Showing posts with label cawl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cawl. Show all posts

Monday, March 3, 2014

Happy Belated Saint David's Day

Saint David (Dewi Sant in the Welsh language) is the patron saint of Wales. March 1st is a Welsh national holiday.

You might be wondering why I'm celebrating Saint David's Day. (My family is wondering the same thing.) There isn't a drop of Welsh blood in me. That I know of, anyhow. But one of my New Year's resolutions is to have more fun. And what could be more fun than celebrating other countries' special days? Actually, quite a lot could be more fun, but it's only the beginning of March. I'll have to ramp up the "funness factor" as the year progresses.

So, here are a few facts about Saint David:
-He lived in the 6th century and was into spreading Christianity to the Celtic tribes across western Britain.
-He founded a very strict monastery where the monks farmed, celebrated mass and kept bees.
-He was a fiend for water. A fiend. For his entire life, he only drank water. Things might have been different had diet Coke been invented during his lifetime.
-Sometimes, he submerged himself up to his neck in cold water and spouted (pun intended) Scripture.
-He mostly ate breads and herbs, especially watercress, yet was apparently very strong.
-He lived for over 100 years. Obviously breads, herbs, with an emphasis on watercress, and gallons of water is a winning combo for longevity.

In honor of St. David's Day, I'm cooking the national dish of Wales: cawl.

I'm sure my family will rave over it. Well, perhaps not Child #3 because cawl doesn't resemble rolled tacos from the taco shop down the street or pizza.

Sorry for the blurry pic of my bowl of cawl. Here's a link to the slow-cooker recipe I used. Oh, and a "swede" is not a person. It's a rutabaga. And, of course, there are leeks in cawl because, as you well know, leeks are a national symbol of Wales. They're even on the flag.




Happy Belated Saint David's Day. Let the fun begin!


sources: http://sucs.org/~rhys/stdavid.html, www.foodsubs.com, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_David