I visited Scotland in 1988 and loved it - awesome people, wonderful sights, and a lot of tasty food. Also, lots of my ancestors hail from there - MacMillans, Hendersons, etc. I'm tickled to bring you this guest post. - Dee
This guest post was contributed by Boisdale.
If you are planning a visit to the bonnie isle of Scotland you will need to be sure and bring an appetite. Scottish cuisine is not for the light eater but instead is filled with solid hearty foods that stick to the ribs and give you all the energy you might need for a long and tiring day on the moors. This article will talk a bit about five examples of traditional Scottish cuisine.
1 Haggis
There is absolutely no way a discussion of the food of Scotland can possibly omit haggis. Haggis is a sort of sausage dish made up of sheep. Basically to make haggis you would take the leftover bits of a sheep including heart, liver and lungs and chop them up and mix in some onions, stock, oatmeal, salt and pepper and suet and toss it all into a sheep’s stomach then boil it for a few hours. It might not sound very good but it tastes fantastic!
2 Cullen Skink
No, Cullen skink is not some weird type of lizard it is a hearty stick to the ribs traditional Scottish soup and is often served as a first course at formal Scottish dinners. Cullen skink is a delicious mixture of smoked Finnan haddie, onions, and potatoes.
3 Cabbie Claw
Scotland is surrounded by water as well as filled with it. Lochs, rivers and sea, fishing and fish play an important role in the traditional dishes of Scotland.
Cabbie claw is a traditional dish from the north of Scotland and is made using fish such as cod, whiting, or haddock with parsley, mashed potatoes, and horseradish with a sauce made up of flour, hard-boiled eggs, butter, and spices.
4 Puddings: black, white and red
In America, a pudding is a sweet creamy confection made with milk in Scotland however a pudding is a sausage.
Black pudding or blood pudding is a sausage that is made by cooking blood with filler such as meat, onions, oatmeal, or potatoes until it thickens enough to congeal when it is cool.
Red pudding is often served at chip shops and is made from a mixture of bacon, pork, spices, beef, beef fat, beef stock and suet and is then battered and fried.
White pudding is similar to black pudding but without the blood. It is made from pork, suet oatmeal, onions, spices and bread.
5 Shortbread
Scots love their sweets. And one favourite traditional sweet is the shortbread. Shortbread is basically an unleavened cookie that is made with 1 part sugar, 3 parts oatmeal flour and two parts butter.
Scottish cuisine much like the Scottish people is hale and hearty and definitely not 100% healthy for all day dining but great for the occasional meal.
