Wherever you are in the world, you can still enjoy a taste of the UK's bonfire celebrations with the following recipes and videos that I've found for you.
- Homemade Toffee Apples
- BBC Good Food's Bonfire Night recipe collection
- Bonfire Night Treacle Toffee
- Yorkshire Parkin
- Flapjack
- Shepherd's Pie
- Bangers and Mash
- Tomato Soup
- Mulled wine
- Baked Apples
- Baked Potatoes
- Chilli con carne
- Hot chocolate
- Pulled Pork
Videos
https://youtu.be/bcyXMLz3fK0
Picture: Wakefield Fireworks, Stephen Bowler, Wikipedia.
Sad for poor Guy Hawks, but hooray his plot was discovered in time!
Never thought of food just associated with Bomfire night, but if you look at the list it is all feel good Winter cheer food, all the stuff we enjoy, sweet, bright, warm, fairground, holiday. I am not keen on bangs, but bonfires are associated with the sacred fires of winter and brighten up the short days. Guy Fawkes was the explosives expert, caught with the evidence, but Robert Catesby was the real leader of the plot. Had the King not been alerted he would not have ordered a search of the undercroft of Westminster, thus he would have missed the barrels the eve before the opening of Parliament. Catesby of course went out in a blaxe of glory, but Fawkes was hung, drawn and quartered in public. The government made certain it was his name that was notorious. The boom would have killed the 500 people due to attend, not just 169 members of both houses, but several people seeking jobs at court, their servants and the King and his son. A five mile Kill zone around the area was established by reenactments. The blast would have caused damage and injury well beyond this range. Even if half the barrels became damp, there was more than enough to leave bits of the King et al scattered everywhere. Chaos would have followed and had he left as he lit the fuse, Fawkes would have half an hour to escape by boat, something entirely possible as science showed. The other plotters were to kidnap Princess Elisabeth and raise the countryside. Ashby is just two hours from London. Horses at the ready Sir Thomas Winter and the others waited, but word did not come, so they tried to raise a rebellion in any case. Catesby was something more fanatical than the others as was Percy and they were all trying to persuade him of the failure but he would not listen. The entire thing went down at a house in the Midlands when the gunpowder blew up blinding one of them and they had a gunfight with the government forces who came to arrest them. Some were killed, others died with Fawkes and a wider group put in the Tower or escaped. Father Henry Garrett escaped from the Tower by going on a rope hand over hand to the outer wall and into a boat abroad. He wrote an account and he was innocent, as were many who were just rounded up afterwards. Some historians also believe that Robert Cecil was involved and set the alleged conspirators up to force James to get rid of Catholics and Scots at court. James had already made it impossible to live in England as a Catholic. However, this would lead to new laws, stronger laws, which is what Robert Cecil intended.
Lewes looks like a mixture of stand back as the fires and flaming barrels come past, weird costumes and elaborate drama, offensive burning of the Pope in effigy, a huge Guy on a rocket and an excuse to get drunk. Very wild and potty. The house of Anne of Cleves is well worth a visit, though. This is obviously an insular community, proud of its history, but not yet quite aware of the fact that we live in the 20th century, nor do they care. Let the world move on and no multicultural stuff please. Actually, don’t blame them. Enjoy.
Sorry, 21st century.