First recorded saveloy dip was in Sunderland, say experts
Sunderland has many claims to fame, but one which may be often overlooked is the first recorded saveloy dip.
A clumsily worded Facebook post got us intro trouble with readers this week, when it appeared to some we were suggesting Dicksons invented the saveloy dip.
Not so, of course - and not intentional - so a quick edit was needed to note that while the South Shields-based company was famed for the favourite, the saveloy dip does pre-date the company, which was founded in 1953.
It also got us wondering who invented the delicacy in the first place, and while that claim may be lost to time, it turns out the first recorded reference to a saveloy dip was, in fact, in the Sunderland Echo.
The Oxford English Dictionary states its ‘earliest evidence for saveloy dip is from 1947, in Sunderland Echo’.
We dug out the relevant reference, which is from the letters page of the Tuesday, October 28, 1947 edition.
In the letter to the editor, the writer, who refers to himself as ‘Stomach Grumbling’, appears to be attacking the Secretary of State for War Emanuel Shinwell over an apparent call for patience during the tough years of continued scarcity and austerity after WWII.
(Incidentally, Mr Shinwell was MP for Seaham, and went on to become a life peer as Baron Shinwell of Easington in the County of Durham). However, Stomach Grumbling’s letter confirms the saveloy dip dates from an earlier period, as he recalls ‘pot pies, oven pies, meat puddings, broth with dumplings, saveloy dips, etc etc’ from days he appears to deem more plentiful.
As for options for saveloy dips in Sunderland today, there was still much love for Dicksons, but readers offered some alternative suggestions. Anne Storey and Shaun Hanratty suggested George Franklin in Villette Road, Hendon, with Shaun adding it will ‘always be the best’. George Ayre suggested Robsons Of Sunderland in St Luke’s Road, established 1970.
“Best Saveloy dips ,Pork dips and Savoury dips and not forgetting there Pies and pasties,” he said.
Readers also shared happy memories of buying saveloy dips from Rob’s in Blandford Street and Ibbotson’s in Jacky Whites Market.
And while some may deem it heresy, a vegan version could well be making its way to Sunderland as South Shields-based Sea Change Cafe, which offers a meat-free alternative, plans to open a new branch in the Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens cafe space.
What is a saveloy dip?
For those not familiar, the saveloy dip is a hefty hot sandwich beloved in the North East, but also enjoyed elsewhere.
A saveloy is a soft, seasoned sausage which is usually boiled, and this forms the centrepiece of the sandwich, with the addition of pease pudding, stuffing and mustard.
The sandwich is then traditionally dipped in the liquid in which the saveloy was cooked, hence the name.