Dorset knob biscuits
The area is well known for its Dorset Apple Cake – a delicious sweet cake often with a touch of cinnamon. It can be found at most of the tearooms dotted around the county.
In 2006 Dorset Apple Cake was given the accolade of ‘Dorset’s National Dish’.
King George III regularly visited Dorset and he loved the food. He enjoyed Portland Pudding – a rich pudding of dried fruit and candied peel made by the landlady of the Portland Arms. It later became the Royal Portland Arms.
Portland Sheep are the local breed but they’re rare, with only about 20 registered flocks in the county. The resulting Portland lamb is exceptionally high-quality with a fine texture, and wonderful flavour. This is because the sheep take longer to mature and the meat needs to be hung for longer. It is also naturally lean.
The county also has its own cheese – crumbly Dorset Blue Vinny. It’s is a blue cheese made from a recipe that’s over 300 years old. It’s now made on Woodbridge Farm in the heart of Dorset using milk from the farms own Friesian cows.
There’s also a type of biscuit with a name you won’t forget. Dorset Knob Biscuits are made from bread dough with extra butter and sugar. They’re shaped by hand and baked three times. The resulting biscuit is hard and crumbly, goes well with cheese and is perfect for dunking in tea. They’re celebrated at the Dorset Knob Throwing Festival. The biscuits are now only made by one company – Moores Biscuit Manufacturers of Bridport and Morcombelake.
On 14 September 2013, The George Inn at Chideock was the venue for the first ever World Garlic Eating Competition. It was won by Oliver Farmer from Charmouth who ate an impressive 49 cloves in 5 minutes!
There’s also a World Nettle Eating competition, started in 1986, held at the Bottle Inn in the village of Marshwood. The stinging nettles are cut down to 2-feet-long stalks, and each competitor has an hour to eat as many leaves as they can.
