This sticky cake has an origin story with a dragon, just like the Niangao I made earlier this year! There's something to this, I think. ruclips.net/video/An6myivFE8A/видео.html
The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V. The gunpowder plot always reminds me of V for Vendetta, and your comment so reminded me of one of the best scenes. 👌
@@kathleenhensley5951 he might have been okay with the milk and butter (as it isn't much and is baked into something), however, some of the spices might not have been good for him. Cats are mischievous little fur balls who find their way into things they shouldn't... maybe even more than most dogs, the only different is, cats are not as obvious. They also make you think you're crazy when you accuse them of something, lol.
“Cat head sized” seems to be a recurring measurement. The old variety of apples on the tree in my parent’s garden is called cats-heads. And a local mythological creature in the Alps, the Tatzelwurm, a variety of small dragon or lindworm, is described to have the head the size of a cat’s head. And now Jamie continues the proud tradition.
@@TastingHistory I have a recipe from the Yorkshire Wolds you could use, written in dialect of course, I work with dialect so I could give info about one of the sayings that goes along with Yorkshire puddings traditionally "them at eits t'mooast puddin gets t'mooast meit" in West Yorkshire And "them at eeats t'maist puddin gits t'maist meeat" in Northeast Yorkshire.
My Mum was a born and bred Lancashire lass (next county down from Yorkshire) and she always told me that the name Parkin came from the fact that they always used to bake Parkin when the weather was 'parky' - that means, very cold outdoors. Ginger warms you up. 'Reet parky' in the north of England, means it is colder than a penguin's bum!
Traditional gingerbread and parkin both need to sit for a day or two to 'improve'. The reason is that the high sugar content of the treacle and golden syrup are hygroscopic - they draw moisture from the air which makes the cake soften with time. We'd wrap our cake in baking paper/parchment/greaseproof paper for a couple of days - and those were very long days indeed...
@@Menuki It probably doesn't. My sister works in Antarctica (surprisingly, a desert) and says that if you leave food like potato chips open, instead of getting stale it just gets drier and drier.
Parents: “Don’t play with fire! Didn’t I teach you better than that?” Also parents: *Taught us all the holiday traditions that involve playing with fire*
@@lauracross5776 in Australia it was the first Monday in June, Cracker/Bonfire Night aka Queen's Birthday long weekend. We still have the long weekend, just not the fire nor explosives...at least not legally.
It’s interesting how many memories surface while watching your show. This show triggered a strong memory. I remember Bonfire nights in England before we moved to the States when I was 6 years old. Our whole neighborhood got together for the event. We ate Toffee apples while standing around the bonfire and I remember someone bringing a tray of Ginger Parkin around and reaching in for the delicious sticky treat. I remember licking fingers and they still felt sticky even after licking. I also remember my parents pulling out potatoes wrapped in foil from the coals around the edges of the fire which I remember cracking open the hot fluffy potato centers and enjoying eating with a spoon. I remember eating the crunchy skins as well whilst watching the embers of the fire diminish. Thanks for triggering my memories.
as youth.... some say its the shallow things you remember , personally i like to think its more that the kids mind remembers the details that made a moment so good...but not quite always the moment itself ;)
@PAUL MAEDING How old are you now, Paul? I love the way you described the experiences you had as a young boy in England. Thank you for letting us into a glimpse of your past.
@@paulmaeding8252 Happy almost-birthday, then. :-) I am the daughter of an English mom and an American dad and grew up in the USA (they met as very very young adults in England when Dad was studying over there), but learned a lot lot lot about English culture. Thanks again, Paul. Be well.
Really, she had no choice. You have to remember, an ordinary dragon is bad enough, but a GIANT dragon? That's the kind of thing that will really tank the property values in the neighborhood.
Given the old-English letter Thorn, which was pronounced "th" looks like a capital P, could it be that Theor or Tharve cakes became Par cakes, and from there Parkin?
Thorns tend to be misinterpreted as Ys though, like "Ye Olde". By the time they dropped out of use they were basically indistinguishable. I'd expect it to instead be Yarkin
@@eindummkopf2970 that's the progression that made sense to me too - as soon as Max said 'Thar Cake' and that they were often used interchangeably, I was like "Ohhhh, they're totally just corrupted versions of the same thing"
@@eindummkopf2970 In Yorkshire, th goes to f or v. So it would more likely be farkin or varkin, if that were the way of it. Nowhere in England did th become p.
For Americans who can’t get hold of British mixed spice, US “pumpkin spice” isn’t an entirely inappropriat substitute- they have similar flavour profiles.
You could do worse than just using cinnamon instead of mixed spice, if you can't get or don't have any of the spices that Max suggests. Mixed spice is fairly cinnamon-forward in my (New Zealand) experience.
In the American South people make large lard biscuits called “cat head biscuits”, because they are the size of a cat’s head. Perhaps Jamie just wanted a biscuit and thought your parkin would be the next best thing.
So I told my mum (born and bred Northerner) that a youtube channel I follow was covering parkin... that's the first time I've seen her sit through an entire youtube video willingly.
Golden Syrup is basically a caramelised invert sugar syrup and may be made by putting 4 cups of sugar and 1 1/4 cups of water in a pan and bring to the boil. add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, stir well then simmer gently over a very low heat without stirring for up to an hour until it gets a deep amber colour. Then let it cool - its easiest to pour into jars when its cooled for 10 mins or so because its very thick when cold!
@@brick6347 I use a note-taking app like Samsung Notes or more usually Microsoft OneNote or Evernote on my PC to clip things and organise later. I have cooking notebooks. You can either text select and copy/paste (good for searching text later to find it) or if I'm lazy I use the clip tool that takes a screenshot of the section I highlight. If you write a quick title to the note then it helps with the search text later to still find the tidbit you want. Just took a little screenshot section of Ian's comment, put a title "Golden Syrup Recipe" and now even if I forget where I filed it I'll be able to find it with a search!
A big thankyou from Yorkshire for this! This is one of the three things I grew up eating on Bonfire night. Along with roasted chesnuts and "bonfire" toffee I always put my squares in 2 nice neat lines. It is called " parallel parkin "
As a yorkshire lass, I am so pleased that you've covered this! Parkin is something integral to my family's bonfire night celebrations and our recipe goes back four generations. Thanks Max!
Even impressed this Pixie from down South... I tried Parkin with a dollop of clotted cream, omg it was amazing😋 So I'm off to bake some more Parkin, sit on the banks of the river Tamer and throw it at any Cornish Pixies who insist on the jam first notion... 🤣
My late Nanna Liz (RIP, Nanna) used to make Ginger and Treacle ginger cake. We didn't call it "Parkin" here though (I'm further North than Yorkshire); just sticky ginger bread.
Mum does that a bit. Sometimes she makes a warm sauce with Golden Syrup and cream. She also likes to put a bit of green ginger wine on peaches with some ice cream or cream as a quick dessert but it's a bit hot for that in summer/peach season in Australia for my taste. Green Ginger wine always makes me hot lol.
As a Yorkshireman who has been living abroad for a while and so dearly misses Bonfire night back in old East Riding, this was a real treat. Thank you, Max.
Yep. Never seen a Parkin recipe or heard of Bonfire Night until today. Thanks for educating those of us who are not yet history buffs. I appreciate your eye for detail and comments about accuracy.
Proud Yorkshireman here! I'm so happy you made this recipe, Max, thank you! I wanted to also point out that the 5th of November is celebrated by both sides. Monarchists celebrate that the King was saved, whereas Fawkes' supporters celebrate the attempt. There's also a tradition of making a crude effigy of Guy Fawkes, where people would use it to collect money for fireworks and firewood through something called "Penny for the Guy"
That looks the real deal, especially with the amount of tongue sweeping needed.. Mum would not give me her recipe but she gave it my to husband. We had to start with conversion as the gill has not been in use as a liquid measure for some time. We melt the butter (no lard) with the golden syrup and it uses just ginger. I was waiting to see if you wrapped it and waited, my mother would say that a week was only just acceptable. Congratulations, it looks just like ours but it's very filling and a small square goes a long way. We trim the edges before the waiting phase, you are allowed to eat those right away. It's not like brownies, no-one wants an edge.
sounds amazing! does the rest of the recipe mirrors the one max gives? im interested in trying this but i dont eat lard and i really want to have the stickiness.
I'm from Yorkshire and spent every summer in Filey as a kid. It's a tiny little seaside town and really weird to see it referenced outside the UK! (I can absolutely confirm that this is how we deal with dragons here.)
I wanna add that Filey's not a bad place for fossils either, not beyond belief to think they found some big marine reptile bones there and went 'yup, definitely a dead dragon' XD
The only problem I've got with modern parkin is that back in the 70's, Parkin was dark dense and soft (kind of like a ginger brownie with no chocolate), with a thin sticky layer on the top - not light crumbly and cake-like. I've tried for decades to try and find a recipe.
@@margaretkaraba8161 Try leaving out the leavening of any modern recipe. Or just reducing it, if you're worried about making them too dense and inedible. Then you can try reducing further if necessary
Yorkshire STILL has dragons who sadly refuse the Parkin (I'm told they are all gluten intolerant now ) so we need a hero to do battle - send for Rex V Jagger!
It's unusual to hear this American guy you've been watching on RUclips for years talk about the town where your grandma used to live. I have some good childhood memories in Filey. It's quite a unique little town. The way to the seafront is very distinct for a beach here, as you go down a very steep incline lined with shops and gardens and at the bottom of the hill is the seafront with art and entertainment. Filey was a hugely popular tourist destination in the 19th and 20th century, after the railway joined the country's bustling cities with its beautiful coasts. It's still popular with visitors today. There's a chocolatier at the top of the hill that makes luxury handmade chocolates - my dad buys a box for my mum every year for their anniversary. They also sell foil-wrapped chocolate ladybirds that are a traditional treat in my family, we used to get some every time we visited nana. Good times. Greetings from Yorkshire :)
That cat has a classic "No regrets" look. My cat Anna goes ballistic when I bake new bread. She stole a chunk of my panis quadratus. (which is probably too super simple of a recipe for you to do, but its such a nice loaf. I kinda cheese it and use honey in it, the actual recipe is super simple.) - edit, nevermind, I see you made it already :) I skip the herbs, and add honey as a natural preservative. I use 100% spelt flour, but tempted to try a few blends.
"Cat got a biscuit." Nope, cat was trying to sneak a piece of Parkin the size of it's head. Having cats around most of my life I know they can carry some huge things. One cat I had, indoor-outdoor cat, somehow got a full sized gofer and brought it inside to feast upon. I had thought it was a mouse, with all the squeaking, then I went to see what he had caught and I saw what was left of it (ewwww). I am still wondering how first it got one, because they never completely come out of holes they make, and second how it carried it inside because of the size of of the gofer was about half the size of the cat.
Yep, my cat once brought home a full-grown rabbit. I have no idea how, not least of all because this cat is roughly as round and lazy as a bowling ball...(she dragged it up the front steps, then dropped it to yell at the door and it took off)
My mom's Siamese cats would catch moles and put their livers on the back door steps. I suppose they were a present for my mom, not that she appreciated it. My cats used to bring me snakes, sometimes still alive.
My best friends cat wrestled the christmas turkey from the fridge (I wondered why they had a cide table in front of the fridge and moved it. Oops). They caught him just before he got to the cat flap.
@@cam4636 One of mine not only brought home a full grown rabbit nearly as big as him but got it in through the cat flap. Quite how we're not entirely sure but it probably involved much clattering, banging and swearing in feline.
Lyle's Golden Syrup is quite easy to find in the International aisle of grocery stores, at least in the Southern US. In fact, I would suggest that people to try it instead of corn syrup to make Pecan Pie. It makes the recipe even simpler and it tastes amazing.
I am so glad when RUclips recommended last year, out of the blue, Max's video about kykeon. I got curious, watched, then immediately subscribed and still regularly watches and revisits his videos to this day :)
Fantastic research and presentation Max. Bonfire Night celebrations have declined significantly since late 1990's here in the UK. An effigy of Guy Fawkes was placed on top of bonfires. Exception to this day being bonfire built by St. Peter's School boys, York, because Fawkes was a former pupil. Try Parkin with hot vanilla custard for pudding. Best wishes from York, North Yorkshire.
I wouldn't say they've declined much, though most people only have fireworks, probably because you can buy those from a supermarket and set them off in a small garden, whereas not many people have space to safely make a big fire. A fair few places used to do big public bonfires and firework shows, though less so the last two years due to the whole pandemic thing.
As an inhabitant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, I can confirm parkin is Very important here at this time of year. As my mother in law says "It'll stick to your ribs and keep the cold out." Growing up down south in Hampshire and Dorset, we also had a thing called parkin, but it was made with rolled oats and more like a ginger flapjack. I don't know how traditional this is, but my better half likes to warm her (Yorkshire style) parkin in the microwave and eat it with cold condensed milk. Lastly there's an old English joke... "Guy Fawkes, the only man to enter parliament with honest intentions."
I've enjoyed sharing my Birthday with this holiday for many years (all the years, actually), but never knew there was a CAKE involved. Light Bulb!! 🎂🎆🎆
@@pattheplanter Oh yes! That was the stuff of my childhood. You'd end the night stuffed full of sugar and carbohydrates and exhausted from running round and watching the fireworks and sneaking sips of the adults' cider. Before she put you to bed, your mother had to peel off the sticky and crumb-covered mittens you used to eat the food - and then scrub your face with the rough flannel so you didn't end up with your face stuck to the pillow. It was my favourite time of the year.
Our son was planned to have this exact pairing, and I went through the effort of getting some Lyle’s Golden Syrup and everything… Then he was born on October 25th by emergency C-section and the only cake we had for his 0th birthday was crab cake from a seafood restaurant that shares his name.
Hi, from West Yorkshire, England~! Nowadays, the most popular method of making Parkin is the “melting method”, where you melt the sugars, syrup and butter in a pan together (make sure you mix!) then add the dry ingredients to the pan and mix. Then you bake it in the oven. Also, I’ve never personally seen a modern recipe use lard as people tend to just use butter now, but that’s not to say you can’t use it - as you said, there’s SO many different recipes for Parkin depending on where in the UK you live. My mum used to make Parkin every year on Bonfire night. We never left it for a few days to soften because it would always get eaten the same day lol. Also, something my mum always says in regards to Parkin: “You know you’ve made good Parkin when your jaw aches as you eat it!” :)
I remember the entire ditty because it's catchy: Remember, remember, the fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot; I see no reason the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot. However other than gunpowder being used to blow up some rich people in GB I didn't remember anything else lol so thanks for the quick History recap Max :) Also Jaime stealing the bread as big as his head is such a classic pet move lol
I mentally sang this like a seafaring ditty once I read that it was catchy. I was on a roll all the way until I ran into “…History recap Max:)” This was right before Max showed Guy Fawkes drawling the beginning phrase and I realized how badly I’d done the ditty.
@@LetsBeCivilShallWe badly? Not at all! I would love to know your tune for the folk song/sea shanty you came up with, I'm sure it was fun! Lots of poems could be great if set to music, especially rhymes. Sorry if my formatting was confusing lol!
I particularly like this episode because I am off to Lewes on Friday night to celebrate! A few years ago, when I was walking with Waterloo Bonfire Society, I made a parkin for my friends. We left it at their house whilst we did the first procession and, when we came back, her cat was eating it! What is it with cats and parkin?!
When I was in London, I actually had the pleasure of attending one of these 5th of November bonfires down at Battersea park! Really it's an excuse for lighting up a giant fire to keep everyone warm during these colder seasons.
This recipe just blasted me back to my childhood! My mum used to make it all the time because she worked as a caterer…I remember waking up for school to the smell this cake baking in the winter more than once! Thank you for taking me on the trip down memory lane 💜
Bonfire night has always been a big celebration in my family (We are from York), there are foods my mum makes that are amazing as well as a large bonfire in our garden and my dad fires fireworks, this doesnt even include the traditions from my parents childhood such as 'penny for a guy', was so nice for the history to get a little spotlight here on your channel Max, very greatful
My mother used to go "scrumping" (or "chumping"?) for wood to build a bonfire. All the kids would go around and try scrounge or beg wood from anywhere they could get to and compete to build the best bonfire. Love little things like that and their associated slang. Not sure it really happens anymore.
This brought back so many memories of growing up in Manchester, England. My gran would make a batch of parkin every year (she added a Polish twist to the neighbour's recipe by adding chopped dried prunes to the batter). We had a croft around the corner from our street, and Guy Fawkes was a big celebration every year with the lighting of the bonfire and fireworks! Another tradition was Pontefract cakes - licorice overload! Thanks for stirring the memories, Max...luckily I have several tins of treacle in the house...I'm going to bake a batch right now!
This channel is so fudging good! Love it so much! History and recipes; comedy and charisma for days! Never stop....Please don't stop! You are the light in the dingy days of modernity.
Mmm, Lyle's Golden Syrup on buttered wheat toast with a cup of milky tea. Reminds me of childhood breakfast time whilst visiting my grandparents in the Cotswolds. Good times. Gotta find me some Lyle's...
Hi Max, I really enjoy watching your videos. I have severe chronic lower back and neck pain. Most nights I can't sleep because of my chronic pain. I binge watch your videos when I can't sleep. Watching your videos helps me forget about my chronic pain. Thank you for making your videos 👍
Folks, I too have chronic pain. If you aren't into pills, try eating 1/2 can of cooked spinach. With butter, it can go down very easily. Not adverse to taking pills? Get 500mg magnesium and 595mg potassium. It will take about a week, but the combination really does ease the pain. The spinach has about the same mix of potassium and magnesium, so eating it will do a body good.
Love the show. It could be on television anytime qualitywise, but here it is actually better, because you are covering niche stuff that is fun and you present it perfectly and in detail. Also the show is both entertaining, educational and calming. Big thumbs up!
Warner Bros. would like to thank Anonymous for single-handedly keeping the V for Vendetta movie memorabilia market alive for all these years. And I would like to thank them too, since it allowed Max to do that bit at the beginning of this video. 😄
I buy Lyle's Golden Syrup all the time in supermarkets in Orange County, NY, USA. It is especially good when sweetening something like iced tea as it blends right into the cold beverage without turning into a glob like honey does.
Other things we eat on bonfire night include cinder toffee toffee apples and potatoes baked in the embers of the fire, with lashings of salted butter, don’t forget to burn your guy on top of the bonfire , Strange that even we catholics loved bonfire night, although it set our emancipation, back hundreds of years
I've always been curious about the history behind why some baking ingredients are different in the US vs the UK. You mentioned a couple, and castor/superfine sugar also comes to mind. Not sure how you'd fit that into an episode exactly, but maybe?
on somewhat related note- various russian dairy products either don't have a precise English equivalent, get lumped together with other things as a cheese or yoghurt, or their translated name is actually an entirely different dairy product.
Not sure if food vernacular is a term used but that and factory pride. It's shifted to brands the last half century (the emperor is naked) and the factories got nimby'd out of town. .. Illiteracy, misheard words and not getting grandpa's jokes 💁🏻♀️ it gets fun.
Because there were people living here before the Anglos came that had cultivated food that had never been seen in the "old world" before? And now US culture is heavily reliant on those things, like corn, sugarcane, including molasses (Europeans only had beet sugar prior to the Columbian exchange), tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, etc. etc. I find it more odd that you would think they should be identical. Because we both speak English? I mean, both Mexico and Spain speak Spanish and yet their cuisines are very different and no one bats an eye at that.
@@TheBLGL Aside from the others you mentioned, isn't Sugarcane from Asia? Plus pretty sure there's records of refined sugar from Sugarcane going back 1,000s of years in China and India.
Max Max Max Max Max!!!! I have had a really rotten three weeks at work. I feel so much better after watching this video! REALLY lifted my spirits. Thank you so much!
I'm from Lancashire, though my dad's side are from Yorkshire, and parkin is by far one of my favourite cakes, far better than anything fancy. Really cool to see something I'm so familar with featured here!
Thank you so much for this video. My grandfather was from the North of England and although he moved to the US, he was English until the day he died. I want to celebrate Guy Fawkes day now in honor of him and my ancestors.
Interesting anecdote, some historians have argued that Bonfire Night could be considered an anti-Catholic celebration. As it was a group of Catholics plotting to depose a Protestant monarch (and wider government), you can read the holiday as a celebration of the failure if Catholicism versus Protestantism. Of course, no one actually thinks of it as such. For pretty much everyone, it's an opportunity to light fireworks, set shit on fire, and get drunk as all hell, not necessarily in that order.
It definitely does have an anti Catholic side in some places even today. In Lewis in Sussex an effigy of pope Paul V is burned along with the Guy and various others. The also commemorate the 17 Protestants of the town burned at the stake by Mary Tudor.
In Canada, that holiday is officially celebrated in Newfoundland and I believe the only organisation that is/was promoting it is the Order of Orange. So yeah...
It can be very anti Catholic, but with the tongue in cheek nowadays. I would recommend you look up Lewes Bonfire celebrations for a flavour of real Bonfire Night. We do it properly here in Sussex, and I say that as a Catholic! Lewes has a strong link to Protestant martyrs who were executed under the reign of Queen Mary.
@@nataliewhittle9299 not being a Lewes lad I get the impression that the societies are more about the tradition and having a willfully un-PC laugh. I think there is more of a sectarian edge to it in Glasgow and Northern Ireland. Personally I love bonfire night because an old professor once told me it's the closest most of us will experience to an old pagan festival. Drink and food and fire and kids staying up late and danger and tradition and community and ceremony.
Parkin is one of my favorite desserts and as an expat, bonfire night has become my excuse to make myself some! International stores almost always have lyles golden syrup somewhere if you're looking for it, black treacle is however used in "bonfire toffee", a kind of dark boiled candy made with black treacle.
@@somegeezer Woops lol, serves me right for writing in a hurry. But Idk, It's nice with some tea but I always grew up having it as a dessert usually after pie on bonfire night.
My 'adult' self still hears my teenage joke lyrics "How can you have any pudding if you don't beat your meat?!? Stand still laddy!" Glad to know your version is much more wholesome. :-)
I used Max's receipt to make the BonFire Biscuits my scottish grandmother made.1 TBS per cookie makes 28 fork flattened baked 350 for 12 minutes allowed to cool before removing from parchment pan. A taste I knew 60 years ago. Thanx Max
In case people want more detail in podcast form, check out The History of England podcast where we have just reached the point in the chronology where the gunpowder plot is going down. It’s a great listen and David Crowther is a great podcaster 👍
I love to hear your recipes from around the world but it is such a thrill when it’s a local recipe.I live quite near Knaresborough which is associated with Guy Fawkes
Thanks for another interesting video about a dish and its history. Parkin is one of my favourite British cakes (I like Jamaican ginger cake too). It brings back fond memories of Bonfire Night in the North of England as child
Max, I can smell that through the computer! Is there such a beast as yeast-raised parkin? It's just going to be me and my dogs for Thanksgiving, again, this year, so I think I shall make this and your Aztec tamales and be most righteously grateful for my blessings.
Thank you! ❤️ Growing up in the north of England, one of my favorite things about visiting my grandmother (who grew up in the West Riding) in the autumn was being stuffed with parkin and rice pudding. Sadly she took her recipe with her to grave. I’m going to give this a recipe a try as soon as I get my hands on some treacle. Next up - Grassmere gingerbread?
Yes! Years ago (ok, decades ago, SIGH), I visited GB, and bought a postcard in one of the shops because it had a recipe for Grasmere Gingerbread. It was nothing like the gingerbread they were selling in the bakeries, but it was yummy, and quite gingery.
West Yorkshire lass here! I've been looking for a traditional recipe and this is it, thank you so much. Although I live in Scotland now I really miss bonfire night back home. Standing round a roaring fire with spuds wrapped in foil at the edge, pie & peas with parkin to follow and if you were old enough on occasion there was warm spiced cider on the go too. That's bonfire night my friends 💜
It's also traditional for children to make a man out of newspaper and old clothes called a Guy which is burned as an effigy on the bonfire. My cousin from Belfast told me that sometimes they make a Pope to burn instead!
As someone from very close to Belfast i'd guess the pope one is for a bonfire night from a very different time in the year, biggest ones happen in July down there XD
One of the most well presented and professionally produced RUclips channels I've ever come across. New sub ! Always knew my channel needed improvement but this is an entirely different level altogether.
I grew up in Yorkshire (Leeds specifically) and I've always loved parkin at this time of year, (served hot with some ice cream) but had no idea about its history. I've also been going to Filey for years too and didn't know the folklore behind Filey Brigg either! Such an informative video, this is definitely a recipe I'll be trying out. Thanks for another informative and fun video, me and my wife love your videos and we're always learning something new!
As well as parkin, you have to have bonfire toffee, also known as cinder toffee. Guaranteed to break you teeth if you don't suck it enough! Sometimes we used to spread butter on parkin. (like it needs more calories).Helps it slide down!
Ohhhh bonfire toffee for us was always black and sticky cinder toffee was different. Like I think what they call honeycomb in the south. Parkin is all the better with a slab of butter and maybe some Wensleydale cheese
Our two cats once managed to steal a robef slice from the fridge and disappear without anyone could notice the robbery. 15 years later I'm still amazed. Pobably rolled a 20 on their Sleight of Paw checks.
@Tom F - Before I knew better, I was defrosting a frozen chicken on the kitchen counter when I heard a CRASH! As I was walking down the hall, I could see my cat, Max (really his name), watching me sidelong and desperately trying to drag away the entire chicken. The poor guy only got a few inches, though. Whole frozen chickens must have a high point of inertia.
I'm in the US and I can get golden syrup at several grocery stores in my area. It can be in several places: next to molasses, maple syrup, corn syrup (those are usually on different aisles), in the baking aisle, or in the international / importanted aisle.
7:58 - when you see your own surname all over an historic map... To be fair, I did already know that 'carr' was an old word for low-lying or marshy ground. So I am David Bog, or David Swamp. Noice...
Max: how are we supposed to store the Parkin while it ages? I’m guessing not the fridge… should it be in a breathable container, or sealed? Ambient temperature or cool? Also: have you learned a good way of keeping kitties out of your bread products from Jamie’s adventure? Our work cat ate some Hawaiian rolls last night that were meant for the kids, and we could use advice…
Do not put it in the fridge! it comes out a dry, tooth-breaking horror. Room temperature wrapped in paper, or in a container. Parkin keeps surprisingly well in a tightly-sealed box - about a month but one of my neighbours claim they eat the last bits at Christmas.
I'm a new subscriber and absolutely love your blogs! I bake British recipes, so the explanation of golden treacle was very helpful. Also, I enjoy your historical narratives. They're well researched and information. The viewers who don't like them slept through history class. 😉 Lucky you, for meeting Bruce Fummie. He and Scotland are awesome.
This sticky cake has an origin story with a dragon, just like the Niangao I made earlier this year! There's something to this, I think. ruclips.net/video/An6myivFE8A/видео.html
@@SimuLord THATCHED ROOF COTTAGES!!!!
🔥🐉
Please remember England is part of the UK and the UK is not part of England🙂. 5th November is celebrated across the UK.
Dragons rock!
I think Jamie thought it was a mouse.
We haven't had a dragon in Manchester for years. Probably more of them up in t'hills.
We don't have moleasses here in the UK, as such. We eat the whole mole.
This.... This made me laugh far more than it probably should have 😂
Me too 🤣
This made me ungraciously cackle 😂
nothing like having some mole chocolate starfishes
Nowt to waste, as they say.
Magnificent and magnanimous, Max makes merry meals meant mainly for mirth but magnifies mundane myths and memoirs to magical merit!
You win the internet!
The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.
The gunpowder plot always reminds me of V for Vendetta, and your comment so reminded me of one of the best scenes. 👌
*Slash a poster in "M" letter*
Momentously made and I’m sure meant as mirthful mockery and most modest musings.
Mistakes were made.
Jamie clearly regrets nothing, except that he did not entirely get away with the Great Parkin Heist of 2021.
I see no reason
Why the cat's parkin seizing
Should ever be forgot
Jamie is one ambiguous orange tabby but the parkin would not be good for him, he doesn't have the stomach enzymes to process butter and milk.
@@kathleenhensley5951 he might have been okay with the milk and butter (as it isn't much and is baked into something), however, some of the spices might not have been good for him. Cats are mischievous little fur balls who find their way into things they shouldn't... maybe even more than most dogs, the only different is, cats are not as obvious. They also make you think you're crazy when you accuse them of something, lol.
“Cat head sized” seems to be a recurring measurement. The old variety of apples on the tree in my parent’s garden is called cats-heads. And a local mythological creature in the Alps, the Tatzelwurm, a variety of small dragon or lindworm, is described to have the head the size of a cat’s head. And now Jamie continues the proud tradition.
TELL CERSEI IT WAS ME-...OW.
Yorkshire!! Yes! A cover of the Yorkshire pudding would be an awesome treat too! as a Yorkshire man myself, I would trust you to do it justice!
It’s definitely on the list.
@@TastingHistory I have a recipe from the Yorkshire Wolds you could use, written in dialect of course, I work with dialect so I could give info about one of the sayings that goes along with Yorkshire puddings traditionally
"them at eits t'mooast puddin gets t'mooast meit" in West Yorkshire
And "them at eeats t'maist puddin gits t'maist meeat" in Northeast Yorkshire.
@@Fenditokesdialect I’d love to take a look! Tastinghistorycontact@gmail.com
Yorkshire pudding is the first course.
@@TastingHistory im still waiting lmao
My Mum was a born and bred Lancashire lass (next county down from Yorkshire) and she always told me that the name Parkin came from the fact that they always used to bake Parkin when the weather was 'parky' - that means, very cold outdoors. Ginger warms you up. 'Reet parky' in the north of England, means it is colder than a penguin's bum!
next county across from, not down.
Derbyshire Nottinghamshire or Lincolnshire down lincolnshires yon side I'm in Yorkshire (top end) went to school with a johnny Parkin
The dragon version is definitely the true story.
I mean, the other versions just don't seem believable. How do they explain the rocky remains of the dragon's bones? Chekcmate
@@cam4636 Exactly! proof!
"The wind is howling..."
Definitely, definitely.
I 👍
Traditional gingerbread and parkin both need to sit for a day or two to 'improve'. The reason is that the high sugar content of the treacle and golden syrup are hygroscopic - they draw moisture from the air which makes the cake soften with time. We'd wrap our cake in baking paper/parchment/greaseproof paper for a couple of days - and those were very long days indeed...
I was wondering if that was how it did it.
How does that work if you live in a desert
@@Menuki It probably doesn't. My sister works in Antarctica (surprisingly, a desert) and says that if you leave food like potato chips open, instead of getting stale it just gets drier and drier.
@@Just_Sara Is she at a research station?
@@-jank-willson McMurdo Station!
Parents: “Don’t play with fire! Didn’t I teach you better than that?”
Also parents: *Taught us all the holiday traditions that involve playing with fire*
In the US, it's Independence Day (4th of July).
In the UK, it's Bonfire Night (5th of November).
🤣
Don't forget: Cooking is a socially acceptable excuse to play with knives and fire.
@@lauracross5776 in Australia it was the first Monday in June, Cracker/Bonfire Night aka Queen's Birthday long weekend. We still have the long weekend, just not the fire nor explosives...at least not legally.
my dad would go out of his way to light random stuff on fire every single birthday of his just to annoy my mom up until my parents divorced
It’s interesting how many memories surface while watching your show. This show triggered a strong memory. I remember Bonfire nights in England before we moved to the States when I was 6 years old. Our whole neighborhood got together for the event. We ate Toffee apples while standing around the bonfire and I remember someone bringing a tray of Ginger Parkin around and reaching in for the delicious sticky treat. I remember licking fingers and they still felt sticky even after licking. I also remember my parents pulling out potatoes wrapped in foil from the coals around the edges of the fire which I remember cracking open the hot fluffy potato centers and enjoying eating with a spoon. I remember eating the crunchy skins as well whilst watching the embers of the fire diminish. Thanks for triggering my memories.
as youth.... some say its the shallow things you remember , personally i like to think its more that the kids mind remembers the details that made a moment so good...but not quite always the moment itself ;)
@PAUL MAEDING
How old are you now, Paul? I love the way you described the experiences you had as a young boy in England. Thank you for letting us into a glimpse of your past.
@@lisahinton9682 I’m turning 61 this month. I’m glad you enjoyed reading my description
@@paulmaeding8252 Happy almost-birthday, then. :-) I am the daughter of an English mom and an American dad and grew up in the USA (they met as very very young adults in England when Dad was studying over there), but learned a lot lot lot about English culture.
Thanks again, Paul. Be well.
Beautifully written. Thank you for sharing this with us.
I love that your cat knows exactly how delicious your food is and wants to sample just about every dish you make.
A housewife taking down a dragon has got to be the most Hobbitish thing I've ever heard.
That's how the game of rugby was invented. ;-)
Really, she had no choice. You have to remember, an ordinary dragon is bad enough, but a GIANT dragon? That's the kind of thing that will really tank the property values in the neighborhood.
I mean, Sam put the fear of the Valar into ancient spider monster that had never been wounded before, Rosie had to one-up him somehow.
@@chrisjenks5999 I think the dragon was "normal sized" and the parkin was giant. 🥮🐉
Max actually did say giant dragon, but I assume most dragons are pretty big. 😂
Given the old-English letter Thorn, which was pronounced "th" looks like a capital P, could it be that Theor or Tharve cakes became Par cakes, and from there Parkin?
Oooh that’s actually a really good theory! It’s happened with a lot of English words.
Thorns tend to be misinterpreted as Ys though, like "Ye Olde". By the time they dropped out of use they were basically indistinguishable. I'd expect it to instead be Yarkin
Thar cake - þarcake - parkin
Makes sense also with how the Yorkshire accent would change the words
@@eindummkopf2970 that's the progression that made sense to me too - as soon as Max said 'Thar Cake' and that they were often used interchangeably, I was like "Ohhhh, they're totally just corrupted versions of the same thing"
@@eindummkopf2970 In Yorkshire, th goes to f or v. So it would more likely be farkin or varkin, if that were the way of it. Nowhere in England did th become p.
For Americans who can’t get hold of British mixed spice, US “pumpkin spice” isn’t an entirely inappropriat substitute- they have similar flavour profiles.
I was once told that it was close enough, and it's what I normally use.
Add a little ground black pepper. Yum.
It sounds like just a mix of spices used around this time of the year anyway.
You could do worse than just using cinnamon instead of mixed spice, if you can't get or don't have any of the spices that Max suggests. Mixed spice is fairly cinnamon-forward in my (New Zealand) experience.
Ya, he was reading through the ingredients and my first reaction was .. sooooo pumpkin spice?
God I'm so glad you chose us over Disney. Your attitude and personality is amazing and I thoroughly enjoy your videos. Thank you for just existing.
Disney's loss is our gain!
@@toddmeier9743 exactly, this man is a gift to the world.
I'm super late but what do you mean? Did he have a job opportunity at Disney?
In the American South people make large lard biscuits called “cat head biscuits”, because they are the size of a cat’s head. Perhaps Jamie just wanted a biscuit and thought your parkin would be the next best thing.
You should see the looks I get when talking about cat head biscuits. Lol.
That's adorable. I need to find something similar to define as the size of a bunny butt. For reasons.
Hah, Indonesa has "cat's tongue" cookies instead
Lard. 😝🤭🙊 They really could learn something from Northern cooks.
@@CatsPajamas23this is very incorrect
So I told my mum (born and bred Northerner) that a youtube channel I follow was covering parkin... that's the first time I've seen her sit through an entire youtube video willingly.
ahh yes, that comforting feeling of seeing your culture on screen and going 'it me'
Golden Syrup is basically a caramelised invert sugar syrup and may be made by putting 4 cups of sugar and 1 1/4 cups of water in a pan and bring to the boil. add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, stir well then simmer gently over a very low heat without stirring for up to an hour until it gets a deep amber colour. Then let it cool - its easiest to pour into jars when its cooled for 10 mins or so because its very thick when cold!
Cool! Thanks!
I wish I could bookmark comments!
@@brick6347 I use a note-taking app like Samsung Notes or more usually Microsoft OneNote or Evernote on my PC to clip things and organise later. I have cooking notebooks. You can either text select and copy/paste (good for searching text later to find it) or if I'm lazy I use the clip tool that takes a screenshot of the section I highlight. If you write a quick title to the note then it helps with the search text later to still find the tidbit you want. Just took a little screenshot section of Ian's comment, put a title "Golden Syrup Recipe" and now even if I forget where I filed it I'll be able to find it with a search!
Two excellent tips in one comment! Thanks!
Made it to use in my mooncake recipe, pastry, filling & glaze this year. Nice carmel flav. Some recipes use golden syrup.
A big thankyou from Yorkshire for this!
This is one of the three things I grew up eating on Bonfire night.
Along with roasted chesnuts and "bonfire" toffee
I always put my squares in 2 nice neat lines. It is called " parallel parkin "
😂😂😂
"I can see this taking down a dragon."
Remember how you aimed middle-of-the-road on the stickiness?
As a yorkshire lass, I am so pleased that you've covered this! Parkin is something integral to my family's bonfire night celebrations and our recipe goes back four generations. Thanks Max!
As a person from West Yorkshire it fills me with absolute joy that an American pronounced the County's name properly, so bloody proud of you
It's lovely to hear it said properly:')
@@rachelfrater6623 The joy my heart felt was absolutely unreal, just shows that Max does his research with absolute love and passion :'D
Ay up, Slawit here.
Even impressed this Pixie from down South... I tried Parkin with a dollop of clotted cream, omg it was amazing😋 So I'm off to bake some more Parkin, sit on the banks of the river Tamer and throw it at any Cornish Pixies who insist on the jam first notion... 🤣
I live near Worcestershire, that one is a greater rarity 😂 I get it though.
My late Nanna Liz (RIP, Nanna) used to make Ginger and Treacle ginger cake. We didn't call it "Parkin" here though (I'm further North than Yorkshire); just sticky ginger bread.
In our family, we always serve soft gingerbread cake with sliced peaches and cream. I bet it would be very good on Parkin, too.
Oh my goodness that sounds divine!
We serve with a lemon hard sauce and real whipped cream.
Mum does that a bit. Sometimes she makes a warm sauce with Golden Syrup and cream. She also likes to put a bit of green ginger wine on peaches with some ice cream or cream as a quick dessert but it's a bit hot for that in summer/peach season in Australia for my taste. Green Ginger wine always makes me hot lol.
@@99zanne I wish I had my mom's recipe for the hard lemon sauce she served on gingerbread. We liked it warm, no waiting
12:03 little criminal, I love him
As a Yorkshireman who has been living abroad for a while and so dearly misses Bonfire night back in old East Riding, this was a real treat. Thank you, Max.
Yep. Never seen a Parkin recipe or heard of Bonfire Night until today. Thanks for educating those of us who are not yet history buffs. I appreciate your eye for detail and comments about accuracy.
Proud Yorkshireman here! I'm so happy you made this recipe, Max, thank you! I wanted to also point out that the 5th of November is celebrated by both sides. Monarchists celebrate that the King was saved, whereas Fawkes' supporters celebrate the attempt. There's also a tradition of making a crude effigy of Guy Fawkes, where people would use it to collect money for fireworks and firewood through something called "Penny for the Guy"
Guy Fawkes, said to be ‘the only honest man ever to enter Parliament.’
@Fred Smith Actually you’re correct. The quote was more that being of honest intentions. Still great political satire.
Close. The version I'm familiar with is ‘the only man ever to enter Parliament with honest intentions’
That looks the real deal, especially with the amount of tongue sweeping needed.. Mum would not give me her recipe but she gave it my to husband. We had to start with conversion as the gill has not been in use as a liquid measure for some time. We melt the butter (no lard) with the golden syrup and it uses just ginger. I was waiting to see if you wrapped it and waited, my mother would say that a week was only just acceptable. Congratulations, it looks just like ours but it's very filling and a small square goes a long way. We trim the edges before the waiting phase, you are allowed to eat those right away. It's not like brownies, no-one wants an edge.
sounds amazing! does the rest of the recipe mirrors the one max gives? im interested in trying this but i dont eat lard and i really want to have the stickiness.
@@monikererror more butter is the answer
@@carolinemorris5271 thank you!!
@Caroline Morris
Just curious, do you only trim the edges off? Or do you also cut it into serving-sized cubes, and then wait the week (or so)? Thanks!
@@lisahinton9682 I cube it up and then pack it away for it to come to.
I'm from Yorkshire and spent every summer in Filey as a kid.
It's a tiny little seaside town and really weird to see it referenced outside the UK!
(I can absolutely confirm that this is how we deal with dragons here.)
I wanna add that Filey's not a bad place for fossils either, not beyond belief to think they found some big marine reptile bones there and went 'yup, definitely a dead dragon' XD
Parkin was a major part of my childhood. Thank you for giving it the attention it deserves!
Same here.
The only problem I've got with modern parkin is that back in the 70's, Parkin was dark dense and soft (kind of like a ginger brownie with no chocolate), with a thin sticky layer on the top - not light crumbly and cake-like. I've tried for decades to try and find a recipe.
@@margaretkaraba8161 Try leaving out the leavening of any modern recipe. Or just reducing it, if you're worried about making them too dense and inedible. Then you can try reducing further if necessary
Yorkshire STILL has dragons who sadly refuse the Parkin (I'm told they are all gluten intolerant now ) so we need a hero to do battle - send for Rex V Jagger!
Then you can use gluten free oats and rice flour! Or almond flour if there are no nut allergies.
True
T Rex Versus Mick Jagger.
I know about a good police dog names Rex, if you need help.
We have this every year, funny to see it on here. Well done on the accuracy 😃
My nabour is this lovely old lady and currently she's baking some
Yeah, I usually make a batch over christmas cos it keeps really well and you can just snack on it :)
It's unusual to hear this American guy you've been watching on RUclips for years talk about the town where your grandma used to live. I have some good childhood memories in Filey. It's quite a unique little town. The way to the seafront is very distinct for a beach here, as you go down a very steep incline lined with shops and gardens and at the bottom of the hill is the seafront with art and entertainment. Filey was a hugely popular tourist destination in the 19th and 20th century, after the railway joined the country's bustling cities with its beautiful coasts. It's still popular with visitors today. There's a chocolatier at the top of the hill that makes luxury handmade chocolates - my dad buys a box for my mum every year for their anniversary. They also sell foil-wrapped chocolate ladybirds that are a traditional treat in my family, we used to get some every time we visited nana. Good times. Greetings from Yorkshire :)
That cat has a classic "No regrets" look. My cat Anna goes ballistic when I bake new bread. She stole a chunk of my panis quadratus. (which is probably too super simple of a recipe for you to do, but its such a nice loaf. I kinda cheese it and use honey in it, the actual recipe is super simple.) - edit, nevermind, I see you made it already :) I skip the herbs, and add honey as a natural preservative. I use 100% spelt flour, but tempted to try a few blends.
"Cat got a biscuit." Nope, cat was trying to sneak a piece of Parkin the size of it's head.
Having cats around most of my life I know they can carry some huge things. One cat I had, indoor-outdoor cat, somehow got a full sized gofer and brought it inside to feast upon. I had thought it was a mouse, with all the squeaking, then I went to see what he had caught and I saw what was left of it (ewwww). I am still wondering how first it got one, because they never completely come out of holes they make, and second how it carried it inside because of the size of of the gofer was about half the size of the cat.
Yep, my cat once brought home a full-grown rabbit. I have no idea how, not least of all because this cat is roughly as round and lazy as a bowling ball...(she dragged it up the front steps, then dropped it to yell at the door and it took off)
My mom's Siamese cats would catch moles and put their livers on the back door steps. I suppose they were a present for my mom, not that she appreciated it.
My cats used to bring me snakes, sometimes still alive.
My best friends cat wrestled the christmas turkey from the fridge (I wondered why they had a cide table in front of the fridge and moved it. Oops). They caught him just before he got to the cat flap.
@@cam4636 One of mine not only brought home a full grown rabbit nearly as big as him but got it in through the cat flap. Quite how we're not entirely sure but it probably involved much clattering, banging and swearing in feline.
Meanwhile, my cat just pilfers my clothes out of the dresser.
One of the Schools in York, refuses to burn a Guy figure on bonfire night as he went to school there, and was a well behaved pupil.
Hey, well-behaved pupils are hard to come by
It's St Peter's School. They don't burn Old Boys.
@@terben7339 It is indeed. I used to live down Bootham so walked past regularly.
Guido Fox was an Italian assassin and not from York.
@@mysticmeg111 what
Lyle's Golden Syrup is quite easy to find in the International aisle of grocery stores, at least in the Southern US. In fact, I would suggest that people to try it instead of corn syrup to make Pecan Pie. It makes the recipe even simpler and it tastes amazing.
I am so glad when RUclips recommended last year, out of the blue, Max's video about kykeon. I got curious, watched, then immediately subscribed and still regularly watches and revisits his videos to this day :)
Fantastic research and presentation Max. Bonfire Night celebrations have declined significantly since late 1990's here in the UK. An effigy of Guy Fawkes was placed on top of bonfires. Exception to this day being bonfire built by St. Peter's School boys, York, because Fawkes was a former pupil. Try Parkin with hot vanilla custard for pudding. Best wishes from York, North Yorkshire.
With vanilla custard...yum! Would a rum custard sauce be nice?
@@papwithanhatchet902 Maybe! Vanilla custard compliments ginger for comforting autumn pudding.
I wouldn't say they've declined much, though most people only have fireworks, probably because you can buy those from a supermarket and set them off in a small garden, whereas not many people have space to safely make a big fire. A fair few places used to do big public bonfires and firework shows, though less so the last two years due to the whole pandemic thing.
Last bonfire night I could barely make my way into work in the morning - the smog was so thick 😅 Greetings from West Yorkshire!
I was thinking the recipe / method sounds a lot like my mum's ginger sponge pudding, served with custard.
As an inhabitant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, I can confirm parkin is Very important here at this time of year. As my mother in law says "It'll stick to your ribs and keep the cold out."
Growing up down south in Hampshire and Dorset, we also had a thing called parkin, but it was made with rolled oats and more like a ginger flapjack.
I don't know how traditional this is, but my better half likes to warm her (Yorkshire style) parkin in the microwave and eat it with cold condensed milk.
Lastly there's an old English joke...
"Guy Fawkes, the only man to enter parliament with honest intentions."
The Houses of Parliament definitely need a statue of Guy Fawkes outside, just as a reminder to all the liars inside.
I've enjoyed sharing my Birthday with this holiday for many years (all the years, actually), but never knew there was a CAKE involved. Light Bulb!! 🎂🎆🎆
Also bonfire toffee and potatoes baked in the ashes.
@@pattheplanter Oh yes! That was the stuff of my childhood. You'd end the night stuffed full of sugar and carbohydrates and exhausted from running round and watching the fireworks and sneaking sips of the adults' cider. Before she put you to bed, your mother had to peel off the sticky and crumb-covered mittens you used to eat the food - and then scrub your face with the rough flannel so you didn't end up with your face stuck to the pillow.
It was my favourite time of the year.
Our son was planned to have this exact pairing, and I went through the effort of getting some Lyle’s Golden Syrup and everything…
Then he was born on October 25th by emergency C-section and the only cake we had for his 0th birthday was crab cake from a seafood restaurant that shares his name.
My bday is Nov 5th too👍 Happy birthday early!
@@Justanotherconsumer You named your son Red?
Hi, from West Yorkshire, England~!
Nowadays, the most popular method of making Parkin is the “melting method”, where you melt the sugars, syrup and butter in a pan together (make sure you mix!) then add the dry ingredients to the pan and mix. Then you bake it in the oven. Also, I’ve never personally seen a modern recipe use lard as people tend to just use butter now, but that’s not to say you can’t use it - as you said, there’s SO many different recipes for Parkin depending on where in the UK you live.
My mum used to make Parkin every year on Bonfire night. We never left it for a few days to soften because it would always get eaten the same day lol.
Also, something my mum always says in regards to Parkin: “You know you’ve made good Parkin when your jaw aches as you eat it!” :)
I remember the entire ditty because it's catchy: Remember, remember, the fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot; I see no reason the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot. However other than gunpowder being used to blow up some rich people in GB I didn't remember anything else lol so thanks for the quick History recap Max :)
Also Jaime stealing the bread as big as his head is such a classic pet move lol
I mentally sang this like a seafaring ditty once I read that it was catchy. I was on a roll all the way until I ran into “…History recap Max:)”
This was right before Max showed Guy Fawkes drawling the beginning phrase and I realized how badly I’d done the ditty.
@@LetsBeCivilShallWe badly? Not at all! I would love to know your tune for the folk song/sea shanty you came up with, I'm sure it was fun! Lots of poems could be great if set to music, especially rhymes. Sorry if my formatting was confusing lol!
Well they tried to use it but failed. Bonfire Night celebrates that failure, hence why we burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes
As a resident of York, Im so so so happy for this episode, thankyou max!
Ditto Jonathan. Parkin, baked potatoes, toffee, fudge and cinder toffee. All made at home. Max.
I particularly like this episode because I am off to Lewes on Friday night to celebrate!
A few years ago, when I was walking with Waterloo Bonfire Society, I made a parkin for my friends. We left it at their house whilst we did the first procession and, when we came back, her cat was eating it! What is it with cats and parkin?!
Very strange. Cats can't taste sweetness. So it's not the sugar. Lard?
My cat said he would not eat Parkin. He is very fussy.
@@valeriemorton5517 : Yep, lard.
@@absalomdraconis nope; mine didn't have lard!
@@Anesthesia069 It probably had high amounts of butter, which a cat would enjoy just as much
One thing Max does fail to mention is that Fawkes was also renowned by his pen name, John Johnson, famous doer of Job at Place.
Fawkes was probably shocked that the constable saw through his iron clad disguise.
I was looking for a comment like this! All hail OSP Blue
When I was in London, I actually had the pleasure of attending one of these 5th of November bonfires down at Battersea park! Really it's an excuse for lighting up a giant fire to keep everyone warm during these colder seasons.
If you had a bakery that sold some of these classics with a little history pamphlet, ID GO EVERY DAY
This recipe just blasted me back to my childhood! My mum used to make it all the time because she worked as a caterer…I remember waking up for school to the smell this cake baking in the winter more than once! Thank you for taking me on the trip down memory lane 💜
Bonfire night has always been a big celebration in my family (We are from York), there are foods my mum makes that are amazing as well as a large bonfire in our garden and my dad fires fireworks, this doesnt even include the traditions from my parents childhood such as 'penny for a guy', was so nice for the history to get a little spotlight here on your channel Max, very greatful
As a fellow York lad the best thing from bonfire night for me was jacket potatoes and the bonfire in Poppleton lmao
My mother used to go "scrumping" (or "chumping"?) for wood to build a bonfire. All the kids would go around and try scrounge or beg wood from anywhere they could get to and compete to build the best bonfire. Love little things like that and their associated slang. Not sure it really happens anymore.
This brought back so many memories of growing up in Manchester, England. My gran would make a batch of parkin every year (she added a Polish twist to the neighbour's recipe by adding chopped dried prunes to the batter). We had a croft around the corner from our street, and Guy Fawkes was a big celebration every year with the lighting of the bonfire and fireworks! Another tradition was Pontefract cakes - licorice overload! Thanks for stirring the memories, Max...luckily I have several tins of treacle in the house...I'm going to bake a batch right now!
Your Gran's recipe with the prunes sounds amazing, I can almost smell it in my imagination.
I like it with some chopped glace cherries and raisins added, I bet it's great with chopped prunes.
My grandmother being Czech would add some dried blackcurrant.😆
This channel is so fudging good! Love it so much! History and recipes; comedy and charisma for days! Never stop....Please don't stop! You are the light in the dingy days of modernity.
Mmm, Lyle's Golden Syrup on buttered wheat toast with a cup of milky tea. Reminds me of childhood breakfast time whilst visiting my grandparents in the Cotswolds.
Good times.
Gotta find me some Lyle's...
Hi Max, I really enjoy watching your videos. I have severe chronic lower back and neck pain. Most nights I can't sleep because of my chronic pain. I binge watch your videos when I can't sleep. Watching your videos helps me forget about my chronic pain. Thank you for making your videos 👍
Thank you 🙏 Glad I can provide even a few minutes of respite.
I've had exactly the same thing, I have been binge watching Max too. Hope your back feels better soonx
I’m i the same boat as you snaggletooth…….i feel your pain
Folks, I too have chronic pain. If you aren't into pills, try eating 1/2 can of cooked spinach. With butter, it can go down very easily. Not adverse to taking pills? Get 500mg magnesium and 595mg potassium. It will take about a week, but the combination really does ease the pain. The spinach has about the same mix of potassium and magnesium, so eating it will do a body good.
Love the show. It could be on television anytime qualitywise, but here it is actually better, because you are covering niche stuff that is fun and you present it perfectly and in detail. Also the show is both entertaining, educational and calming. Big thumbs up!
Warner Bros. would like to thank Anonymous for single-handedly keeping the V for Vendetta movie memorabilia market alive for all these years. And I would like to thank them too, since it allowed Max to do that bit at the beginning of this video. 😄
@Patrick Vroman - Is Anonymous still active? We need them now more than ever!
I buy Lyle's Golden Syrup all the time in supermarkets in Orange County, NY, USA. It is especially good when sweetening something like iced tea as it blends right into the cold beverage without turning into a glob like honey does.
One of my favourite episodes. Thanks from Canada
Other things we eat on bonfire night include cinder toffee toffee apples and potatoes baked in the embers of the fire, with lashings of salted butter, don’t forget to burn your guy on top of the bonfire ,
Strange that even we catholics loved bonfire night, although it set our emancipation, back hundreds of years
Lost many baby teeth to cinder toffee, and toffee apples on bonfire night!
All of this sounds so fabulous. Now I am famished.
Penny for the guy...
Nice sliced and buttered and eaten with Wensleydale cheese and slices of apple. Crystallised ginger are sometimes added to the mixture.
I've always been curious about the history behind why some baking ingredients are different in the US vs the UK. You mentioned a couple, and castor/superfine sugar also comes to mind. Not sure how you'd fit that into an episode exactly, but maybe?
on somewhat related note- various russian dairy products either don't have a precise English equivalent, get lumped together with other things as a cheese or yoghurt, or their translated name is actually an entirely different dairy product.
Not sure if food vernacular is a term used but that and factory pride. It's shifted to brands the last half century (the emperor is naked) and the factories got nimby'd out of town. ..
Illiteracy, misheard words and not getting grandpa's jokes 💁🏻♀️ it gets fun.
Because there were people living here before the Anglos came that had cultivated food that had never been seen in the "old world" before? And now US culture is heavily reliant on those things, like corn, sugarcane, including molasses (Europeans only had beet sugar prior to the Columbian exchange), tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, etc. etc. I find it more odd that you would think they should be identical. Because we both speak English? I mean, both Mexico and Spain speak Spanish and yet their cuisines are very different and no one bats an eye at that.
@@TheBLGL Aside from the others you mentioned, isn't Sugarcane from Asia? Plus pretty sure there's records of refined sugar from Sugarcane going back 1,000s of years in China and India.
Max Max Max Max Max!!!! I have had a really rotten three weeks at work. I feel so much better after watching this video! REALLY lifted my spirits. Thank you so much!
I'm from Lancashire, though my dad's side are from Yorkshire, and parkin is by far one of my favourite cakes, far better than anything fancy. Really cool to see something I'm so familar with featured here!
When you are parkin’ your car on a slope you can stick a slice behind one of the rear wheels to stop the car slipping.
Parkin’ safely.
Thank you so much for this video. My grandfather was from the North of England and although he moved to the US, he was English until the day he died. I want to celebrate Guy Fawkes day now in honor of him and my ancestors.
If nothing else it's a fun excuse to make a big fire and set off some fireworks.
Interesting anecdote, some historians have argued that Bonfire Night could be considered an anti-Catholic celebration. As it was a group of Catholics plotting to depose a Protestant monarch (and wider government), you can read the holiday as a celebration of the failure if Catholicism versus Protestantism. Of course, no one actually thinks of it as such. For pretty much everyone, it's an opportunity to light fireworks, set shit on fire, and get drunk as all hell, not necessarily in that order.
It definitely does have an anti Catholic side in some places even today. In Lewis in Sussex an effigy of pope Paul V is burned along with the Guy and various others. The also commemorate the 17 Protestants of the town burned at the stake by Mary Tudor.
The British comedian David Mitchell talks about this somewhere - how the English burn a Catholic in effigy every November.
In Canada, that holiday is officially celebrated in Newfoundland and I believe the only organisation that is/was promoting it is the Order of Orange. So yeah...
It can be very anti Catholic, but with the tongue in cheek nowadays. I would recommend you look up Lewes Bonfire celebrations for a flavour of real Bonfire Night. We do it properly here in Sussex, and I say that as a Catholic! Lewes has a strong link to Protestant martyrs who were executed under the reign of Queen Mary.
@@nataliewhittle9299 not being a Lewes lad I get the impression that the societies are more about the tradition and having a willfully un-PC laugh.
I think there is more of a sectarian edge to it in Glasgow and Northern Ireland.
Personally I love bonfire night because an old professor once told me it's the closest most of us will experience to an old pagan festival.
Drink and food and fire and kids staying up late and danger and tradition and community and ceremony.
Parkin is genuinely one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. So glad to see it covered on the channel!
"He's got a biscuit!" Hilarious!!!!
Oh man! I’m excited for what Max is gonna make for the up coming holidays!
Parkin is one of my favorite desserts and as an expat, bonfire night has become my excuse to make myself some! International stores almost always have lyles golden syrup somewhere if you're looking for it, black treacle is however used in "bonfire toffee", a kind of dark boiled candy made with black treacle.
I prefer the Gobi Desert.
But nah, parkin is a treat with a cuppa. Not a dessert.
@@somegeezer Woops lol, serves me right for writing in a hurry. But Idk, It's nice with some tea but I always grew up having it as a dessert usually after pie on bonfire night.
My 'adult' self still hears my teenage joke lyrics "How can you have any pudding if you don't beat your meat?!? Stand still laddy!" Glad to know your version is much more wholesome. :-)
"How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?" Love it you know your classics. With the next pork dish you will sing Pigs on the wing?
I used Max's receipt to make the BonFire Biscuits my scottish grandmother made.1 TBS per cookie makes 28 fork flattened baked 350 for 12 minutes allowed to cool before removing from parchment pan. A taste I knew 60 years ago. Thanx Max
Interesting that the dragon story is the “more plausible” origin story 😂
In case people want more detail in podcast form, check out The History of England podcast where we have just reached the point in the chronology where the gunpowder plot is going down. It’s a great listen and David Crowther is a great podcaster 👍
Such a great podcast!
there is also the thoughty2 video he made a deep in depth video on the plot
Also, The History of English podcast! More language focused, but also very good.
I love to hear your recipes from around the world but it is such a thrill when it’s a local recipe.I live quite near Knaresborough which is associated with Guy Fawkes
Just to make sure: your bridge is still standing, right?
Blackstrap molasses works wonderfully in place of black treacle, so no worries on that. LOVE the recipe and I am totally stealing it.
Thanks for another interesting video about a dish and its history. Parkin is one of my favourite British cakes (I like Jamaican ginger cake too). It brings back fond memories of Bonfire Night in the North of England as child
Max, I can smell that through the computer! Is there such a beast as yeast-raised parkin? It's just going to be me and my dogs for Thanksgiving, again, this year, so I think I shall make this and your Aztec tamales and be most righteously grateful for my blessings.
Much merriment to you and your dogs!
@Fred Smith So I shall add my yeast and cardamom and nutmeg and thank you kindly, Your Worship!
@Fred Smith Be descriptive not prescriptive and all food is authentic. 🙂
Remember remember the second of November,
The feline parkin plot.
I see no reason why the thieving feline,
Should ever be forgot.
😁
Thank you! ❤️
Growing up in the north of England, one of my favorite things about visiting my grandmother (who grew up in the West Riding) in the autumn was being stuffed with parkin and rice pudding. Sadly she took her recipe with her to grave.
I’m going to give this a recipe a try as soon as I get my hands on some treacle.
Next up - Grassmere gingerbread?
Yes! Years ago (ok, decades ago, SIGH), I visited GB, and bought a postcard in one of the shops because it had a recipe for Grasmere Gingerbread. It was nothing like the gingerbread they were selling in the bakeries, but it was yummy, and quite gingery.
West Yorkshire lass here!
I've been looking for a traditional recipe and this is it, thank you so much.
Although I live in Scotland now I really miss bonfire night back home. Standing round a roaring fire with spuds wrapped in foil at the edge, pie & peas with parkin to follow and if you were old enough on occasion there was warm spiced cider on the go too. That's bonfire night my friends 💜
I am in the south of England, I did not even know they did this up north. Thank you for making this video and teaching me something!
I'm a northern gel and I can speak from experience that if you ever get the chance to try some proper parkin, grab it with both hands!
Jaime is quite the adorable thief! He also has good taste, because that parkin sounds scrumptious.
It's also traditional for children to make a man out of newspaper and old clothes called a Guy which is burned as an effigy on the bonfire. My cousin from Belfast told me that sometimes they make a Pope to burn instead!
"penny for the guy" - traditional to collect for charity before the bonfire
Max did rather gloss over the "Brits burn a Catholic in effigy every year for the last 400 years." We have such fun doing it, though.
Parties at my place we'd generally burn a politician. Don't have any hate for catholics!
@@jrfreki674 you know all that money was spent on sweets/candy.
As someone from very close to Belfast i'd guess the pope one is for a bonfire night from a very different time in the year, biggest ones happen in July down there XD
I’m such a gingerbread fiend, I can’t wait to try this! Also Jaime’s mugshot was adorable 😂
One of the most well presented and professionally produced RUclips channels I've ever come across. New sub ! Always knew my channel needed improvement but this is an entirely different level altogether.
I grew up in Yorkshire (Leeds specifically) and I've always loved parkin at this time of year, (served hot with some ice cream) but had no idea about its history. I've also been going to Filey for years too and didn't know the folklore behind Filey Brigg either! Such an informative video, this is definitely a recipe I'll be trying out. Thanks for another informative and fun video, me and my wife love your videos and we're always learning something new!
As well as parkin, you have to have bonfire toffee, also known as cinder toffee. Guaranteed to break you teeth if you don't suck it enough!
Sometimes we used to spread butter on parkin. (like it needs more calories).Helps it slide down!
Ohhhh bonfire toffee for us was always black and sticky cinder toffee was different. Like I think what they call honeycomb in the south. Parkin is all the better with a slab of butter and maybe some Wensleydale cheese
@@Tiger89Lilly Same with roasting apples and potatoes in the embers :)
So did Jamie like this?
My cat goes crazy when he smells cheese and always wants a little bit of it.
He did. Very much.
@@TastingHistory it's probably the butter, I knew a cat who liked toffee cake
Having a charcuterie board must be a nightmare for you too then ;)
My cats go crazy whenever I set one up for games night with the lads.
Our two cats once managed to steal a robef slice from the fridge and disappear without anyone could notice the robbery. 15 years later I'm still amazed. Pobably rolled a 20 on their Sleight of Paw checks.
@Tom F - Before I knew better, I was defrosting a frozen chicken on the kitchen counter when I heard a CRASH! As I was walking down the hall, I could see my cat, Max (really his name), watching me sidelong and desperately trying to drag away the entire chicken. The poor guy only got a few inches, though. Whole frozen chickens must have a high point of inertia.
I'm in the US and I can get golden syrup at several grocery stores in my area. It can be in several places: next to molasses, maple syrup, corn syrup (those are usually on different aisles), in the baking aisle, or in the international / importanted aisle.
7:58 - when you see your own surname all over an historic map...
To be fair, I did already know that 'carr' was an old word for low-lying or marshy ground.
So I am David Bog, or David Swamp. Noice...
Max: how are we supposed to store the Parkin while it ages? I’m guessing not the fridge… should it be in a breathable container, or sealed? Ambient temperature or cool?
Also: have you learned a good way of keeping kitties out of your bread products from Jamie’s adventure? Our work cat ate some Hawaiian rolls last night that were meant for the kids, and we could use advice…
Wrapped in greaseproof paper
A plastic container or tin with the top set atop (carefully sealed if you live somewhere very wet or very dry).
It softens by absorbing moisture from the air so store in an almost closed container, room temperature
Traditionally, on the pantry shelf in a biscuit tin lined with wax paper.
Do not put it in the fridge! it comes out a dry, tooth-breaking horror. Room temperature wrapped in paper, or in a container. Parkin keeps surprisingly well in a tightly-sealed box - about a month but one of my neighbours claim they eat the last bits at Christmas.
"Remember, remember, the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot. We see no reason, why gunpowder treason, should ever be forgot."
As a Yorkshire man
Tis good cake mate
Aye, not half.
9:21 🍐🍺 "perry" is a sort of sparkling pear cider
I'm a new subscriber and absolutely love your blogs! I bake British recipes, so the explanation of golden treacle was very helpful.
Also, I enjoy your historical narratives. They're well researched and information. The viewers who don't like them slept through history class. 😉 Lucky you, for meeting Bruce Fummie. He and Scotland are awesome.