Classic Recipes from Scotland

If British recipes are, undeservedly, the joke of European cuisine, then Scottish cookery bears the brunt of British culinary jokes with tales of deep-fried pizzas and chocolate bars. The reality, of course, is very different and the Eastern port cities of Scotland have a long association with France and have been influenced by French cuisine for many centuries.

In contrast, the Highlands of Scotland offer simpler but more traditional fare. The cookery of a poor populace, eking out a living. Here I present two dishes. One a traditional 'peasant' dish and the other a rich traditional cake.


Highlander Soup

Ingredients:
350g dried lentils or split peas

1.4kg ham or beef bone

80g diced celery

1 small onion, diced

160g carrots, diced

2 tbsp flour

2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly-ground black pepper

Method:
Wash the lentils or peas in plenty of water then leave to soak over night in a big bowl. The following day, drain the lentils and add to a large pan along with the bones and 1.5l water. Bring to a boil reduce to a simmer then cover and cook for 2 hours.

Add the celery and carrots and continue cooking until the pulses are tender (about 40 minutes). Skim any fat from the surface of the soup and discard. Remove the bones at this point, allow to cool then chop any meat from them and return to the pot.

Meanwhile, add 2 tbsp oil or butter to a pan and use to fry the onions for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the top and mix to incorporate into the oil. Season with salt and pepper then remove a ladleful of stock from the soup and gradually add to the onion mix and stir to combine. Continue cooking in the pan until thickened then tip into the soup mixture and stir to combine. Cook the soup until thickened then serve.


Marmalade Cake

Ingredients:
240g self-raising flour
2 eggs, beaten

90g caster sugar
120g margarine

1 drop vanilla extract

2 tbsp orange marmalade
1 tsp orange zest, finely grated

2 tbsp milk

pinch of salt

Method:
Sift the flour and slat into a bowl and rub-in the margarine until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, half the orange zest and mix in before adding the eggs, marmalade, milk and vanilla. Mix thoroughly to form a thick batter.

Grease a 15cm round cake tin and pour the mixture into this. Bake in the centre of an oven pre-heated to 170°C for about 80 minutes until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean. Sprinkle the remainder of the orange zest on top and allow to cool for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack and allowing to cool completely.

Of course, two recipes cannot give you the complete flavour of the foods of an entire country. But I hope you see some measure of the diversity of Scottish cuisine and that you now want to explore further the nature of Scottish recipes.

About the Author

Dyfed Lloyd Evans runs the Celtnet Recipes website where you can find many more Scottish Recipes, both traditional and modern. You can also find well over 1000 British Recipes.