Dock Pudding

Dock Pudding

Dock Pudding is a dish that, as far as we know, is only found here in Calderdale. It’s made from dock leaves (from a sweet variety called Polygonum Bistorta or more recently Persicaria Bistorta not the more common cow dock leaves), nettles, oatmeal, onions, butter and seasoning. Resembling spinach, the pudding is fried together with bacon and eggs and served as part of a traditional English breakfast.

Calderdale is home to the World Dock Pudding Championships hosted by Mytholmroyd Community and Leisure Centre. First held in 1971, the contest takes place around the third weekend in April each year.

Competitors produce a whole cooked breakfast, including the Dock Pudding, on stage in front of an audience. Judging takes place behind closed doors, so the competitors remain unknown to the judges. The winner is crowned World Champion!

If you fancy yourself as a future world champion, or would just like to have a go at making your own Dock Pudding, here’s two recipes to get you started.

Dock Pudding Traditional Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 lb fresh, sweet variety dock leaves polygonum bistorta (substitute spinach if unavailable)
• 2 large onions, or 2 large bunches of spring onions
• 1/2 lb nettles
• A handful of oatmeal
• A knob of butter

Method:

• Wash and clean the dock leaves, remove their stalks Wash and clean the nettles.
• Chop the onions.
• Fry all the above in butter until tender.
• Add the oatmeal and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring to prevent the mixture from sticking.

The pudding is then ready for eating or for storing in a sealed container.

Alternate Dock pudding Recipe

Ingredients:

• 115g/4oz young nettle tops
• 450g/1lb fresh, sweet variety dock leaves polygonum bistorta (substitute spinach if unavailable)
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 5 heaped tbsp medium oatmeal
• 8 rashers dry-cured bacon
• 1 free range egg
• Bread & butter to serve

Method:

• Soak the nettle tops in lighty salted water for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse well with cold water.
• Put the dock leaves, drained nettle tops and onion in a pan. Pour in 300ml/1/2 pint water and boil for 20minutes.
• Drain, reserving the cooking liquid.
• Finely slice the dock leaves, spinach and onion mixture on a chopping board. Return to the pan and stir in the oatmeal.
• Add enough of the cooking liquid to make a wet mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cook over a medium heat for 10-15 minutes, adding more cooking liquid if the mixture becomes too dry and starts to stick to the pan.
• The cooked mixture should be moist, but not wet. Leave to cool.
• Fry the bacon over a medium heat until crisp, then remove from the fryng pan and keep warm.
• Add the Dock Pudding mixture to the pan and stir to coat in the bacon fat.
• Spread the mixture in an even layer over the base of the pan, break the egg on top and immediately stir vigorously through the mixture until cooked through and no raw egg remains.
• Slice the pudding into wedges and serve with the bacon and bread and butter.