ECCLES CAKES, but not made in Eccles

WITHIN a week or so of Chris Draper declaring Waites Confectioners of Burnley Road, Mytholmroyd near Hebden Bridge, to have produced the 'best Eccles Cakes' in the North of England (see Northern Voices 11: Six o' the Best' - The North's Top Teatime Treats!), Simon Majumdar brought out his book entitled 'Eating for Britain' which makes the claim that the Eccles Cakes produced at The Hastings in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, was the winner in the Pudding Class of his 'The Perfect Day's Eating in Britain' category. Chris Draper in NV11 denounced Salford for abandoning 'its finest creation'; most of the mass production of Eccles Cakes has now shifted to Ardwick (on't t'other side of Manchester) from where Tescos get their supplies. The resulting product is a hard underneath, soft on top, version not a patch on the job Waites does in Yorkshire. And yet, despite Eccles failure to create the 'perfect Eccles Cake' as witnessed by Mr Draper in NV and Mr Majumdar in 'Eating for Britain', Salford City Council's website, according to Mr. Majumdar, insists: 'The secret dies with me'. This shows, according to Simon Majumdar, 'how fiercely [the town] protect their recipe'. But, if Chris Draper is right, this is hypocritical because the town has already handed the recipe over to a company in Ardwick.