It was with some amusement and, I have to confess, slight irritation that I read about Eric Snaith’s recipe for a deep fried jam sandwich, who “originally imagined the pudding while thinking about scouts having sandwiches over a campfire”, which Delia Smith has now added to the menu at the grill at Norwich City (Better than a doughnut? Delia Smith dishes up a deep-fried jam sandwich, 14 July).
I grew up eating jam fritters, as we knew them, made by our mum (who died last year aged 98). Money was tight, but Mum was a good cook; a very poor childhood and rationing meant that she was skilled in making something out of nothing. She’d always make a pudding for us to have after dinner, eaten at midday, and cake after tea – the meal we ate later in the day. Fritters appeared in several forms: banana, pineapple and, if there was nothing else in the house, jam. These were made exactly as Snaith describes – a jam sandwich dipped in batter and deep fried. I think the crusts were trimmed off. Delicious!
Helen Lloyd
Bronygarth, Shropshire
