Wales is infamously known for its outstanding mountain ranges and areas of natural beauty. As well as golden beaches and creative festivals, Wales has a wide variety of excellent traditional food sourced from land and sea.
In this article, we will take a look at some of the most traditional food and drink in Wales.
© Wales GuidebookWelsh Cakes or Pice ar y Maen are a favourite teatime treat. They are traditionally cooked on a hot griddle or bakestone over an open fire and then sprinkled with sugar. They are a delicious sweet bread, kind of like a cross between a biscuit and a scone.
They are typically filled with currants and lightly spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon, however, alternative Welsh Cake serving suggestions include topping with cheese or adding Nutella and banana.
Since the 19th century, these incredibly unique cakes have been made for special occasions like St David’s Day when families would gather together to celebrate the patron saint of Wales. Because they are durable and filling, welsh cakes were a huge favourite of coal miners who could easily slip one in their pocket to enjoy down the mine1 (source: Welsh Baker).
See our traditional Welsh Cake recipe from our local Welsh baker to find out exactly how to make this delicacy.
Welsh Cawl is a hearty stew made of meat and vegetables. The word ‘Cawl’ in Welsh refers to any kind of broth or soup and Welsh Cawl is regarded as one of Wales’ national dishes.
Dating back to the 11th century, it was traditionally a simple broth that could be cooked slowly during the day while the family worked out in the fields.It would traditionally be eaten in wooden bowls with hand-carved wooden spoons2 (source: B. Freeman, A Book of Welsh Soups & Savouries, 1987).
There are many recipes for Cawl which are often handed down through the family and each area has their own way of making it. In parts of North Wales, the dish is sometimes known as ‘lobscows’ and is believed to taste better the day after preparing it when all the flavours have developed.
See our Welsh Cawl recipe to learn how to make this classic.
Welsh Rarebit is not your ordinary cheese on toast! Dating from the 18th century, it’s a dish consisting of a hot cheese-based sauce baked over toasted bread. The sauce is traditionally made using Caerphilly cheese, ale, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce and is sometimes blended to make a bechamel sauce.
Legend suggests that the original name, Welsh Rabbit, was a jest at peasants who had to substitute cheese for the meat they couldn’t afford to buy. Now this popular dish is a staple of Welsh cuisine often paired with a pint of ale.
This is one of the best foods in Wales and even featured in the list of top foods to eat before you die3 (source: M. Sheraton, 1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die, 2015) where the author describes it as the ‘original grilled cheese sandwich’ that makes the perfect ‘tangy, creamy, between-meal snack’. The dish is so popular in Britain that it also inspired Irish Rarebit and Scottish Rarebit.
For a unique twist, try Welsh Rarebit on a piece of traditional Welsh Laverbread for a nutritious take on a timeless classic.
The name Bara Brith comes from the Welsh meaning ‘speckled cake’ and is believed to have been invented by a Welsh chef who added dried fruit and spices to bread dough creating the first Welsh tea loaf.
When Welsh settlers arrived in Argentina’s remote Patagonia in the 19th century, they took the recipe for Bara Brith with them and locals now call it ‘Torta Negra’ or black cake.
The secret to a traditional Bara Brith is that the dried fruit is soaked overnight in tea giving the loaf a unique flavour. Originally, Bara Brith was made using yeast making it more like bread than a cake. Today, there are many variations of the classic recipe even transforming this famous tea loaf into chocolate and ice cream!
© Wales Guidebook
© Wales GuidebookWelsh Laverbread is made using cooked laver, a type of seaweed that has been hand-picked from the Welsh coastline. Its unique texture and salty flavour give it the taste of the fresh Welsh sea.It’s a known delicacy from Wales and has earned protected status alongside Conwy Mussles and Welsh Lamb4 (source: Business Wales), but more on these later.
Laver is the only variety of seaweed that is one cell thick making it perfect for cooking down into a puree. This puree can then be enjoyed as part of a traditional Welsh breakfast with co*ckles and bacon or made into a soup. However, a common way to enjoy Laverbread is by adding oats and making it into patties known as Lavercakes.
Because of its nutritional value, Laverbread became a staple breakfast food for Welsh families that worked down the pit and were often malnourished. This high-energy food is rich in iron, so doctors advised that people should eat it regularly. These days, we can enjoy Laverbread
This comforting Welsh dish consists of oven-roasted potatoes that are usually cooked together with meat. The name Tatws Popty literally translates to ‘oven potatoes’ and most recipes include the addition of vegetables such as carrots and onions.
What makes these potatoes different from any others? Traditionally, meat stock is added to the roasting pan so that the potatoes will be crispy on the top but moist on the bottom, soaking up all the delicious meat juices.
This is a staple in most Welsh homes, especially during the colder seasons like autumn and winter when tatws popty are enjoyed as part of a Sunday roast.
See my full Tatws Popty recipe to find out how to make it.
Crempogs or Crempogau are traditional Welsh pancakes made with buttermilk. The buttermilk gives them a much thicker consistency than normal pancakes. Crempogs are served hot and drizzled with butter or honey.
Although they can be enjoyed any time of year, Crempogs were originally eaten to celebrate St David’s day and Shrove Tuesday. In Wales, many traditions are attached to Shrove Tuesday such as the custom of children kicking tin cans up and down the streets and going from door to door asking for flour, lard or butter to make yummy teatime treats like Crempogau5 (source: Visit Wales).
The basic ingredients suggest that the recipe for Crempogs could be one of the oldest in Wales making them another staple of Welsh cuisine.
Traditionally made from cheese, the Glamorgan sausage is the perfect Welsh vegetarian sausage. No meat in sight for this sausage which includes cheese, leeks and breadcrumbs. The Glamorgan cheese that gave the sausages their name no longer exists and has since been replaced with a famous alternative, Caerphilly cheese.
Although its roots can be traced as early as 1862 when English Victorian travel writer, George Borrow, wrote about it in his book ‘Wild Wales’6 (source: G. Davies, A Taste of Wales, 1995), the popularity of Glamorgan sausages rose during the Second World War when there was a ration on the amount of meat each family could buy. All of the ingredients are simply mixed together, rolled into a sausage shape and fried.
You can also try replacing the breadcrumbs with mashed potato and wrapping the sausage mix in pastry to make a Glamorgan sausage roll, a vegetarian take on the traditional recipe.
A traditional Welsh stew, Tatws Pum Munud is made using potatoes, vegetables, and smoked bacon. The dish is unique in the way that each ingredient is thinly sliced so that it can lie flat and be cooked in a large frying pan.
Everyone has their favourite recipe passed down through the generations so there are many variations on the dish. Traditionally, it was a stew-like main dish but recently is made more as a potato side dish that’s popular during the wintertime.
As the potatoes and vegetables cook down, stock is added to make a delicious gravy and the Tatws Pum Munud are served along with crusty homemade bread and a splash of Worcestershire sauce.
The translation of the name into English is ‘five-minute potatoes’ which suggests it’s a super quick meal, however, it usually takes around 20 minutes to prepare from scratch! But don’t let that put you off, it’s totally worth it!
One of the best Welsh comfort foods is Welsh onion cake. It’s eaten throughout the whole of Wales and enjoyed either on its own or as a side for various meat dishes.
The onion cake is made using layers of thinly sliced potatoes and soft onions topped with chunks of butter or melted butter. As it bakes, all of the buttery goodness is soaked up into the onion and potatoes making a delicious ‘cake’.
This dish is unbelievably easy to make and won’t break the bank either! To make it even more indulgent, why not add some Welsh Caerphilly cheese for a rich and creamy onion cake.
Anglesey eggs are the perfect breakfast or brunch dish. It’s filling, meat-free and quick to prepare. Named after an island in the North West of Wales, Anglesey eggs contain more than just eggs!
As with many Welsh recipes, the ingredients are simple and reflect a time when buying meat was too expensive for the majority of Welsh families. The main ingredient eggs are accompanied by potatoes, leeks, and cheese. The potatoes are mashed and the eggs are quartered and pushed down into the mash before being covered in a creamy cheese and leek sauce7 (source: The Spruce Eats).
Anglesey eggs can be eaten as the main dish or served alongside bacon chops or sausages for a more hearty meal.
© Crown copyright (2022) Cymru WalesOver recent years, a host of gin distilleries have been opened all over Wales. In 2012 there was only one Welsh distillery in Penderyn but now it’s estimated at least 17 new distilleries have opened up making the Welsh gin industry healthier than ever.
With a large variety of local botanicals right on their doorstep, many uniquely flavoured bottles of Welsh gin have been released from brands such as Aber Falls (featured above), North Star, and Eccentric Gin.
Among some of the more experimental flavours to have been created recently are Dà Mhìle Seaweed Gin and Snowdonia Spirit Co. Bara Brith Gin along with many others combining traditional Welsh flavours with home-crafted gin8 (source: Master of Malt).
© Wales GuidebookThanks to Wales’ moderate climate and lush green fields, there is an abundance of Welsh dairy farms. There are hundreds of various kinds of cheeses that Wales has become famous for and all of them are definitely worth trying!
The most famous of all the Welsh cheeses is undoubtedly Caerphilly. Made using cow’s milk, it’s a white, crumbly cheese and mild in flavour. Other traditional Welsh cheeses include ‘Y Fenni’ made using wholegrain mustard with Welsh ale and ‘Harlech Truckle’ made with horseradish and parsley.
Today a new generation of Welsh cheese producers are experimenting with many flavours and textures to create many new and unique kinds of cheese such as Pwll Mawr Smoked Cheddar, Caws Teifi Seaweed, and even organic halloumi!
© Penderyn DistilleryWhiskey has been distilled in Wales since the middle ages. During the late 19th century, production died out almost ruining the Welsh whiskey industry. In the 1990s, efforts were made to revive this lost art and the first distillery in Wales opened after nearly 100 years9 (source: Wikipedia).
Penderyn distillery in the Brecon Beacons is one of the most famous Welsh distilleries. The brand uses a unique copper single-pot designed by Scientist David Faraday to produce the highest level of whiskey in the industry10 (source: Penderyn).
After Penderyn, the Dà Mhìle distillery near Llandysul bottled its first whiskey giving Wales the classification of having a whiskey industry. To date, there are six distilleries in Wales now producing the finest Welsh whiskey.
The small town of Conwy is said to have the best mussels you will ever taste. A medieval fishing village, Conwy sits on an estuary where the River Conwy meets the Irish Sea. This means the freshwater and seawater combine to make plump and meaty mussels, unlike anywhere else.
Very much a seasonal treat, Conwy mussels are loyal to the tradition of only eating shellfish during months with the letter ‘R’. They are hand-raked from the seabed giving them a distinctive taste you just can’t get from rope-drawn mussels.
A fun fact about mussels is that hundreds of years ago, mussel fishing was primarily carried out to find pearls which were then sold to jewellers in London. One pearl found in the Conwy river is actually a part of the crown jewels11 (source: Conwy Mussels).
© Wales GuidebookWales has experienced dozens of new breweries opening up recently and producing a wide variety of ales and ciders. Using local ingredients and flavours, unique beers have been produced throughout the whole of Wales.
The most well-known of these is Brains founded in 1713 and still owned by the original family. Buckley’s produced in Swansea also has a history dating back to the 18th century and the brand name itself is famous for beer in Wales.
In the South and West of Wales, the FelinFoel Brewery in Carmarthenshire has a rich history. During these times it’s said to have been safer in the South Wales Valley to drink beer than water! North Wales has also experienced a hive of brewing activity in recent years with breweries like Snowdon Craft brewing their beer using fresh water straight from the mountains12 (source: Visit Wales).
Cawl Cennin is a famous Welsh soup perfect for the wintertime. Traditionally, the soup was made using only leeks. The leek is a national symbol of Wales and is used in a wide variety of popular Welsh dishes.
Nowadays, potatoes are also added to the soup making it a hearty meal for any time of the day. Mixed with broth and heavy cream, this soup goes well with homemade bread or even a Welsh Rarebit.
Oggies are giant pasties filled with various combinations of meat and vegetables. It’s the traditional Welsh pasty and has a long history in Wales for feeding families during hard times.
The Welsh Oggie was a meal for the miners who, while down in the pits, their wives would bring them a steamy, hot Oggie to keep them going until the end of a hard day. Perfect to be eaten by hand, the Oggies were encased with flaky, buttery pastry and filled with lamb, leeks and potatoes.
Legend has it that the saying ‘Oggie, Oggie, Oggie’ is what the wives of the miners would shout down the pits! They would reply ‘Oi, Oi, OI’ to let them know that they’ve eaten their lunch safely.
Welsh Rissoles are a take on the French hand pie. During a time when meat was expensive, cheaper sources were necessary for the average family in Wales.
A Welsh rissole is a mix of mashed potato, corned beef, onions, and herbs all rolled together in a ball and coated with breadcrumbs. The rissole is then deep-fried until golden brown and crispy. Corned beef is a very affordable and versatile staple and is the perfect ingredient for a Welsh Rissole.
These delicious snacks are sold in chip shops all over Wales and go perfectly with a portion of salty chips.
A cross between a drop scone and a crumpet, a Pikelet is a small pancake perfect to enjoy at breakfast time.
Although Pikelets are available throughout the UK, there is evidence to show that the origin of the word comes from the Welsh language. The Welsh word for a dark, sticky bread is ‘bara pyglyd’. Later the shortened phrase ‘pyglyd’ travelled across the Midlands and became ‘pikelet’13 (source: Welsh Produce).
Welsh Pikelets are delicious sprinkled with powdered sugar and honey on top.
© Wales GuidebookThe making of taffy was an indulgent treat usually eaten around Christmas time. Christmas Eve in Wales was known as ‘Noson Gyflaith’ meaning ‘toffee evening,’ a time when friends and families would gather together to share in a meal and make taffy.
The taffy is made by boiling sugar down until it’s golden in colour and adding creamy Welsh butter to make an irresistible smooth toffee. The taffy is twisted and pulled while it’s still hot making long strands and when it cools, it gives the taffy its unique chewy texture
Traditional Welsh taffy was popular in coal-mining communities around the country when sugar and sweet foods were a luxury and today it remains an important part of Christmas history in Wales14 (source: Little Passports).
