Hello from a Scottish Guy

[BovineSeaweedPork]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm about to enter the food industry in Scotland, something I have been considering for a long time, so I'm here to pick up some tips and share my experiences with all foods Scottish (and a bit more exotic!) as part of my preperations for the challenge ahead!

 

Nick

 

[Smithy]

Welcome! You opened a lot of avenues of inquiry here. Do you have specific plans for "the food industry" yet? For instance: are you about to start culinary school, or have you landed your first job in a restaurant (what kind of food, what position?) or are you going to work for the Ministry of Agriculture as a meat inspector, or...well, you get the idea. Next, what do you think of as Scottish food vs. exotic? What sort of food do you like to cook and eat? I see you've made a foray into the world of charcuterie already. Excellent!

[andiesenji]

Hi Nick, and welcome to the forums.

 

Please give us a bit more info.  Background, including education and experience, family stories (we love family anecdotes), where you have lived and don't forget to share photos.

(To share photos you need to click on the "More Reply Options" at the lower right corner of the message pane.)

 

Will you share recipes?  Many of us "collect" recipes - (there was a thread about Scottish nibbles a few months ago) - I've been collecting recipes or "receipts" since my teens (in the 1950s)  and some came down in my family and have been modernized and are on my blog.

In the early '70s my dad spent several months traveling in England, Wales, Scotland, Orkney - and brought back a number of recipes gathered from distant family members (Orkney), inns, pubs and individuals.  

One was Orkney barley bannock, which I have played with several times (could still use improving).  When my daughter lived in Inverness for six months several years ago she also collected recipes, concentrating on breads as started out as a professional baker and was my main focus of interest.  

[BovineSeaweedPork]

Hello

I am hoping to start selling Charcuterie and smoked products (fish,meat,cheese) at local farmers markets that I have made myself using local produce. I will be doing this at weekends to start with as I am not quite confident enough to give up the day job and pursue my dream just yet, but at least I'm working towards it!

There are a lot of Scottish recipes that I love, but none more so than Ayrshire homemade soup that my grandfather used to make or Ayrshire tatties with green tails!

Soup

1 litre Chicken stock

1 small Grated Turnip

4 Grated Carrots

1 Finely chopped leek

3 Finely cubed Ayrshire potatoes added after 1 hour

1 table spoon of sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

This is so straight forward to make, but when given time to gently simmer away for a couple of hours, left overnight then re heated it is one of the most delicious foods I have ever eaten. We used to slurp it by the bowl full accompanied by Mothers Pride loaves (White bread with extraordinarily high salt content and a burnt black crust) and local Ayrshire butter spread so thick it resembled cheese on a sandwich.

 

The Ayrshire tatties with green tails were usually served as an accompaniment, but I have been known to eat a few bowls on their own for dinner.

1kg Ayrshire Potatoes (Ayrshire tatties are fertilised with seaweed from the Ayrshire coast) peeled, quartered and gently boiled for 15 minutes

1 cup of oatmeal

25g butter

Salt

Green tails (spring onions/scallions)

The hard part is not overcooking the potatoes and making sure they are not too dry so even a splash of milk could be added. Once they are cooked all the ingredients are thrown in and gently stirred. The green tails should be chopped finely and only the green part used. The oatmeal sticks to the tatties and the tang of the green tails is a wonderful combination.

My tastes are varied though and I like most Scottish fare which tends to be hearty and some would say unhealthy. Some other regional favourites include;

Clyde Tunnel Lorne Sausage which is a standard Lorne with a black pudding through the middle then rolled in onion powder and sliced into half an inch thick pieces.

 

Pie roll with Cheddar, an Ayrshire school boy staple. 1 Scotch Pie (Killie Pie) served on a well fired roll with grated Ayrshire cheese that is quite strong. These were consumed by the hundred every day at my school back in the 90s. I don't think they are allowed to sell them any more

 

Healthier favourites include;

Salad made from wild Garlic shoots picked in March and April mixed with wild Watercress

Langoustines (giant prawns) and West Coast Mussels served with lemon juice

Queenies (Scallops) served with Black Pudding

Nick

[cyalexa]

Hi BovineSeaweedPork,

 

I see from a google search that  Ayrshire potatoes are starchy. I may give your soup a try as both turnips and new potatoes are in season here (Oklahoma USA). Is the oatmeal in the second recipe added dry or cooked? I couldn't find another recipe online although there were several mentions of the dish.

 

Cindy