Bygone food quiz reveals pig ignorance among young

By The Newsroom
Published 24th Jul 2006, 01:00 BST
CLASSIC British dishes are facing extinction because the younger generation has not heard of them, new research suggests.

Bath chaps, jugged hare and brawn are three potential casualties of changing tastes in food.

A "generation gap" in culinary knowledge is also to blame for the demise of former British favourites, according to UKTV Food, whose researchers compared the "desirability levels" of several dishes among under-25s with the over-60s.

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The survey of more than 2,000 people asked the two age groups to rate their awareness of different meals.

Bath chaps - pigs' cheeks in breadcrumbs - is the dish considered most under threat, recognised by just 1 per cent of under-25s. Jugged hare, where the hare meat is served in a sauce of its blood mixed with port, was second-highest on the danger list with only 1.6 per cent of young people recognising it.

By contrast, 40 per cent of the over-60s knew about bath chaps and 33 per cent in that age group were aware of jugged hare. Brawn - or jellied pig's head - was the third least-recognised dish among the young respondents.

Squirrel casserole is fourth on the danger list with a recognition rate of 4 per cent among the under-25s, compared to 18 per cent of the over-60s.

Bedfordshire clanger - scrag end of mutton with kidneys and fruit - came in fifth place.