Pattie Butties: The Food Of Kings, Made By Slappers!
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Well with the whole city of culture thing coming up, it's time to celebrate the unique culture of the city. And one way to understand any culture is through its food. In Hull, we have the humble "pattie". A simple yet genius snack food, consisting of mashed potato, sage, sometimes a bit of chopped onion, all deep fried, and available in chippies across the city. Step outside the city, and wander into a fish & chip shop in any other city and ask for a pattie, and you will be greeted with at best silent bemusement, at worst they will offer you something they call a "fritter". Often containing fish and potato! "No!" You scream at them, "I asked for a pattie! If I wanted a fish fritter I'd have asked for one. Just give me a bloody pattie buttie!"
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The pattie is utterly unique to Hull, and there is nothing like it available anywhere else in the whole wide world, despite what they may think in Hartlepool. What would those "monkey hangers" know about making a proper pattie?
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Although the pattie can be found in every fish & chip shop across the city, the spiritual home of the pattie is Bob Carver's fish & chip shop and restaurant, close by Market Place in the heart of the city's Old Town. The family owned business has been making patties to their secret recipe since 1888. With the secret to the perfect pattie being handed down through the generations, and currently in the safe (but slightly greasy) hands of Bob Carver, who is the third generation to run the famous Hull business. But it is his wife Carol, that is the true queen of the pattie production for the business. And is therefore Hull's premier "pattie slapper". A Hull colloquialism both for a woman who makes "patties", and a derogatory term for a lady of somewhat questionably loose morals, that back in the day you would have found frequenting the dance floor of Tower "for an hour". Or even further back in the day the Lacano ballroom.
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Anyway, moving on from the night-life of Hull, because that could take up a whole article in itself, back to the pattie! often enjoyed with both chips and mushy peas, but for me personally you can't beat the pattie buttie. Slap one of those bad boys between a breadcake and you are on an instant culinary winner. In 2013 the pattie picked up 40 per cent of the votes in a special online poll to identify Hull’s favourite regional dish.
Pattie Slappers by Nick Triplow, available on Amazon and book shops in Hull.
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Author Nick Triplow, wrote a 2013 book about the food processing industry that existed alongside the fishing industry in Hull, and the ladies that slapped those patties for a living.
"They used to say if you were good at pattie slapping, you could put one under each arm and squeeze."
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Join the One Hull Of A City facebook group, and spread the word!
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