Welsh Faggots

Welsh faggots, ffagodau in Welsh, are a traditional meatball dish of Wales and the Welsh borders, an economical food born of the rural necessity to use every part of the pig. The dish consists of meatballs made from minced pork offal, typically liver, heart and belly, bound with breadcrumbs, onion and sage, traditionally wrapped in caul fat, the lacy membrane from the pig's abdomen, which holds the meatball together and bastes it in fat as it cooks. Faggots were the food of the rural poor and the industrial workers of the South Wales coalfield, cheap, filling and nourishing, made on pig-killing days when nothing could be wasted. They were baked in a rich onion gravy and served with mashed potato and peas, a complete meal. The Welsh faggot is closely related to the English Midlands faggot and to the French crepinette, the caul-wrapped technique being shared across medieval Europe. Commercially produced faggots, notably by Mr Brain's, the long-running brand founded near Bristol in the West Country rather than in Wales, kept the dish alive in the 20th century, and it remains a fixture of Welsh home cooking and traditional butchers.

Soft, well-flavoured meatballs with the iron depth of liver and the richness of pork belly, the caul having melted to a glossy glaze, in a thick, sweet, savoury onion gravy. Eaten with creamy mash and peas; rustic, deeply savoury.

The faggot is defined by the use of offal bound with breadcrumb and wrapped in caul. Pork liver, heart and belly, or pork and liver, are minced or finely chopped and mixed with softened onion, breadcrumbs to bind and absorb the rich juices, sage for its classic pairing with pork, and salt and pepper. The mixture is shaped into balls and wrapped in pieces of caul fat, the lacy membrane which melts during cooking and continually bastes the lean offal in fat, preventing it from drying out. The wrapped faggots are placed in a baking dish, surrounded by plenty of sliced onion, and cooked slowly in a moderate oven, around 170 degrees C, with stock or water added to create the gravy, for about 1.5 hours, the long cook breaking down the caul and melding the liver's strong flavour with the sweet onion. The result is soft, sliceable meatballs in a thick, glossy gravy, distinct from the firm, casing-bound sausage. Caul fat's self-basting is the technique's secret.