Homage to my hometown
Tinker's Cakes Recipe
I read this week that another of my hometown landmarks – one that holds such fond memories – is to remain permanently closed until it gets demolished. Many people will know Newport Centre from going to see bands play, watching the snooker, or more recently getting their Covid vaccine, but for me, the Newport Centre will always be about the wave machine.
I remember as a child getting very excited knowing we were going to the leisure centre – not that I could swim until I was about nine. You’d go through the changing rooms with their cream-colour tiles, tiptoe through the disinfecting trough of water at the entrance to the poolside and there it was: the pool, the bright orange slide, and the wave machine. There would be an alarm before it started and then the waves would emerge from the deep end all the way to the beach-like shallows where you could lie back and pretend you were by the sea.
The slide was the other exciting part, a swirl of orange and cream fiberglass that took an age to get to the top because of all the narrow tiled steps that you didn’t really want to step on barefoot. The lifeguard – precariously perched on a chair at the summit – would let you know when you could slide, and you’d shunt yourself forward until the rushing water pushed you down the initial slope. You daren’t put your back all the way down flat, as the ridges between the fibreglass pieces of tubing would act like a cheese grater to the skin on your spine.
When your colour armband was announced, it was time to get out and get changed, and then if we were good, we could get a Wispa chocolate bar from the vending machine.
Apparently, it would cost too much to reopen the pool now, as it requires too many repairs. It certainly hasn’t been updated for as long as I can remember and it’s pretty much the same age as me, having been opened in 1985. I’m sure it is expensive to maintain but the cynic in me also thinks it’s rather convenient that planning applications are being considered for the site at the moment.
A new leisure centre would be brilliant and yet the centre itself is somewhat of a Newport icon, its gaudy geometric dark brick design is so of its time and one of the few places I can think so encapsulates that period of time when I grew up.
At the start of the year, I wrote a piece for The Independent about why Newport is a great place, and also about some of the many points of cultural reference that have disappeared over the years, from the Chartist mural to Wimpy – often but not always the by-product of an over-zealous council wanting to keep up with the neighbours, which in Newport’s case means Cardiff. But I also wrote about all the bits of Newport that are still there for everyone to enjoy and be proud of, the sights that I hope will be preserved.
The Newport Centre pool might be closing, but there’s still plenty to see and do in the city, from the ridiculously impressive Roman ruins at Caerleon, the mighty and imposing Transporter Bridge – an extraordinary feat of Victorian engineering – the trials and tribulations of the beautiful Tredegar House, the verdant wetlands, and the emerging independent food scene (more on that below).
My hometown might have a bit of a bad reputation (not totally unjustified), but it’ll always be home, and so there’s no better place in my eyes.
The Recipe
Tinker’s cakes
It was on a visit to Tredegar House that I first heard of this recipe. The volunteers were rustling some of these up in the grand kitchens of the manor house for visitors to try. These little cakes supposedly get their name from the tinkers who used to come to the door to mend pans and utensils, and these could be made up in an instant as a treat as they completed their work. They are essentially a variety of bakestone cake similar to Welsh cakes, but they use brown sugar and cooking apple. Because of the moisture in the apple, these are best cooked in a small batch and eaten straight off the bakestone, as they can go a bit soft if left for more than a few hours.
Ingredients (makes 8-10)
100g self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
55g butter, cut into small cubes
50g soft brown sugar (or demerara)
1 small cooking apple
Drop of milk
Caster sugar for dusting
Method
Preheat your bakestone over a medium heat. In a large bowl, sift the flour and salt.
Add the butter and begin to work together with your fingertips – as you would for pastry. When it resembles breadcrumbs, tip in the sugar and combine.
Finely dice the apple (or grate) and add to the mix and stir. Bring it together to form a dough – you might need a tiny drop of milk just to help it bind.
Roll out the dough on a well-floured surface to about a centimetre thickness, and then cut out rounds using a cutter or a tumbler/wine glass.
Cook on the hot bakestone for about 2-3 minutes either side until golden brown and cooked through.
Dust liberally with caster sugar and eat warm with a good, strong cup of tea.
If you try the recipe out, don’t forget to tag any photos with #mywelshkitchen.
The Playlist
To me, cooking and music go hand in hand, whether that’s singing at the top of your voice using a wooden spoon as a microphone while waiting for pasta to boil, or dancing around with the oven gloves on as the oven timer counts down. Here are this week’s ideas for your Welsh Kitchen playlist.
First up this week is a traditional American folk song (and one of my grandad’s favourites) sung by the City of Newport Male Choir. The choir was established in 1943 as a way of raising spirits and relieving some of the tensions of the later part of the war years, and it’s been going strong ever since. The second piece is a parody song done for Comic Relief a few years ago, but I couldn’t talk about Newport and not include it. But then I also couldn’t include that and not include Newport’s very own Goldie Lookin Chain’s response, too.
Shenandoah by City of Newport Male Choir
Newport State Of Mind by Comic Relief
Newport State Of Mind (You’re Not From Newport) by Goldie Lookin Chain
The Pantry
Good food is nothing without good ingredients and thankfully there are plenty of fantastic Welsh products on the market. Here is where you’ll find recommendations to stock up your cupboard, fridge or fruit bowl.
Instead of the pantry suggestion this week, I’ve decided to list a few of my favourite food spots in Newport, so if you ever find yourself in the neighbourhood, you know where to go:
Quarters Coffee – wonderful coffee, cakes, lunch plates and stellar service, with views of the river and Newport’s OTT city footbridge.
New Olé – tiny tapas joint on Cardiff Road with proper homemade Spanish dishes.
Tiny Rebel – award-winning beer and burgers in the city centre and at their brewery site in Rogerstone.
Spirit of Wales Distillery – micro distillery with tours and tasting rooms in Maesglas.
The Café at Ridgeway – little café housed in an old toilet block, with impressive views over Little Switzerland.