The Mackem Cewkbewk, a new release from the creator of the Mackem Dictionary, serves up a hearty tribute to Wearside's culinary history. The Sunderland-inspired hardback revives beloved classics and introduces new dishes inspired by the city’s culinary staples – while also exploring the region’s food related dialect. With proceeds from the book going to the Sunderland Community Soup Kitchen, the cewkbewk is a true community endeavour. Here, Kate Hewison speaks to author Paul Swinney about Sunderland, its heritage and the inspiration behind the cewkbewk.
A few years ago I wrote the Mackem Dictionary, which had a tongue in cheek look at the role of dialect in local culture.
I wanted to celebrate something that is seen as ‘every day’ in Sunderland but very different outside of the North East.
Food is something else which shapes local culture, so the Cewkbewk always felt like a natural follow on.
The recipes broadly fall into two categories: some are traditional favourites, while others are brand new inspired by typical North East ingredients and folklore.
For the traditional ones, we put a request out on social media and got a great response – dishes like Panackelty and Pink Slice were popular in particular.
New dishes include Double Maxim Brown Ale Brownies (I’ve always been surprised this wasn’t already a thing – they are delicious), Pink Ice, which is pink slice ice cream and Lambton Worm Cakes to honour Wearside’s notorious mythical serpent.
On the face of it not very much – food is hardly the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the area.
Yet the response to the shout out for ideas and the response to the book so far shows that people do care about it.
There is a lot to celebrate, which is what the book sets out to do.
I hope that it helps to make the link between food and identity stronger, reconnecting younger Mackems with dishes of Wearside’s past and creating new traditions with the recipes that I’ve created for the book.
Yes – I don’t think there’s any city in the world that could fill a whole cookbook with recipes!
The Mackem Cewkbewk also looks at the role of food and drink in dialect.
It explores differences in dialect within Wearside through a survey especially run for the book, which reveals a number of things that I found surprising.
It looks at the characters and companies that have been part of Wearside’s culinary scene, such as fishwife Maggie O’Hare who lived a remarkable life in Sunderland’s East End.
The book is about celebrating local culture, but I want it to do some good for the people of Sunderland too.
Given the theme of the book supporting the Soup Kitchen was a natural choice.
I was surprised at just how much they do, for example they grow their own food and have helped people with things well beyond just providing a meal.
The effort the team go to is inspiring and I wanted to help them with what they do.
Find out more about The Mackem Cewkbewk here.
October 30, 2024