Badger sniffing out the Dish of Dorset

Related tags Dorset British cuisine Cornwall

Are you familiar with a Dorset Knob? If not, don't worry too much. You're not alone, according to a new survey.The scone-like biscuit, served with...

Are you familiar with a Dorset Knob? If not, don't worry too much. You're not alone, according to a new survey.

The scone-like biscuit, served with sweet and savoury fillings, is one of the county's delicacies, but suffers from the same problem as Dorset's other dishes.

While an overwhelming majority of consumers identify the pasty with Cornwall and know Lancashire for its hot-pot, Dorset food has something of an identity crisis, according to a new survey commissioned by Badger Ales brewer Hall & Woodhouse.

While 95 per cent of the 400 respondents voted the pasty as the dish they most closely identify with Cornwall, they had a mixed response when asked the same question about Dorset.

The clear winner was Dorset apple cake, which netted 21 per cent of the vote. Despite its close association with neighbouring Devon, the cream tea closely followed with 17 per cent. The poor old Dorset Knob only netted 3 per cent of the vote.

To help give its native dishes a clearer identity, Badger Ales, working with The Publican, is launching a hunt to find the Dish of Dorset, helping to put the county on the map for food tourists

Rick Payne, marketing manager for Badger Ales says: " There is clearly no single food or dish identified with Dorset in the way that there is with other Counties such as the Cornish pasty, Yorkshire pudding, Cumberland sausage, and so on.

"Dorset boasts some of the finest local produce to be found anywhere in the country, but it is our belief that we need a signature dish to raise its profile as a mecca for foodies. The apple cake is front runner at the moment - but it is not anywhere near the pasty or Yorkshire pudding in the nation's consciousness."

The contest to find The Dish of Dorset is open to anyone who lives or works in Dorset, and the winner and winning dish will be announced during Dorset Food Week in late October. With The Publican on board to support the campaign, we're hoping the county's food pubs will rise to the challenge.

To be in with a chance of your dish winning the status of "Dorset's National Dish", fill in the application form on this page, or visit the Badger Ales website using the link on the right to download the form. All entries must be in by September 22 2006.

The entries will be independently judged, and finalists will be invited to attend a special "cook-off" at the Hall & Woodhouse Visitors Centre on 24 October 2006. Winning recipes will be featured in The Publican.

Box: Top 10 Dorset Food Icons