The Pease Pudding & Stottie Pilgrimage
A thick, golden puree of slow-cooked split peas, slathered inside a massive, dense, flat bread roll called a stottie, with ham or saveloy. A combination that exists almost nowhere south of Durham - and means everything north of it.
Why this dish?
Pease pudding is one of England's oldest foods: yellow split peas boiled slowly with a ham bone until they collapse into a thick, savoury, golden puree - earthy, gently smoky from the ham, and deeply comforting. A stottie cake is a large, flat, dense bread roll baked so the middle stays slightly doughy and chewy, split open and filled generously. Put them together - pease pudding and ham in a stottie - and you have Newcastle's defining food combination. It's sold at market stalls, sandwich shops and bakeries across Tyneside and almost nowhere else. South of Durham it virtually disappears.
The Grainger Market is where this pilgrimage comes alive: a grand Victorian covered market in the city centre where butchers, bakers and deli counters have been selling pease pudding and stotties to Geordies for over 180 years. Order one from a stall, eat it standing up in the market, and you've eaten something as geographically specific as a Cornish pasty - just with no legal protection and no tourist fame. That anonymity is part of the charm. Newcastle doesn't show off about its food; it just eats it.
Our Picks
The Grainger Market
- Address
- Grainger Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
- What to order
- A stottie filled with pease pudding and ham from one of the market butchers or deli counters. Eat it in the market.
- Book ahead
- No booking needed - it's a market. Open Mon-Sat, busiest at lunchtime.
- Pro tip
- Ask for the pease pudding warm if they have it, and don't be shy with the mustard.
The Bridge Tavern
7 Akenside Hill, Newcastle upon Tyne
A pub at the foot of the Tyne Bridge with local food, Newcastle ales and a brilliant view of the river.
- What to order
- Pease pudding if it features on the specials, or whatever's hearty and local; a pint of Newcastle Brown or a local craft ale with a view of the river.
Good to know
A stottie is not a bap, not a roll, not a cob - it's its own thing, dense and flat, and you won't find them outside the northeast. Pease pudding is served hot or cold; both are traditional. The Grainger Market is a 5-minute walk from Newcastle Central station. The airport Metro reaches the centre in about 25 minutes. The Quayside (Tyne Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Baltic gallery) is the city's showpiece stretch.
Your day plan
Wheels up to eating the dish.
Outbound Flight goals - what you're aiming for
- 07:30Depart London Heathrow (or Bristol/Edinburgh)
- 08:40Land Newcastle
- 09:10Metro into the centre (25 min)
- 09:45Walk the Quayside - Tyne Bridge, Millennium Bridge, the Baltic
- 11:00The Grainger Market - explore the stalls
- 12:00Pease pudding and ham in a stottie from a market stall
- 13:30Grey Street (one of England's finest streets), the castle
- 15:00A pint overlooking the Tyne
- 16:00One more wander along the Quayside
Ready to go?
Search flights to Newcastle and book your extreme day trip.
