The clanger comes from Bedfordshire, a short drive east of Silverstone, and was made for farm workers who needed a filling lunch they could carry into the fields. It was originally boiled, wrapped in a cloth: a roll of suet pastry with meat and vegetables inside, and, in the version everyone remembers, a little jam or fruit sealed into one end as pudding. Historians are not sure how often the sweet end was really added, but it has become part of the dish's identity, along with a pastry nick or two to show which end is which.

The name may come from the dialect of neighboring Northamptonshire, the very county Silverstone sits in, where to clang means to eat greedily. A race crowd will understand. Our version is baked rather than boiled, which gives a crisp, golden crust and makes it far easier to carry to the circuit.

The savory filling

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vegetable oil
• 6 oz (170 g) smoked bacon
• 8 oz (225 g) ground pork
• 1 medium onion
• 1 medium potato
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) water

Method

1. Heat the oil in the skillet over medium high heat. Add the bacon and pork and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, breaking up the pork with a wooden spoon.
2. Add the onion and potato and cook for 5 minutes, stirring. Add the sage, salt, pepper and water, cover and cook over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Spread on a plate and let it cool completely, about 30 minutes.

The sweet filling

Ingredients

• 1 large cooking apple
• 2 tablespoons (25 g) brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) water
• 2 tablespoons raspberry or plum jam
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon

Method

1. Put the apple, sugar, water and cinnamon in the small saucepan, cover and cook over low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring once or twice. Stir in the jam and let it cool.

The suet pastry, shaping and baking

Ingredients

• 2 cups (250 g) self rising flour
• 1 cup (125 g) shredded beef suet
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• about 2/3 cup (160 ml) cold water
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Method

1. Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and line the baking sheet with parchment. In a mixing bowl, stir the flour, suet and salt. Add the cold water gradually, mixing with a knife, until it forms a soft dough. Knead it very briefly, just until it holds together.
2. Cut the dough into 4 pieces. On a floured counter, roll each into a rectangle about 6 by 10 inches (15 by 25 cm). Cut a strip about 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide off one short end of each rectangle and set it aside; this becomes the wall between the fillings.
3. On each rectangle, spoon savory filling down the middle of two thirds of the length, and sweet filling on the remaining third, leaving a 1 inch (2.5 cm) border all round. Lay one pastry strip across the gap between the fillings, standing on its edge, as a wall.
4. Brush the edges with egg. Fold the long sides over the filling to meet in the middle and pinch them together firmly, then fold and pinch the ends. Turn each clanger over so the seam is underneath and place on the baking sheet.
5. Brush with egg. Make three small diagonal cuts on top of the savory end and sprinkle the sweet end with sugar, so everyone knows where to start.
6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

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