A FOOD-lover who has found fame on social media site Tik Tok has been scoffing a classic Darlington dish in a bid to discover its secret recipe.

The Darlington Savoury, which has been made using the same secret recipe since 1934, has been enjoying some unlikely success on Tik Tok after it featured on a cooking channel.

Nigel Thompson, who lives in School Aycliffe, near Darlington, and has an online cooking channel, decided to try and recreate sausage meat and onion sandwich for one of his recent videos.

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The original is sold by the Savoury Cafe, which relocated from the indoor market to the Cornmill Centre in 2020 and serves up about 10 tonnes of the sandwich every year.

Mr Thompson, who set up his channel At Tea with the Thompsons during lockdown, said: “One of my friends messaged me about the Savoury because she had been trying to do it for years.

“I had kind of forgotten about it – it was something from my childhood. I remember I used to go down to town on a weekend and get them

“When I went to try it I thought it had changed but the cafe said it was the same recipe so I must be remembering wrong.”

After sampling a couple of the originals at the Savoury Cafe, he experimented with various cooking techniques, stocks, herbs and ingredients before eventually hitting on a recipe that created the same taste.

Mr Thompson said: “The son of the owner saw the video and he said I was quite close but not quite there.

“The one I made brought back those childhood memories.

“I do know I’ve got pretty close. It does taste almost exactly the same way though I haven’t tried them side by side.”

The Northern Echo: Nigel Thompson recreating the Darlington Savoury at home in School Aycliffe

The 57-year-old, who won an episode of TV show Come Dine With Me in 2014, decided to set up his cooking channel in 2020 after retiring from Nissan.

Using a variety of social media, including Tik Tok, Facebook and Instagram, he has been sharing recipes and has also written his own cook book.

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He has also managed to land some advertising deals with brands like Tesco.

He added: “It started off with friends but it has got bigger and bigger so I started doing more and more. The Tik Tok has got really popular.

“I really enjoy it and reading the comments.”

The video has prompted plenty of comments and debate from others who love the original and make their own versions at home.

The Savoury Cafe, which registered the delicacy as a trademark in 2010, chimed in on the debate and has been encouraging people to share their recipes.

Alex Blackham, who owns the cafe with his wife Sam, said watching Mr Thompson make a single portion was a little different to the huge batches he cooks up every few days, using the original recipe handed to them when they took over the cafe in 2000.

He added: "It's very emotive. When you see the comments people are talking about going with their grandads to get it or having it when they were kids. We watch it going back and forward - it's a bit like Marmite, people love it or they hate it.

"Everybody has their own recipe and people say their mam makes it the best. I just love watching the conversation.

"I don't comment but it's nice to see so many people who are passionate about it.

"It's quite a proud moment seeing so many people talking about it.

The Northern Echo: Nigel Thompson recreating the Darlington Savoury at home in School Aycliffe

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