Sarah’s honey tea bread wins Booths’ traditonal Northern food recipe contest

Sarah Stover from Fleetwood won the competition organised by Booths and Slow Food for her recipe for Honey Tea Bread.

Nine amateur cooks from Lancashire, Cumbria and Yorkshire served up their best-loved family recipes in the final at the Northcote Restaurant at Ewood Park, Blackburn Rovers Football Club. Each entry had 15 minutes to talk about the history of the dish and then for the judges to taste it.

Judges included Times food critic Charles Campion, Booths chairman Edwin Booth, chef Nigel Haworth and Catherine Gazzoli, chief executive of Slow Food UK.

Sarah said: “I originally found the recipe in a tiny 50p recipe book I found in my home when I moved in; I baked it from then on.”

Sarah won a family three-course meal prepared and cooked for eight people, plus £500.

Second place went to Helen Morris from Cumbria for her recipe for Pepperpot Pie and Helen Tawn from Ilkley was third with her Plum Jumbly Tart.

The best dishes will be featured on recipe cards in stores and appear on the Booths website.

Booths marketing manager Sarah Burns said: “People delved deep into their family cookbooks to share some amazing recipes that combine family history, local tradition and local produce.

“Many of the dishes are treasured culinary secrets that date back generations and have only been saved in people’s memories. We want to champion these beloved family dishes and protect them for generations to come.”

Slow Food UK’s Catherine Gazzoli says: “Many of these recipes don’t exist in cookbooks – they come from great great grandmas or grandpas who have been cooking these dishes for years.

“Slow Food is all about families coming together around the dinner table to take time to talk, eat and enjoy life. These recipes encapsulate all that is good about Slow Food – delicious, local family dishes prepared with love.”