Scottish cuisine

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This article is part of the series:

British cuisine

Varieties:

 English cuisine
 Scottish cuisine
 Welsh cuisine
 Gibraltarian cuisine
 Anglo-Indian cuisine
 Anglo-Pakistani
cuisine

[edit]

Scottish cuisine is the specific set of cooking traditions and practices associated with Scotland.
It has distinctive attributes and recipes of its own, but shares much with wider British cuisine as a
result of foreign and local influences both ancient and modern. Traditional Scottish dishes exist
alongside international foodstuffs brought about by migration.

Scotland's natural larder of game, dairy, fish, fruit, and vegetables is the integral factor in
traditional Scots cooking, with a high reliance on simplicity and a lack of spices from abroad,
which were often very expensive. While many inveterate dishes such as Scotch broth are
considered healthy, many common dishes are rich in fat, and may contribute to the high rates of
heart disease and obesity in the country.

In recent times greater importance has been placed on the consumption of fresh fruit and
vegetables, but many Scots, particularly those of low incomes, continue to have extremely poor
diets, which contributes to Scotland's relatively high mortality rate from coronary heart disease.[1]
Despite this, Scottish cuisine is enjoying a renaissance. As of 2009, fourteen restaurants with
Michelin stars served traditional or fusion cuisine made with local ingredients (15 Michelin stars
in total). In most towns, Chinese and Indian take-away restaurants exist along with traditional
fish and chip shops. Larger towns and cities offer cuisine ranging from Thai and Japanese to
Mexican, Pakistani, Polish or Turkish.

Contents
[hide]

 1 History
o 1.1 French Influence
 1.1.1 French derived cooking terms
o 1.2 20th and 21st centuries
 2 Traditional Scottish foods
o 2.1 Soups
o 2.2 Fish and Seafood
o 2.3 Meat, Poultry and Game
o 2.4 Vegetables
o 2.5 Fruits
o 2.6 Cereals
o 2.7 Dairy and Cheese
o 2.8 Puddings and Desserts
o 2.9 Cakes, Breads and Confectioneries
o 2.10 Condiments
 3 Scottish beverages
o 3.1 Alcoholic
o 3.2 Non Alcoholic
 4 Fast food
 5 Notes and references
 6 External links

[edit] History
Scotland, with its temperate climate and abundance of indigenous game species, has provided a
cornucopia of food for its inhabitants for millennia. The wealth of seafood available on and off
the coasts provided the earliest settlers with their sustenance. Agriculture was introduced, with
primitive oats quickly becoming the staple.

In common with many mediæval European neighbours, Scotland was a feudal state for a greater
part of the second millennium. This put certain restrictions on what one was allowed to hunt,
therefore to eat. In the halls of the great men of the realm, one could expect venison, boar,
various fowl and songbirds, expensive spices (pepper, cloves, cinnamon, etc.), as well as the
meats of domesticated species. From the journeyman down to the lowest cottar, meat was an
expensive commodity, and would be consumed rarely. For the lower echelons of Mediæval
Scots, it was the products of their animals rather than the beasts themselves which provided
nourishment. This is evident today in traditional Scots fare, with its emphasis on dairy produce.
It would appear that the average meal would consist of a pottage of herbs and roots, (and when
available some meat or stock for flavouring) bread and cheese when possible.

Before Sir Walter Raleigh's introduction of the potato to the British Isles, the Scots' main sources
of carbohydrate was gained from bread made from oats or barley. Wheat was generally difficult
to grow because of the damp climate. Food thrift was evident from the earliest times, with
excavated middens displaying little evidence of anything but the toughest bones. All parts of an
animal were used.

The mobile nature of Scots society in the past required food that would not spoil quickly. It was
common to carry a small bag of oatmeal that could be transformed into a basic porridge or
oatcakes using a girdle (griddle). It is theorised that Scotland's national dish, haggis, originated
in a similar way: A small amount of offal or low-quality meat, carried in the most inexpensive
bag available, a sheep or pig's stomach. It has also been suggested that this dish was introduced
by Norse invaders who were attempting to preserve their food during the long journey from
Scandinavia.[2]

[edit] French Influence

During the Late Middle Ages and early modern era, the French cuisine started to play a role in
Scottish cookery due to the cultural exchanges brought by the "Auld Alliance";[3] and especially
during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary, on her return to Scotland, brought an entourage
of French staff who are considered responsible for revolutionising Scots cooking and for some of
Scotland's unique food terminology.

[edit] French derived cooking terms

"Ashet", Assiette-a large platter.[4]

"Cannel", Cannelle-Cinnamon
"Collop", from Escalope
"Gigot" (pronounced /ˈdʒɪɡət/) Leg of Mutton - Gigot.[4]
"Howtowdie", Hétoudeau-a boiling fowl (Old French).[4]

With the advent of the sporting estate and enclosure in the 18th century, harvesting Scotland's
larder became an industry. The railways further expanded the scope of the market, with Scots
Grouse at a premium (as today), on English Metropolitan menus shortly after the 12th of August.

[edit] 20th and 21st centuries

Haggis, neeps and tatties
See also: Rationing in the United Kingdom

Scotland, in common with the other parts of the United Kingdom, suffered during the 20th
century. Rationing during the two World Wars, as well as large scale industrial agriculture,
limited the diversity of food available to the public. Imports from the British Empire and beyond
did, however, introduce new foods to the Scottish public. But processed foods have become
more and more popular, particularly among the youth, e.g., the schoolchildren of Glasgow have
been reported as eating a large amount of processed foods.[5]

Recently there seems to be a resurgence in traditional restaurants, gastro-pubs are abounding,

and farmers' markets increasing their scope, not to mention the influence New Scots have had on
the national palate.

During the 19th and 20th centuries there was large scale immigration to Scotland from Italy, and
later from the Middle East, Pakistan and India. These cultures have influenced Scots cooking
dramatically. The Italians reintroduced the standard of fresh produce, and the later comers
introduced spice. With the enlargement of the European Union in the early years of the 21st
century, there has been an increase in the population of Eastern European descent, from Poland
in particular. It is too early to assess the impact that this will have on the future of Scots cookery,
but a number of speciality restaurants and delicatessens catering for the various new immigrants
have opened in the larger towns and cities.

[edit] Traditional Scottish foods

[edit] Soups [edit] Cereals

Cullen Skink Porridge

Baud bree Sowans
Cock-a-leekie soup
Game soup [edit] Dairy and Cheese
Hairst Bree (or Hotch potch)
Partan bree Bishop Kennedy
Scotch broth Carola
Criffel
Crowdie
 Ayrshire Dunlop
[edit] Fish and Seafood Gigha
Isle of Mull Cheddar
Arbroath smokies Lanark Blue
Cabbie claw (Cabelew) Loch Arthur
Ceann Cropaig Morven
Crappit heid Caboc
Eyemouth pales Strathdon Blue
Finnan haddie Dunsyre Blue
Kippers Galloway Cheddar
Kedgeree
Rollmops [edit] Puddings and Desserts
Smoked salmon
Tatties and Herring Burnt Cream
Apple Frushie
[edit] Meat, Poultry and Game Blaeberry pie
Carrageen Moss
Ayrshire bacon Clootie Dumpling
Black pudding, Red pudding and White Cranachan
pudding Hatted Kit
Boiled Gigot of Mutton or Lamb Marmalade pudding
Forfar Bridie Stapag
Chicken tikka masala Tipsy Laird
Collops
Haggis [edit] Cakes, Breads and
Howtowdie with Drappit eggs Confectioneries
Kilmeny Kail
Mince and tatties Abernethy biscuits
Mutton ham Bannock
Pottit heid Berwick cockles
Potted hough Black bun
Roast Aberdeen Angus beef Butteries
Roast Haunch of Venison Caramel shortbread
Roast Grouse Drop-scones
Roast Woodcock/Snipe Dundee cake
Solan goose Edinburgh rock
Scotch pie Fatty Cutties
Skirlie Festy cock
Square sausage Hawick balls
Stovies Jethart Snails
Moffat toffee
[edit] Vegetables Oatcakes
Pan drops
Clapshot Pan loaf
Curly Kail Petticoat tails
Neeps and Tatties (Swede and Potato) Plain loaf
 Rumbledethumps Puff Candy
Tattie scones Scones
Scots Crumpets
[edit] Fruits Selkirk Bannock, variations include
Yetholm Bannock
Raspberries Shortbread
Slaes Soor plooms
Blaeberries Tablet
Strawberries
[edit] Condiments

Dundee Marmalade
Rowan jelly
Spiced plums

[edit] Scottish beverages

[edit] Alcoholic

(see- Scottish beer)

90 shilling ale Drambuie
80 shilling ale Ginger wine
70 shilling ale Het pint
India Pale ale Heather ale
Lager Scotch ale and beer
Atholl Brose Scotch mist- a cocktail containing
mainly whisky
Whisky

[edit] Non Alcoholic

Irn Bru
Red Kola
Sugarellie

[edit] Fast food

This section needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and
removed. (February 2008)

Scotland's reputation for coronary and related diet-based diseases is a product of the wide
consumption of fast food since the latter part of the twentieth century. Fish and chip shops
remain extremely popular, and indeed the battered and fried haggis supper remains a favourite;
they have been joined in more recent years by outlets selling pizzas, Turkish-style kebabs
(though generally with no resemblance to the original Anatolian dish), pakoras and other
convenience foodstuffs. Scotland, and the west coast in particular, is notorious for the amount of
deep-fried food consumed, and for being the home of such dishes as the deep-fried pizza and
deep fried Mars bar. Deep fried döner kebab have also become notorious in Glasgow. An
extreme example of this style of food is the Munchy Box.[6]

In addition to independent fast-food outlets, in the sixties American-style burger bars and other
restaurants such as Wimpy were introduced, and in the eighties, McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza
Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken appeared in Scotland.