Mmmm faggots. (Please take this in the spirit in which it’s intended, it’s a food post after all)

On Saturday morning I went to the Farmers Market at the end of my street. It’s on every Saturday from 9am-1pm.. Normally I head down at a leisurely 11am-midday – once I’ve woken up, had breakfast etc. This week was different, as we were heading off to Bath we wanted to be on the road early – so I was at the market around ten to nine, hoping to get served early..

I started off by heading over to “chicken guy” who had prepared some thigh fillets to order for me (used to make the best thai green curries EVER!) . He pointed out that under the market regulations he couldn’t serve me before 9am. I jokingly said something along the lines of “So what, is there like a bell that sounds at 9am to signal the start of trading?” He said “sort of”… About a minute later a bell was rung and I chuckled heartily to myself..

Headed over to “pork roast, sausages and lamb guy”. We had a bit of a chat as always.. I noticed something on his table I’d not seen before.. several packs of two large balls… I naturally asked what they where to which he replied “faggots”. According to this brief but to to the point ARTICLE faggots are a ye olde British foodstuff made of pork offcuts, offal, liver, bacon and possibly onions and herbs.. I started asking “pork roast, sausages and lamb guy” about them and he ended up giving me a small pack free of charge so that I could try them out.  By the way, I’ve learned that the alternative meaning for faggot, (and you all know what I’m talking about) has not really made it big in the UK, mainly due to it’s two other meanings – the meat ball, and it’s traditional meaning – a bundle of sticks. Go figure.

Faggots are meant to be cooked in the oven and served with gravy. I skipped the gravy, I wanted to try them au naturale… (bad move)

So how were they? Well, I can see how this was a food borne out of poorer times when no part of the animal was to be wasted… They tasted kind of OK, but not great. I like liver, but “livery” meat balls aren’t really my bag. Lashings of sweet chili sauce made the faggots taste OK. But on their own… let me simply (and cheekily) quote the controversial British radio ad from the 1980s referred to in the link above “I’ve got nothing against faggots, I just don’t fancy them.”