By Lyn Funnell
Oggy Oggy Oggy! Oy Oy Oy!
This is a chant often shouted out during parades, like Sussex Bonfire Parades in November.
Someone in the Procession will suddenly shout out Oggy Oggy Oggy! And the crowd will obediently shout back, Oy Oy Oy!
It’s usually repeated twice more.
But what does it mean, I hear you asking.
An Oggy was the original name of Cornish Pasties. It was a corruption of Hogan.
Apparently the Cornish wives used to shout Oggy Oggy Oggy! when their fresh-baked pasties were ready. And their husbands, usually down the tin mines, would shout back, Oy Oy Oy! to let their wives know that they’d heard them.
The cry Oggie Oggie Oggie Oi oi oi! Is used by the Devenport Gun team when they are returning from the Royal Tournament to their Plymouth Naval Base. They have a Cornish Pasty as a symbol.
In the 1970s the Welsh comedian Max Boyce turned it into a chant, and it’s been popular in football stadiums ever since.
The Sussex version of the Cornish Pasty is the Sussex Churdle. It’s supposed to have originated in Chichester and it possibly dates back to the 17th Century.
To churd meant to turn over. But as the Cornish Pasty is a circle folded in half, the Sussex version is pulled up to the centre and squeezed shut, like a purse.
RECIPE
The Cornish Pasty, or Oggy, usually has beef as a filling. But the Sussex Churdle has liver and bacon.
Ingredients.
To make 4 Churdles;
You can halve the ingredients to make 2 Churdles.
1 large onion, chopped
1 lb lambs liver, chopped
2 oz bacon, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh sage, optional. You could use parsley instead or as well.
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped
salt and pepper
1 oz butter, or olive oil
I don’t think that olive oil would have been available in the 17th Century. They would have probably have used lard.
2 oz breadcrumbs
4 oz cheddar cheese, grated
I used a local cheese from the High Weald Dairy.
10 oz rough-puff pastry. The ready-made Supermarket pastry is really good now, and it’s Vegan.
You can use shortcrust pastry instead.
Egg to wash. I use milk.
Roll the pastry into four 7-inch circles. I use a soup bowl for this and cut round it.
Soften the chopped onion in the butter or oil, add the bacon and liver and cook for a couple of minutes until slightly browned. Add the apple, herbs if used, and seasoning and cook until heated through, stirring it regularly.
Divide the mixture into piles in the centre of each pastry circle and top with grated cheese and breadcrumbs.
Brush the edges with egg or milk to help the churdle to stick together, and use both hands to gather the pastry around to form a purse shape, pushing the filling down and squeezing the edges firmly together at the top.
Brush with egg or milk and bake upside-down for 10 minutes to avoid the top splitting open. Then turn them right way up and bake for a further 15- 20 minutes or until crisp and golden.
Careful when biting into it as the inside will be very hot!
Serve with chips and beans, or with a side salad.
For East Hoathly and Halland Bonfire details, contact
EHH Carnival Society <ehhcs@hotmail.co.uk>
