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For years, Scottish food was known for boiled meats, organ dishes, and watery, overcooked vegetables. But recently, independent restaurants have displayed significant improvements in Scotland's dining choices, where the best ingredients that the country produces have been married with other styles and influences.
Let's begin with traditional Scottish cooking, which is hearty. Staples include fish (such as haddock, often smoked), potatoes (called tatties), turnips (called neeps), oatcakes, porridge oats, and local game such as grouse and venison. And haggis, whichremains Scotland's national dish — though it's perhaps more symbolic than gustatory.
But modern Scottish cuisine is more diverse and innovative, borrowing from French and even Far Eastern techniques, using local produce such as scallops and lamb. One of Scotland's best-known food exports is Aberdeen Angus beef, but equally fine is free-range Scottish lamb, known for its tender, tasty meat. Fish, in this land of seas, rivers, and lochs, is a mainstay, from wild halibut to the herring that's transformed into the elegant kipper (see below). Scottish smoked salmon is, of course, a delicacy known around the globe. Scottish shellfish is world-class, whether oysters and crabs or lobsters and their smaller, more delicate relatives, langoustines, which have become a hit in posh Manhattan restaurants. Ranging from pheasant and grouse to rabbit and venison, game also has a key spot in the Scottish natural larder.
Scottish raspberries are among the finest in the world. You definitely need to try some of Scotland's excellent cheeses as well. One of the best is Criffel, from the south of the country: a creamy and rich semi-soft cheese made from the milk of Shorthorn cows that graze only in organic pastures. Delicious.
At your hotel or B&B, one meal you're sure to enjoy is a Scottish breakfast or the full fry-up, as the locals may call it. Expect most or all of the following: eggs, bacon and sausage, black pudding or haggis, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, fried bread or potato scones, toast, marmalade or jam, juice, and coffee or tea. A feast this size can often keep you going right through the afternoon.
These days, the word "eclectic" describes Scotland's metropolitan restaurant scene, particularly in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Indian restaurants abound, as do French, Italian, and Thai options. In the rural areas, the selection can be hit or miss. Scots today can eat better than ever before, although much of the population still seems to subsist on take-away fish and chips or, as the locals prefer to call them, fish suppers.
Here are a few foods that you're likely to come across in Scotland.
- black pudding: savory sausage of oats, blood, and spices
- bridie: meat and potato pie
- cullen skink: creamy smoked haddock chowder
- haggis: plump sausage of finely diced sheep offal (heart, liver, lungs, and so on), oatmeal, and spices
- toastie: toasted sandwich
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