Panacalty ... a taste of the past

Our cook at home used to make panacalty as a special treat when I came back from school for the holidays. She was born and raised in Sunderland, the home of panacalty.  You can imagine my delight when I came across a recipe for it, which was for the slow cooker. Cooking in this weather, especially using the oven, is murder and so anything which allows the kitchen to be just hot rather than boiling hot, is a bonus.

In any event I popped the ingredients into the slow cooker and off it went on its merry way, whilst we enjoyed a swim in the relative cool of the evening. Half way through cooking, you add a pint of gravy (from granules) and let it carry on for another hour. The result ... absolutely delicious. A real journey back in time. I suspect that I have not eaten panacalty for about fifty years.

We generally stay inside the house between midday and about five o'clock and then venture into the pool again. If you plan to follow in our footsteps, and are wondering whether the expense (nowhere near as expensive as we thought) and the time maintaining and cleaning it (twenty minutes every three days) is worth it, then believe me it is worth every second and every Euro. For us a private pool is little short of heaven on earth.

And, of course, Ann is now swimming quite confidently and gradually building up her stamina. I am so proud of her, and she is pretty pleased with herself.