Swansea
What is Swansea famous for? Discover its culinary delights!
What is Swansea famous for? Discover its culinary delights!
The table above lists all the local delicacies from Swansea, and souvenirs to purchase on your visit. Click on each name to be taken straight to the part of the blog post for that item.
Carmarthen Ham by Vouliagmeni under license CC BY-SA 4.0
Swansea is a great place for foodies at heart. There's famous places nearby like the Gower Peninsula but let me tell you about some of the best (and most famous) foods to try before checking out the scenery from this gorgeous area. Some of the most famous foods include Carmarthen ham, Katt pie, Gower salt marsh lamb and Perl Las Blue Cheese.
They have Penclawdd cockles aplenty, excellent cheeses and nationwide Welsh cuisine options like Welsh cakes among other dishes! You won't be disappointed with the food available in Swansea so check below for some local traditional cuisine from the city and surrounding area.
Once you've read up on the foods to try on your visit to the beautiful city of Swansea, why not have a look at our posts for the activities that are available to do. You can find them on the following buttons below:
Our recommended dishes from Swansea you must try!
In this blog post, we will be discussing what delicacies you can expect to find in Swansea.
From traditional Welsh cuisine to more continental fare, there are plenty of tasty options available in one of the food capitals of Wales. Here are a few examples we recommend:
Carmarthen Ham
Carmarthen ham is a variety of ham that has been produced in Carmarthenshire, Wales with legend going back to Roman times. The ham is dry salt cured and air dried giving the ham an appearance like Parma ham.
A favourite of the Royals and the British Embassy's abroad, the award winning ham which has a deep pink to dark red colour can be found in many butchers and supermarkets across Wales.
Penclawdd cockles
Penclawdd cockles are that good that you'll need a permit to collect any for yourself within the Burry Inlet! They have a deep seaside flavour to them which is so unique.
With a history stemming back to Roman times, Penclawdd cockles is a type of seafood commonly found in the area of Penclawdd, Gower Peninsula. In Wales its considered to be a delicacy and there are professional competitions about cooking these guys. Pierre Koffman (who trained Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre-White) when asked what he thought of the cockles gave the simple answer "Love them". I couldn't agree more. The locals have been harvesting these cockles for years and they are said to be one of the best in Britain.
Cooked by first cleaning the cockles before steaming them in a pot with some Welsh cider, the delicacy can then be eaten on their own with some vinegar or within many dishes including battered, in a chowder or pickle them to consume over the following weeks.
Katt Pie
Of course Wales has lots of famous pies! Especially fish pies with the inclusion of their famous cockles, but there's also katt pies which are incredibly good. Usually filled with lamb or mutton, the pies also have some other ingredients not always included in pies like currants and lemon zest. The pies are all hand made by locals in the area of Templeton and can be found in most bakeries you go to in South Wales. The pies have a lovely golden pastry look to it with some delicious chunks of meat in the middle. Best served hot, the pie is great for any time of the day. Yum!
Aberaeron Broth
Aberaeron broth is a traditional Welsh soup made with bacon, beef, potatoes, leeks, parsnips, carrots and seasonings that originates from the village of Aberaeron (north of Swansea). The meat used in the broth is simmered for a couple of hours in the mix of ingredients to bring out the flavour. The vegetables and meat are usually left in rather large chunks making the soup a filler for lunch. Served hot with some fresh crusty bread on the side.
Llanboidy Cheese
Did you know that the area of Carmerthenshire that sits west of Swansea has an award winning cheese called Llanboidy? I didn't, until I found out about it in a Swansea market. The cheese is in the cheddar family made from pasteurised cow's milk. Llanboidy cheese has a slight spicy flavour to it with a firm texture. It's goes great with beef dishes paired with red wine but can also be eaten with crackers, toast or even on its own!
Pembrokeshire Earlies
Pembrokeshire earlies are a traditional Welsh potato that have been around since the 18th century. With protected status from the European Commission due to the potatoes being an 'outstanding regional product', the potatoes are guaranteed to be of a quality standard. The potatoes are small and bright new potatoes with a slightly nutty flavour that have adapted to grow in the unique climate of the Pembrokeshire coast.
Pembrokeshire earlies are really tasty and go well with most dishes due to their light and fluffy texture. They are great not only as a side dish but also eaten alone. Look out for them in any of the restaurants across Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom.
Perl Las Cheese, produced by Caws Cenarth Cheese by Vouliagmeni under license CC BY-SA 4.0
Perl Las Blue Cheese
Perl Las meaning 'Blue Pearl' in Welsh is so delicious and has a rich and creamy texture leaving a 'blue aftertaste' for those lovers of blue cheese. It is made in Caws Cenarth Cheese on their farm in Carmarthenshire. Probably the company's best known cheese, Perl Las has a texture described by the makers as "fudge like" as it melts on the tongue. Made from pasteurised cow's milk, the cheese has a golden colour that grows stronger with maturity. Can be bought online direct from the manufacturer or on other online cheese seller websites.
Gower Salt Marsh Lamb
Gower Salt Marsh Lamb has a unique flavour due to the grasses that are grazed by the lamb combined with sea salt from the tidal sea water. All the lamb products can be traced back to the farms they came from. It has an outstanding sweet, sightly strong flavour that is unlike any other lamb product. Highly sought after from high end restaurants throughout the United Kingdom, the lamb is said not to even require any additional salt and pepper as it has all the flavour already included.
The Gower Salt Marsh Lamb is the first Welsh product to receive the new UK Geographical Indication (UK GI) status following the UK's withdrawal from the EU which gives the product legal protection against misuse and imitation.
And some souvenirs to take home...
Gower Gin
Gower gin is a delicious alcoholic drink made by The Gower Gin Company, an award winning micro distillery in Swansea. The sustainability focused company is run by Siân and Andrew Brook who are now full time distillers of their popular gins. Spelt GŴYR, the gins have distinctive bottles with the local colours of white and black making the bottles stand out. Their main ingredients are green and bronze fennel from local beaches with pink grapefruit and lemon zest resulting in a refreshingly dry gin. The award winning gins available will make a pleasant addition back home to the drinks cabinet and a visit to their micro distillery to purchase the gin, could make a good day out on your visit to the city.
Conclusion
Swansea food is delicious and it would be a brilliant idea to try out the amazing selection of food there. Due to its superb taste, flavoursome ingredients and culinary techniques used in cooking, Swansea food is highly recommended for any grade of food lover! In this blog post, we have shared some of the most famous Swansea dishes and their origin stories. What is your favorite dish from this area? We hope you enjoyed reading about these delicious foods as much as we did! Please share with us (via our contact form) what you think makes for a perfect food day or if there's an interesting story behind one of our featured dishes. These are just a few of the many delicious Swansea and Gower Peninsula foods you can try. You’ll never find a shortage of tasty dishes in the Welsh countryside and shoreline! To find out more about things to do in the area, click on the buttons below:
I hope this article has been useful in answering the question 'What is Swansea famous for?', giving an overview of some famous traditional local delicacies and items worth buying as souvenirs while visiting.