Recipe Norfolk Dumplings

Early dumplings were probably balls of bread dough taken from the batch used to make bread. However, people soon began to make dumplings from other ingredients, e.g. suet or white bread. By 1747 Hannah Glasse could give no fewer than eight recipes for dumplings, of which two were for 'hard' dumplings made form plain flour and water, 'vest boiled with a good piece of beef'; two were for apple dumplings; and others were for Norfolk dumplings, yeast dumplings, white bread dumplings, and suet dumplings. When she indicated size, she usually said 'as big as a turkey's egg'.

Norfolk is the chief dumpling county of Britain, but the history of its honourable (and plain) dumplings has been obscured by French intervention. the tory told by Dumas in his Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine that the Duke of Norfolk was fond of his dumplings, and that they were named after him, is wrong, as is the recipe Dumas gives. Indeed, the recipe is so wildly wrong that it looks as though Dumas was the victim of a practical joker when he visited England, possibly the same person who told him that Yermouth (sic), home of bloaters, was in Ireland.

'The farmer's wife very skilfully divided a pond of dough (remember, just ordinary bread dough) into four pieces. These she weighed, and so cleverly had she gauged the size that they weighed approximately 4 oz each. She kneaded, and rolled them in a very little flour until they were quite round, then put them on a plate and slipped them into a large saucepan containing fast-boiling water. The saucepan lid was put back immediately, and then, when the water came to the boil once more, 15 minutes' rapid boiling was allowed for the dumplings.

Norfolk Dumplings En Sopa De Verduras

Dumplings in Norfolk are not a sweet. They are a very substantial part of hat might be the meat course, or they might serve as a meat substitute. In the villages I found that they were sometimes put into a very large pot and boiled on top of the greens; then they are called 'swimmer'.'

Eliza Acton (1845), apparently referring to Norfolk dumplings, specified several accompaniments; wine sauce, raspberry vinegar, or sweetened melted butter with a little vinegar.

Suffolk dumplings, unlike those of Norfolk, are made of flour and water, without yeast. (Eliza Acton recommended adding milk to make a thick batter.) They are steamed or rapidly boiled, so that they rise well. they may be eaten with meat gravy, or with butter or syrup. They often include currants if intended as a sweet dish.

Venison, Cider And Quince Stew With Herbed Butter Dumplings

Oatmeal dumplings are common in N. Britain, where oats are widely grown. Derbyshire dumplings, relatively small, are made from equal amounts of wheat flour and oatmeal, with beef dripping and onion; to be added to a beef stew half an hour before serving.The humble dumpling has mostly simmered away in culinary history in an unobtrusive if rather solid way, but, with Mary Berry recently advocating a return to such food staples, it is time to reassess these bubbling little buns. Few now remember that the word ‘dumpling’ was born in Norfolk at the beginning of the 17th century, where the dialect borrowed the low German word for ‘lump’ – an earthy name that perhaps robbed them from the outset of any possible glamour. Added to this is the fact that the initial purpose of a dumpling was to fill stomachs cheaply and distract attention from a probable shortage of meat in a meal.

However, what some may view as a parochial foodstuff does, in fact, have a cosmopolitan side. Dumplings are at home in any cuisine, having arisen in different cultures around the world, and seem to spawn a saying, story or anecdote wherever they surface. The Chinese dim sum is said to symbolise prosperity and the reunion of the family. The Italian ‘strangolapreti’ gnocchi, literally ‘priest strangler’, hints at far darker tales.

In Norfolk, where farmers’ wives still refer to themselves as ‘proper dumplings’, the doughy balls are synonymous with a love of good food and generous portions. The region is rightly proud of the delicate quality of its local speciality, even branding its dumpling the ‘swimmer’ because, when correctly made, it should rise to the surface of whatever liquid it is cooking in. The claim that it bobs so beautifully it can be used to keep up a fisherman’s nets may or may not be true.

James Brook / Design: Food History

What makes a dumpling a true Norfolk swimmer is hard to pin down. Butcher Michael Quinton, a Freeman of Norwich, looks blank on the subject. He was taught to make suet dumplings by Violet, a cook to The Queen at Sandringham, but she never mentioned the swimmer. She did put him straight on a number of matters, however, including the exact cooking time – 20 minutes – and the necessity to keep the mixture dry in order for the dumplings to be light. In perfectly preserved Heydon, where Norfolk traditions are strictly observed, ‘H’, the landlord of the Earle Arms, also makes his using suet. It’s adding horseradish, he says, that makes them such an excellent accompaniment to his beef stew.

Fortunately, some useful clues have been written down over the centuries by conscientious food writers. Hannah Glasse, writing in the 18th century, extols the virtues of the Norfolk ‘yeast’ dumpling. In more modern times, Elizabeth David accounts for the tenacity of the yeasted dumpling in the region with the fact that the bread ovens were kept alight until after the Second World War, leaving traditional cooking methods intact.

Retired baker Brian Tubby, however, seems confident on the matter and claims to know exactly what constitutes a swimmer – they were, apparently, made with the last of the bread dough. ‘Shape them up, leave them to rise for an hour and they’ll pop up nicely as they cook, ’ he explains. And Mr Quinton’s suet variety? ‘Some say they’re from Suffolk – we called them “sinkers”!’ he laughs. Heavier they may be, but there is something just as satisfying about an unctuous and savoury suet offering as there is in the contrastingly light and fluffy swimmer bobbing in a stew, soup or sauce. Sink or swim? The choice is yours.

The Best Dumplings In Norfolk (updated March 2024)

Combine the flour and salt. Put the yeast into the warm water, then mix with the flour and salt. Knead the dough to a dry but springy consistency, adding more flour if necessary. Cover and leave to rise. Shape up into four balls and boil in a 5-litre pan of water for 20 minutes. Makes four good-sized dumplings.

What makes a dumpling a true Norfolk swimmer is hard to pin down. Butcher Michael Quinton, a Freeman of Norwich, looks blank on the subject. He was taught to make suet dumplings by Violet, a cook to The Queen at Sandringham, but she never mentioned the swimmer. She did put him straight on a number of matters, however, including the exact cooking time – 20 minutes – and the necessity to keep the mixture dry in order for the dumplings to be light. In perfectly preserved Heydon, where Norfolk traditions are strictly observed, ‘H’, the landlord of the Earle Arms, also makes his using suet. It’s adding horseradish, he says, that makes them such an excellent accompaniment to his beef stew.

Fortunately, some useful clues have been written down over the centuries by conscientious food writers. Hannah Glasse, writing in the 18th century, extols the virtues of the Norfolk ‘yeast’ dumpling. In more modern times, Elizabeth David accounts for the tenacity of the yeasted dumpling in the region with the fact that the bread ovens were kept alight until after the Second World War, leaving traditional cooking methods intact.

Retired baker Brian Tubby, however, seems confident on the matter and claims to know exactly what constitutes a swimmer – they were, apparently, made with the last of the bread dough. ‘Shape them up, leave them to rise for an hour and they’ll pop up nicely as they cook, ’ he explains. And Mr Quinton’s suet variety? ‘Some say they’re from Suffolk – we called them “sinkers”!’ he laughs. Heavier they may be, but there is something just as satisfying about an unctuous and savoury suet offering as there is in the contrastingly light and fluffy swimmer bobbing in a stew, soup or sauce. Sink or swim? The choice is yours.

The Best Dumplings In Norfolk (updated March 2024)

Combine the flour and salt. Put the yeast into the warm water, then mix with the flour and salt. Knead the dough to a dry but springy consistency, adding more flour if necessary. Cover and leave to rise. Shape up into four balls and boil in a 5-litre pan of water for 20 minutes. Makes four good-sized dumplings.