Famous foods from Bristol

What do the Mothering bun, Clifton puff, Fry’s chocolate, Ribena and Bristol cream have in common? They are all foods and drinks that originated in Bristol. Nicola Deschamps looks at the city’s rich and fascinating food heritage shaped by Bristol’s maritime past, centuries of trade, innovation and its West Country connections.  

Probably originating in the 18th century, the Mothering bun was created to celebrate Mother’s Day, which falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent. It became a favourite regional speciality, and the relaxing of the Lenten fast allowed families across the city to enjoy these sweet bread buns.  

Bakers added flavour by using caraway seeds and aniseed imported from Europe and Asia. The Mothering bun is still made today by a few artisan bakers, such as Joe’s Bakery and Herbert’s Bakery. However, unlike the earlier versions, these days the buns are topped with icing and colourful sprinkles. 

The Clifton puff was first created in 1864 to mark the completion of the Clifton suspension bridge. It is a small puff pastry filled with a mixture of apples, dried fruits, nuts and spices soaked in brandy. Bristol merchants established trade links with ports in the Mediterranean, where they sourced dried fruits, nuts and spices, all of which were in high demand back in Britain. As a celebratory delicacy, this sweet pastry was popular when the bridge first opened. However, over time, the Clifton puff’s popularity declined.  

Bristol chocolatiers, J.S. Fry & Sons, produced the first mass-produced chocolate bar in 1847. The Fry family proved to be great innovators, developing a method to blend cocoa powder with sugar and cocoa fat to create a paste that could be shaped into a mould. Cocoa became a valuable bean with many believing it had health-giving properties. In 1873, the Frys made the first chocolate Easter egg. Later, Fry & Sons merged with Cadbury in 1919. 

In the late 1930s, the popular blackcurrant cordial Ribena was created in Bristol by Dr Vernon Charley, a renowned scientist at the University of Bristol. The drink was named after the Latin word for blackcurrants, Ribes nigrum. Rich in vitamin C, Ribena was developed as a health tonic and became an essential supplement during World War II, especially for children, when other sources of vitamin C, such as oranges, were in short supply. After the war, demand grew substantially, leading to rapid expansion and the construction of a new factory in the Forest of Dean, which continues to produce Ribena today. 

Most of the sherry trade to the UK was routed through Bristol docks. Different types of wine were blended to create a sweet, smooth drink that proved very popular. In the late 19th century, wine merchants John Harvey II and his brother Edward created a new, rich blend of sherry at Harvey’s cellars on Denmark Street, which they called Harvey’s Bristol Cream Sherry. By the 1950s, it had become the world’s bestselling sherry.   

Although not originally invented in Bristol, the Easter biscuit remains a regional speciality linked to the city’s trading history as a landing point for key ingredients used by bakers such as sugar, dried fruits and spices.

Flavoured with cassia oil, this lightly spiced biscuit made with currants is linked to the city but is enjoyed throughout the West Country. Made from cassia cinnamon, the oil is believed to have been used in the embalming process when cleaning Jesus’s body after the crucifixion, which explains its connection to Easter. In the weeks before Easter, Bristolians can find this traditional biscuit at Hobbs House Bakery. 

Bristol’s food heritage tells a story of ingenuity and exchange, but also of inequality and exploitation. Until the UK passed the Slave Trade Act of 1807, Bristol’s maritime trade in goods such as sugar, cocoa and spices was closely connected to the transatlantic slave trade. Many of these commodities were produced by enslaved Africans on plantations in the Caribbean and the Americas. These goods became essential to Britain’s growing appetite for sweetness, flavour and luxury, leaving a lasting influence on the city’s food culture. 

Nicola Deschamps is a registered nutritionist (ANutr), author and editor: targeteditorial.co.uk.  

To stay updated on future events, job opportunities and news, don’t forget to sign up for the Bristol Good Food Update at bristolgoodfood.org/newsletter.   

Photo credits: Mothering bun photo by Peter Cassidy; Easter biscuit photo by Hobbs House Bakery; The Floating Harbour, Bristol by Charles Parsons Knight (1829–1897)