A Guide to Scottish Restaurants – How Scottish & British Cuisines Differ
Food in a Scottish restaurant and Scottish cuisine in general is similar to British cuisine but has many distinctive components of its own. The mainstays of Scottish food have always been game, dairy, fish, fruit and vegetables. These dishes are usually are usually prepared with a higher amount of fat making them very rich.
Many of the dishes found in Scottish restaurants are made from beef and lamb. The Scots use the entire animal in their cuisine. Haggis is one traditional Scottish dish that you would find in a Scottish restaurant. Haggis consists of sheep stomach stuffed with boiled internal organs, heart, lungs, liver, with rolled oats and some other ingredients added in. It may sound horrible but is one of the most popular delicacies in Scotland.
Scotland is also known as having some of the best salmon in the world. Many other fish such as cod, haddock, whiting and plaice are abundant here also and turn up in all sorts of dishes in their restaurants.
Another popular item in Scotland restaurants and Scotland in general is its whisky. Scotland is a leading manufacturer in some of the world’s best whisky.
Some of the dishes you would find in a Scottish restaurant would be made from beef. Scotland is known the world over for its Aberdeen-Angus breed of cattle. Knowing that the Scottish like to use the whole animal some other items made from the beef is Black pudding. This is a type of sausage made from the blood of the beef with fillers such as meat, fat, bread, barley and sweet potato. It is typically eaten as a part of breakfast. Forfar bridie is also made from Scottish beef. A pastry wrapped beef dish that includes spices and onions. It gets its name from the town it originated in, Forfar.
Headcheese or brawn is another example of using the whole animal. Not really cheese at all it is made from pieces of meat from a calf or pigs head with onion, spices and vinegar, shaped into a loaf and traditionally eaten at room temperature or cold as a lunch meat.
Some side dishes you will find in a Scottish restaurant are clapshot, mashed potatoes and swede turnips with chives and butter. Tattie scones are a potato pancake made from mashed potatoes and flour and usually served with breakfast.
Although Scotland’s diet is rich in fatty foods in recent times more importance has been placed on vegetables and fruits in restaurant cuisine and in the home.
