Page 52 - Oldham Evening Chronicle - September 2022

28 www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk SEPTEMBER 2022

with Saddleworth

Good Food Cookery School

AS the summer starts to fade and nights
draw in, so our favourite recipes gradually Grandma Hopwood’s Parkin
change. Today we have our first jacket Ingredients
potatoes going through the ovens, for those
who want something warm when they pop 100g Self Raising Flour
in for lunch. We love an oven baked potato 100g Brown Sugar
(they just don’t taste the same from the 100g medium oatmeal
microwave) and, as our ovens are on daily, (you need oatmeal, not rolled oats)
baking bread and pies, we try to make the These can be weighed straight into a bowl
most of this and pop a tray of potatoes in. 75g butter (or spread)
Today we are also making a little more 150ml milk
parkin than usual as we know our parkin 1 tablespoon golden syrup (15g)
sales gradually increase as October ½ tablespoon treacle (7-8g)
approaches and, this year, as well as These can be measured into a saucepan
our individual parkin squares that we You also need ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
pack up for our retail customers, we are (do not add this to the bowl or pan)
adding parkin loaves for those who want
something to share. Method
The parkin recipe we use at Saddleworth
Cookery School is the one my grandma 1. Line a 15-20cm cake tin with baking parchment.
passed down. When I first made it, I 2. Mix the flour, sugar and oatmeal together in
used pounds and ounces, as she did and your mixing bowl.
have even had some of our children try You might need to use your fingers to break up
to follow her original imperial recipe, but the sugar and make sure it is all mixed.
now we have converted it to metric (and I 3. Heat the butter, milk, syrup and treacle in a pan
think she would have approved). The only and melt (it should start to steam, but do NOT boil)
other thing I have changed is that she used 4. 4. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda (Grandma says - it will
margarine and, as with all our cakes up have a party).
here, we use Saddleworth Butter, but both 5. Pour the contents of the pan into the bowl and
work well. I know some also like to add mix well
a touch more ginger and possibly a little 6. Pour the mixture into the lined tin and bake at 160 C for
cinnamon but, for me, this would be a step 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
too far in modifying her recipe. 7. Cool slightly in the tin before removing.
So, for anyone who would like to make
Grandma Hopwood’s Parkin (and it is This parkin tastes even better if kept in an airtight container
Hilda from Parkbridge for anyone who for 2 days before eating (if you can resist it for that long!)
remembers her) here’s the recipe!

World War II movie filmed on the streets of Oldham

AN independent feature film has just been made
on the streets of Oldham town centre, and in
neighbouring Tameside.
“Forty-Two” is an alternate World War II movie,
filmed in an abandoned Church in Tameside and on
the town centre streets in Oldham.
It is the latest motion picture made by locally-
based production company Vamoose Productions
Ltd.
Their first film, “Boy #5”, which was made
on a microbudget with first-time actors, had its
world premiere in Cineworld, Leicester Square in
London’s West End and is now on TV and digital
platforms in the UK, USA and Canada.
“Forty-Two” is set in Nazi occupied Britain in a
1942 that never was.
All the actors were in full period costume.
A Vamoose spokesperson said: “It was a surreal
experience to see German soldiers near the Oldham
Parish Church.
“As filming began very early in the morning on
a Sunday, most Oldhamers had no idea what was
going on, but as the hours ticked buy a few people
were gathering, curious to know what was going
on.”
Writer/Director Eric Ian Steele was born and bred
in Manchester and had films made in Hollywood
before creating his own independent film company
specialising in genre films made in the local area.
The “Forty-Two” cast includes actors from Game
of Thrones, Emmerdale, Coronation Street and
A break in filming of the ‘Forty-Two’ film in Oldham. Image Shameless.
taken from the Vamoose Productions Ltd Facebook page Vamoose have now launched a crowdfunding
campaign for post production costs for “Forty-Two”