The delicious dessert was created in a small village in East Sussex and has gone on to become one of the most popular sweet dishes of all time
A small village in the heart of provincial England is home to a world-conquering pudding.
It is impossible to imagine a world without certain things. As hard as it may be to think about, objectively, there was a time when people lived without the written word, sliced bread and trousers. For most of us, it is difficult to picture a world without banoffee pie – a layered cream, banana and toffee treat of sensationally delicious quality.
Yet the grim reality is that around 38% of the population of England (those who are currently over 50) were born into a pre-banoffee pie world.
The now globally celebrated pie traces its roots back to Jevington, a quaint village nestled in the Wealden District of East Sussex. It isn a petite place, situated on a thoroughfare linking Polegate and Friston. Jevington is graced by the renowned South Downs Way, which passes right through it and onto to the rolling Sussex hills that were so beautifully captured by the British painter Eric Ravilious.
Among its other historical treasures is St Andrew’s Church, a beautiful and ancient structure with parts dating back to the 11th century, including its tower. Over time, renovations have introduced newer elements like a nave built around 1200, along with various decorations from the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, reports Sussex Live.
Jevington is also home to its own traditional pub, The Eight Bells, which has stood as “the heart of Jevington” for centuries. Renowned for its splendid views of the countryside, the pub has earned a solid reputation and numerous favourable reviews.
However, it’s another eatery in the town that is credited with the creation of the beloved banoffee pie. Nigel Mackenzie and Ian Dowding, former owners of The Hungry Monk Restaurant in Jevington, are the geniuses behind the popular dessert. The duo came across the magic formula back in 1972 while trying to tweak an American recipe for Blum’s Coffee Toffee Pudding. They reportedly boiled an unopened can of condensed milk for several hours to create the soft toffee filling found in today’s pies.
Mackenzie and Dowding experimented with various combinations, including adding apple or oranges, before Mackenzie suggested adding banana. They knew instantly they had a hit on their hands and promptly added it to their menu where it remained unchanged for many years.
The banoffee pie eventually made its way into numerous Hungry Monk cookbooks, gaining popularity far and wide. It’s even rumoured to have been a favourite recipe of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In the 1980s, the pie began appearing in supermarkets across the UK, with Mackenzie offering £10,000 to anyone who could disprove his claim that he and Dowding were the original creators. Although their restaurant has since closed, their legacy continues to live on.
The eatery’s former owners have been honoured with a commemorative plaque on the restaurant wall, hailing the banoffee pie as “one of the best loved puddings in the world “. It’s a far cry from their humble beginnings in the culinary world.
Two years ago I visited Jevington accompanied by my banoffee loving family and a freshly whipped up pie. We sat on a picnic bench close to the spot where – 50 years prior – the small village carved a place for itself in the history books.
