even buy online.
A few restaurants in Yorkshire even have their own smokers, which is an excellent way for chefs to take the art of smoking fish and meat in different directions, producing varying intensities to suit their cooking styles.
Seafood
The Yorkshire Coast provides an abundance of delicious seafood unlike anywhere in the world. From Bridlington marking the epicentre of Yorkshire’s crab and lobster fishery with landings at the top of the European league table. To Whitby’s famous Magpie fish and chips.
Housed in a merchant’s house built in the late 18th century, The Magpie Cafe is part of local Whitby history. It opened its doors as a cafe in 1939 and built up a strong reputation making itself a Yorkshire landmark in its own right. They serve an elaborate range of freshly caught fish, giving the customer many delicious choices. So which one will you choose?
People travel from all corners of the world to taste the freshest seafood. Whitby has many excellent places to eat, serving the famous national dish of fish and chips and a plethora of shellfish, lobster, crab, mussels, cockles and whelks.
Try The Whitby Catch if you would like to try Whitby seafood at home. Over 120 different fish products are available to buy daily. You can visit them at 1 Pier Road, Whitby, North Yorkshire – just over the road from the Whitby Fish Market.
Lamb
Yorkshire scenery would look starkly different without sheep! These animals have spent hundreds of years grazing. You will find locally sourced lamb in butcher shops and restaurant menus throughout Yorkshire. A top tip is to try lamb that has had time to mature slightly for a fuller taste. When a lamb turns one, the meat is sold as hogget and worth trying. North Yorkshire is renowned for being an excellent sheep-producing area because of its limestone soils and topography.
If you are not in Yorkshire, you can get Yorkshire lamb delivered to you from Sykes House Farm, their traditional farming methods to produce lamb, which has a rich flavour and tenderness unlike any other you will try. All their lamb is reared in Yorkshire and is mainly sourced from the Denby Dale region.
Please let us know your favourite food from Yorkshire in the comments, we love to hear from you.
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