Use the regional background below as a starting point for exploring the food, rather than expecting one dish to represent every household. Food traditions differ within a country and continue to change through travel, migration, and everyday cooking.
Overview
Welsh cuisine encompasses the cooking styles, traditions and recipes associated with Wales. While there are many dishes that can be considered Welsh due to their ingredients and/or history, dishes such as cawl, Welsh rarebit, laverbread, Welsh cakes, bara brith, and Glamorgan sausage have all been regarded as symbols of Welsh food. Some variation in dishes exists across the country, with notable differences existing in the Gower Peninsula, a historically isolated rural area which developed self-sufficiency in food production (see Cuisine of Gower).
While some culinary practices and dishes have been imported from other parts of Britain, uniquely Welsh cuisine grew principally from the lives of Welsh working people, largely as a result of their isolation from outside culinary influences and the need to produce food based on the limited ingredients they could produce or afford.
Due to the nature of the landscape, sheep farming in Wales is well-suited and extensive, with lamb and mutton being the meats most traditionally associated with the country. Beef and dairy cattle are also raised widely, and there is a strong fishing culture. Fisheries and commercial fishing are common and seafood features widely in Welsh cuisine.
Regional variations
There are some variations in the foods that are eaten around the different areas of Wales. These variations trace their roots back to medieval cooking. Ingredients were historically limited by what could be grown; the wetter climate in highland areas meant that crops were restricted to oats, whilst the more fertile lowland areas allowed the growth of barley or wheat. Coastal inhabitants were more likely to include seafood or seaweed in their meals, whilst those living inland would supplement their farmed cereals with the seeds of land weeds to ensure there was enough to eat.
The invasions of the Romans and Normans also had an effect on the fertile areas which were conquered. The people there learned more "sophisticated eating habits". Conversely those who remained in wilder areas kept the traditional approaches to cooking; tools such as the pot crane continued to be used as late as the 20th century.
Produce
Welsh food can be better traced through the history of its foodstuffs than through the dishes.
Meat and fish
There a number of local Welsh breeds of cow, including the Welsh Black, a breed which dates back to at least 1874. Cattle farming accounts for the majority of agricultural output in Wales. In 1998, the production of beef contributed 23% of Welsh agricultural output. In 2002, 25% of agricultural output was in the production of dairy products. Welsh beef is registered as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) under UK and EU law. It may only be sold under this name when it is wholly reared and slaughtered in Wales.
Pigs were the primary meat eaten by early Welsh folk, which could be preserved easily by salting. By 1700, there were a number of different Welsh breeds of pig, with long snouts and thin backs, generally light coloured, but some were dark or spotted. Today, pigs in Wales are either farmed intensively, using the white Welsh pig or Landrace pig, or extensively, where Saddleback pig, Welsh pig, or crossbreeds are farmed.
Vegetables
Celtic law made specific provision with regard to cabbages and leeks, stating that they should be enclosed by fences for protection against wandering cattle. The two green vegetables were the only ones mentioned specifically in the laws, though uncultivated plants were still likely to be used in their cooking. The leek went on to be so important to Welsh cuisine—found in many symbolic dishes including cawl and Glamorgan sausage—that it became the country's national vegetable.
Potatoes were slow to be adopted amongst Welsh folk, despite being introduced to the UK in the 16th century; only in the early 18th century did they become a Welsh staple, due to grain failures. Once the potato did become a staple, it was quickly found in Welsh dishes such as cawl, and traditions grew around their use. One tradition, which was still in place at the start of World War II, was that villagers could plant an 80 yard row of potatoes in a neighbouring farmer's field for each labourer the household could provide at the time of harvest.
Welsh dishes
Whilst there are many dishes that can be considered Welsh due to their ingredients, there are some which are quintessentially Welsh. Dishes such as cawl, Welsh rarebit, laverbread, Welsh cakes, bara brith (literally "speckled bread") or the Glamorgan sausage have all been regarded as symbols of Welsh food.
Cawl, pronounced in a similar way to the English word "cowl", can be regarded as Wales' national dish. Dating back to the 11th century, originally it was a simple broth of meat (most likely bacon) and vegetables, it could be cooked slowly over the course of the day whilst the family was out working the fields. It could be made in stages, over a number of days, first by making a meat stock, then by adding the vegetables on the following day. Once cooked, the fat could be skimmed from the top of the pot, then it would be served as two separate dishes, first as a soup, then as a stew. Leftovers could be topped up with fresh vegetables, sometimes over the course of weeks.
Eating out
The number of restaurants in Wales has significantly increased since the 1960s, when the country had very few notable places to eat out. Today, Wales is no longer considered a "gastronomic desert"; as of 2016, it has five Michelin starred restaurants and other award systems such as TripAdvisor and the AA have included Welsh restaurants in their lists. The most significant increase in restaurants has been at the high end, but there has been growth and improvement in quality across the whole range of Welsh eateries.
Many Welsh restaurants showcase their Welsh ingredients, creating new dishes from them. With a preference for spicier foods, there has also been a rise in Asian cuisine in Wales, especially Indian, Chinese, Thai, Indonesian, and Japanese. Since the 1970s, the number of restaurants and gastropubs in Wales has increased significantly and there are currently six Michelin starred restaurants located in the country, as of 2024:
'Home', (Penarth)
'The Walnut Tree', (Llandewi Skirrid)
'The Whitebrook', (Monmouth)
'Ynyshir', (Machynlleth)
'Sosban' at 'The Old Butchers', (Anglesey)
'Beachhouse' (Oxwich)
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