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Scottish cuisine is a mixture of British and Celtic, so it contains not only dishes characteristic of peasant cuisine, but also those that the ancient highlanders ate. At the core Scottish cuisine meat lies, most often lamb, but veal, pork, vegetables and fish are not excluded. For cooking, baking, smoking and salting are used. Known are "full" soups, Scottish pies, in the recipes of which ale is used, soft buns with filling - scones.
Soups
The Scots have a very varied diet. They prefer rich thick stews and soups, reminiscent of our goulash. Housewives often put in them everything that is at hand - meat, fish, cereals, vegetables and greens.
Most popular soups:
- "Cocky Peaks" - chicken soup with onions and prunes;
- lentil soup with bacon;
- rice soup-puree with crab;
- barley soup with lamb and vegetables;
- "cullen skink"- stew of smoked haddock.
The last soup then received several options: milk or cream was added instead of water, fresh fish was used instead of smoked fish, etc. But invariably any of these soups is served with bread.
Main courses
In all regions of Scotland goulash is considered a traditional second course. Meat, poultry, cereals and vegetables were first stewed on an open fire for a long time. Here it is also customary to stew in ale or smoke meat (venison, beef, but more often lamb) or poultry (game or chicken). Seafood, including fish, is baked or boiled. As a side dish, hot thick cereals are prepared (various varieties of oatmeal are the most popular) and boiled vegetables (potatoes, turnips, turnips, peas, onions, carrots), which are then mixed and baked under a lid. The Scots love to bake homemade bread. .jpg)
Most popular side dishes:
- leek stewed in oil;
- "skirley"- a traditional side dish of hercules and fried onions;
- thick barley, oatmeal or lentil porridge;
- "clapshot"- boiled turnip puree and potatoes with black pepper;
- "Nipps and Tattis"- mashed potatoes and swede.
The most popular main dishes:
- "haggis"- Stuffed with giblets (heart, lungs, liver) and flavored with onions, spices and salt sheep tripe;
- chicken in a pot;
- boiled salmon in jelly;
- goose stuffed with chopped giblets;
- beef stewed in beer;
- meatballs with egg;
- fish pie with potatoes and onions;
- beef or pork goulash with ale and pickled nuts.
pies
The Scots bake a wide variety of pies, while always observing old traditions. Each pie should have a lot of juicy tasty meat. Most often, ale is used in their manufacture. Only the shape of the Scottish pie is always traditional - round, it is 10-15 cm in diameter, 5-10 cm high, and the filling is covered with a lid made of the same dough.
For pies, they usually make savory shortbread or puff pastry, which is saturated with meat juice, after which it becomes juicy, and its taste is saturated. Most often, pies are stuffed with minced meat or cut into cubes and meat flavored with a generous portion of sauce - a kind of goulash. The filling sauce is made from light beer or, conversely, from thick ale.
Sweets and drinks
Favorite Scottish drink is hot tea, always with a lot of sweets (jams, muffins, oatmeal, pancakes, cookies, marmalades)and smoked meats. Here there is a clear difference from the English tea drinking "five-o-clock", because this "dense" tea falls on the late evening. Modern Scots began to add fruit additives or aromatic herbs to tea.
As for pastries for tea, we should definitely mention the wonderful berry pies
. In addition to them, sand is served, ginger and oatmeal cookies
which the Scots invented. Other delicacies may be added on holidays - muffins with raisins and almonds, pastries in the form of "scones". But especially among the Scots, a dessert called "cranahan", which is a mixture of fried oatmeal, honey, fresh berries and whipped cream.
The national spirit of Scotland is whiskey. Based on it, the Scots make a variety of liqueurs. And in many villages they still do Home wine and brew beer.
Known for its unconventional military uniforms, strong liquor and a musical instrument capable of taking down the enemy without a fight, this rugged country also boasts some amazing cuisine.
Even being part of the UK, Scotland has managed to maintain its identity, special traditions and unique recipes that are little known in the world.
Formation of Scottish national cuisine
Scottish cuisine is different from the British dishes known to us, it was formed among the poorer segments of the population, and the main products were what people could get and grow on their own. However, the nature of Scotland, with its huge pastures, cold rivers and lakes and dense forests, made it possible to make food very diverse.
What we now mean by Scottish cuisine came to us from the families of peasants and shepherds, since the wealthy inhabitants of the country ate mainly on French recipes, which has been very popular for many years.
Main dishes, drinks and desserts
Scottish cuisine is based on meat and fish produced on their own lands. Many argue that this cuisine is very similar to English, but the inhabitants of "foggy Albion" themselves deny this, considering many Scottish dishes, such as partridge, which is hung in the open air for two weeks before cooking, absolutely inedible.
In general, the Scots eat a very diverse diet. Of the soups, which are more reminiscent of goulash in thickness, it is worth highlighting onion with prunes, meat stew with cereals and the famous fish soups. Most tourists, having ordered a similar soup in a restaurant, no longer find the strength to start the second course.
Potatoes are a traditional side dish in all possible types and Scottish turnip. Often, both of these products are ground to a puree and mixed. Fish is served as an appetizer: mainly herring and cucumber rolls made from it, called rollmops for their external resemblance to the muzzle of a dog.
Well, from meat, preference is given to beef and lamb, by the way, it is from the latter that the famous haggis is prepared, to which poems and songs were dedicated. This lamb stomach stuffed with liver for a long time It was considered the food of the poor, because it was prepared from the waste left after butchering a ram. Almost as famous is the fatty mutton kidney pie, whose peculiar taste may not please the tourist.
Scottish pastries, intended for consumption in the traditional evening tea, are famous for their variety. Here are cakes, and oatmeal cookies, and pies with numerous fillings.
From drinks it is worth remembering Scotch whiskey, called in the homeland uisge beatha, which means “water of life”. We owe the name known now to the numerous conquerors who appreciated this drink, but could not (perhaps under its influence) pronounce this complex phrase. If the history of the name is known, then the secrets of making whiskey are still kept by masters.
Those who do not like strong drinks can be advised homemade wines and beer, made in almost every village.
Top Scottish Recipes
There is no point in trying to make haggis on your own: even if you find everything necessary ingredients, only a hereditary Scot can be able to correctly connect them.
To begin with, it is better to try baking an unusual Scottish appetizer, which is served in almost every home and serves as a pleasant addition to the main dish - meatballs with egg. To do this, you will need to clean hard-boiled chicken eggs, wrap them in minced meat and deep fry.
Well, for those who want something unusual, you can try cranachan. This Scottish dessert is made with whipped cream, whiskey, fresh raspberries and strawberries, toasted oats and honey. Of course, you can omit the whiskey if you wish, or replace the cream with soft cream cheese. The recipe is also interesting because it does not have strict proportions - everyone mixes all the ingredients to their taste in a tall glass.
Where to eat: the best restaurants in Scotland
Certainly, traditional cuisine it is better to try in small villages, but if you are not ready for such an extreme, go to restaurants whose level is recognized by both critics and visitors.
Edinburgh's The Kitchin is Edinburgh's Restaurant of the Year and Michelin-starred, serving classic Scottish dishes in a high society atmosphere.
Another restaurant of this level in Edinburgh is Number One, which belongs to the Balmoral Hotel. The kitchen and decoration here are more modern, however, according to your desire, the chefs will prepare any, even the most unusual, dish.
Well, if Michelin awards and pretentious statuses do not interest you, but you want to feel the real atmosphere of old Scotland, go to Rhubarb, located on the Prestonfield estate.
Of course, it is not worth going to Scotland just to get acquainted with the cuisine, but once you are here, be sure to try unique dishes that have not changed over hundreds of years and enjoy their amazing taste.
No recipes found for this cuisine
About the kitchen
National recipes Scottish cuisines are not the pure result of centuries of development, but rather a complex fusion under the influence of a long, complex and controversial process of influence of many foreign cuisines. At first, the Vikings left their imprint here, after which the French joined them. As a result, the cuisine of Scotland is not exclusively traditionally Celtic, but has clear features of a kind of mixture of numerous cuisines of the world.
Favorable climatic conditions, fertile land, ancient agricultural customs, salting and smoking methods create an excellent basis for cooking the best dishes Scottish cuisine and the most famous delicacies in the world. In addition, almost vast fields and hills create excellent conditions for production. the best varieties lamb, beef, and venison.
The cold lakes, clear rivers and seas surrounding Scotland are rich in salmon, trout and shellfish, and thanks to the fertile soil, numerous crops grow here, high-quality vegetables, for example, and fragrant berries. All these products are the basis of the excellent dishes of Scottish cuisine, which is famous for its smoked meats, breads, biscuits, marmalades and jams, as well as the world-famous whiskey.
The culinary traditions of many Scottish dishes originate from cooking over an open fire, when hearty hot dishes of meat, cereals and vegetables were prepared in stages in a large pot of water. These early cooking methods had a strong enough influence on local cuisine that similar dishes exist today, for example, beer in beer, chicken in a pot, various goulash and stews.
In addition, one cannot but recall the numerous dishes that are prepared according to old recipes of Scottish cuisine: Scottish eggs, tender salted salmon, juicy beef fillet with tender garlic sauce, cod fillet in mustard sauce and hearty pearl barley soup.
By the way, the Scots have a special affection for soups. These are mainly first courses based on cereals, potatoes or fish, such as Cullen skink soup with smoked fish. One of the most popular Scottish soups is Scottish meat broth, which is made from barley with vegetables.
It is impossible not to pay attention to a rather unusual traditional dish of Scottish cuisine, which is considered a delicacy - Haggis. This interesting dish is a sheep or mutton stomach, which is baked pre-larded with sheep giblets and barley. It is customary to serve it on a warmed dish with a side dish of mashed potatoes or mashed turnips. Well, be sure to put a shot of whiskey next to it.
Once a popular dish among the local population was porridge, which had a liquid consistency and was cooked from oats. It was served exclusively for breakfast. Today it is also in demand, and besides, there are many ways to prepare oatmeal that have been passed down from generation to generation.
Like the British, the Scots love tea and drink it mainly with marmalade, jam, muffins, muffins and the popular traditional shortbread cookies. It is baked in the form of a large circle and then cut into triangles. In addition, many housewives prepare sweet puddings, buns with jam and desserts for tea, the simplest of which is Crannachan, which is whipped cream with oatmeal flakes and berries.
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Hello my dear. The work week is picking up pace. We were well energized by hearty rich meat soups on Monday and Tuesday, now it would be necessary to rest a little. So today we will have fish soup. It is no less satisfying than previous soups, but much lighter. "Skink" in translation from the language of the Scottish Celts means "essence", but now it's just a very thick soup. "Cullen" is a small seaside town where it was once invented. So "Cullen skink" means "thick Cullen soup". The ingredients of this soup are very simple - fragrant chopped salted and smoked haddock, potatoes, onions and cream - it was from them that the fishermen of the pretty Scottish village of Cullen cooked the first "Cullen Skink". The fish is boiled in milk, then potatoes and other ingredients are added to it. Moreover, you can add a lot of potatoes, because for local residents this soup can sometimes replace a whole dinner. Traditionally, as I said, "cullen skink" was made with smoked haddock, but now they use fresh. I cooked soup from fresh haddock (all smoked was forbidden to my husband!) and milk, but, believe me, this option is no worse. And then a surprise awaits you - a bonus to the "Star Week".
