Stephen Jackson recipe: Parkin

Dec 18 2009 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

WELL, we’re on the home straight now. All the shopping’s done, cards sent, most of the presents are wrapped and the little tree by the fireplace is well-decked with lights and baubles.

Just a few days’ work left and then we can all enjoy a well-earned break.

As there’s a tidal wave of festive food heading our way – and you can’t watch the TV without some chef or other cooking either the ‘classic’ turkey dinner or some radical alternative – I thought I’d take a different tack this week and share with you a magnificent recipe I’ve just started using here at the restaurant. It is a dish I’d had many problems making in the past.

Today, we’re baking a lovely traditional parkin.

A true Yorkshire classic, thought to originate in or around Leeds in the early 18th Century, parkin (also known as, rather sweetly, perkin, a name I prefer!) has spread across the north of England and become a firmly-established favourite, especially in the winter months, when a slice of warm, dense, oat-speckled gingery cake is just the thing with a pot of tea or strong coffee.

I’ve had terrible trouble finding a good, reliable recipe over the years (even my never-fail childhood hero Dorothy Sleightholme’s recipe didn’t work on a commercial scale all that well) until just recently when I discovered an easy, tasty and most successful version used by the brilliant Andrew Pern at his fantastic gastropub The Star in Harome, North Yorkshire. You should go; he’s amazing.

The recipe combines all the required elements wonderfully – sweet, sticky treacle and golden syrup, soft oatmeal, rich butter and tasty muscovado sugar – and it bakes into a slab of rich, dense parkin that slices well and keeps for ages.

Parkin is meant to improve with a few weeks’ aging, but I find it rarely hangs around that long.

It’s the perfect thing to have to hand at this time of year for surprise guests and especially handy for those who don’t care for fruit cake.

I’m taking a wee break over Christmas to recharge the batteries (or at least fill them with lots of booze and mince pies) and will see you all in early January with a new recipe – chances are it’ll probably be something light!

May I take this opportunity to thank you for your kind letters and words this past year and wish you all a very merry Christmas, and a happy, prosperous New Year.

Cheers!