A Cornish fairing is a type of traditional
ginger
Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice
A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...
biscuit
A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be ...
commonly found in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. "Fairing" was originally a term for an edible treat sold at fairs around the country, though over time the name has become associated with ginger biscuits or
gingerbread
Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly as crisp as ...
, which were given as a treat to children or by men to their sweethearts. In Cornwall, fairings contained ginger and became famous around the country when a Cornish manufacturer started selling them by mail order in 1886. The same manufacturer still makes them and the company has recently teamed up with celebrity chef
Rick Stein
Rick may refer to:
People
*Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name
*Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality
*Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...
to make biscuits.
Description
Cornish fairings are sweet and spicy ginger biscuits, made with standard biscuit ingredients such as flour, caster sugar and butter, together with
mixed spice,
ginger
Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice
A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...
,
cinnamon
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...
and
golden syrup. They are roughly circular and brittle similar to
gingerbread
Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly as crisp as ...
. They are created by mixing the dry ingredients with butter, until the mixture resembles bread crumbs, then adding the sugar and syrup before forming the biscuits and baking high in the oven, followed by a period at the bottom of the oven.
History
"Fairings" was originally the common name for edible souvenirs sold at fairs around England. Fairings would vary throughout the country: at
Bartholomew Fair
The Bartholomew Fair was one of London's pre-eminent summer charter fairs. A charter for the fair was granted to Rahere by Henry I to fund the Priory of St Bartholomew; and from 1133 to 1855 it took place each year on 24 August within the precin ...
in
Smithfield, fairings of gingerbread were sold from 1126 to 1800; in the
northern counties, a traditional fairing would be a decorated "
paste egg" at Easter. The Cornish version included the spiced ginger biscuit which became famous in Victorian times. The complete fairing from Cornwall would include the ginger biscuit, along with almond and caraway
comfit
Comfits are confectionery consisting of dried fruits, nuts, seeds or spices coated with sugar candy, often through sugar panning. Almond comfits (also known as "sugared almonds" or "Jordan almonds") in a muslin bag or other decorative container ...
s (colloquially "lambs' tails" - actually sugar-coated
almond
The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...
s and
caraway seeds),
crystallised angelica and
macaroons.
[
During the 1800s, the biscuits became a treat that young men from the middle or lower classes would buy as a treat for their sweetheart. Previously, the spices required to create the biscuits were exclusive to the wealthy classes, who used them to make cakes. A number of manufacturers started making ginger biscuits called "fairings" all over England. One example of this was in Grasmere, where the gingerbread sold as fairings was so popular that ]William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798).
Wordsworth's ' ...
's sister Dorothy
Dorothy may refer to:
*Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name.
Arts and entertainment
Characters
*Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum
* Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character playe ...
wrote in one of her journals that she and her brother both craved them.[ In 1875, John Cooper Furniss obtained a large store in East Bridge Street, Truro, and premises on Duchy Wharf and installed ovens for biscuit manufacturing. He introduced several new kinds of biscuits and also a penny box of sweetmeats with every box containing a small piece of jewellery. Needless to say, these were very successful and in great demand. In 1886, ]John Cooper Furniss
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
started selling the ginger biscuits at his tea room in Truro, Cornwall
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro can ...
, baking them in his Truro bakery. They were so popular that he started selling them via mail-order. The recipe Furniss used is thought to have originated from a "maid-hiring" fair which used to take place during the week after Christmas, in Launceston, Cornwall
Launceston ( or , locally or , kw, Lannstevan; rarely spelled Lanson as a local abbreviation) is a town, ancient borough, and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is west of the middle stage of the River Tamar, which c ...
although Furniss Foods suggest the recipe came from the fairs held at Whitsuntide or Corpus Christi.
Furniss went on to expand his company to Furniss Foods, a well-known Cornish biscuit manufacturer, which created a number of different fairing varieties, such as "orange and lemon" or "apple and cinnamon". He also established a Charitable Trust which is still in operation today. It is limited to the parish of Truro to provide assistance to residents in need who use coal as the primary source of heat. The company moved to a larger factory in 1988, but ran into financial difficulties during the 2000s and it was bought by Proper Cornish, a pasty manufacturer, which focused the company's production on the Cornish fairings and a couple of other lines.
Cornish foods are an essential element in the county's touristic appeal, with a survey by South West tourism showing food as one of the top three reasons people visit Cornwall. During an interview where he was launching a new line of biscuits, celebrity chef Rick Stein explained that he associated fairings with his childhood.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornish Fairings
Cornish cuisine
Biscuits
Ginger dishes
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