It's not a bap, it's not a roll and it's certainly not a barm cake here in Nottingham. That small round of bread surrounding your ham, egg or cheese is a most definitely a cob. According to Collins English Dictionary a cob is also a strong horse with short legs, a male swan, something that sweetcorn grows on and is also slang for a mixture of clay and straw used for building material.
But how did that humble bready creation get its name? We asked some of Nottingham's cob shop owners for their theories - and it's fair to say most of them are flummoxed, despite selling scores of them every day.
Nikkita Marsden, who has run the Cob Shop in Derby Road since last July, confessed: "I don't know. Genuinely I have no idea . Is that bad? I own a cob shop and don't know why it's called a cob." In a reference to the phrase 'get a cob on' - meaning to get annoyed - she joked: "Is it because you get a cob on if I throw it at you?"
