Bobby Freeman, the author of this little book* and many others, has run a restaurant in Fishguard and knows all about the cooking of West Wales. Here is her recipe for Welsh Cakes (Pice ar y maen) which need to be eaten while they are warm and fresh:

• 225g SR flour and ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 124g butter or margarine
• 75g sugar
• 75g currants
• 1 large egg and a little milk
• Good pinch mixed spice or just nutmeg

Rub the fat into the spiced flour (butter for a traditional taste!), add the sugar and currants, bind with beaten egg and a little milk if needed to a stiffish paste – similar to shortcrust but a little softer. Roll out on a floured board to about ¼in thick, cut into 2½in rounds and bake on a greased, moderately hot bakestone, 3 – 5 minutes each side until mottled with golden brown. Sprinkle with sugar.

Now you have a reason to visit Seaways bookshop in Fishguard for a Welsh cookery book and to look around the antique shops and the charity shops for a planc. (Although the generic term is bakestone, this cast iron griddle is called a planc in West Wales.)

*A Book of Welsh Bakestone Cookery is published by Y Lolfa. This is a lively Welsh Publishing House with a substantial list of authors of whom seventy-two share the surname Jones.