Cawl

cawl a Welsh term thoroughly explained by Bobby Freeman (1996). She begins by saying roundly:

There is no translation for cawl. In its literal sense it means soup or broth. But as it is used here it conveys a dish which is a whole meal in itself, whether the broth is taken first, then the meat and vegetables, or all together in a bowl, eaten with a special wooden cawl-spoon (to avoid burning the mouth on the hot broth). It is pronounced ‘cowl’.

She proceeds to explain that the basic ingredients are a piece of bacon, with cabbage and potatoes and leeks, but that there are many local and regional variations. Meat, beef or lamb, can be featured with the bacon or instead of it. If parsley sauce is featured, this will not be the sort made with milk, but one which is based on the potato-cooking water. Oatmeal dumplings and ‘trollies’ (again, untranslatable, the name is connected with the troll of folklore and means little curranty dumplings or puddings) may go in. So may carrot and parsnip, and swedes or broad beans, and savory. Freeman cites a poem by the Welsh poet Dewi Emrys, translated by the Herald Bard of Wales, which contains the following evocative lines about a cawl:

with leeks and potatoes and stars on its face.

You’ll see the cauldron on the tripod there and the gorse blazing gaily beneath it.

You shall have the ladle full, and filled again,

and that lovelier than any mixture;

you shall have a wooden spoon in the bowl

as well and a great hunk of a fine old cheese.