fd-Scotland-msg – 8/21/10

Medieval food of Scotland.

NOTE: See also the files: Scotland-msg, cl-Scotland-msg, cl-Scot-fem-art, cl-Scot-male-art, haggis-msg, SI-songbook1-art, names-Scot-art, names-Scot-msg, Scot-fem-nam-lst.

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From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at postoffice.ptd.net>
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 1997 07:54:12 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #51

>From: Dottie Elliott <macdj at onr.com>
>Subject: SC - Scottish Recipes
>
>I am interested at present in locating period Scottish recipes. If anyone 
>can point me in the direction of references I should look for or offer 
>recipes,  I would appreciate it.
>
>Thanks, Clarissa

Clarissa, I shall be giving away my best kept secrets, however.......

To the best of my knowledge, not one single period Scottish cookbook exists
to date (I've look fairly hard, but may have missed one). Scottish food is
somewhat similar to British food, with the addition of traditional foods
that have so much attention in Scotts Cuisine. So period sources from
Briatain are largely appropriate. Things like Venison, Brawn, Any game, and
a larger portion of higher quality fish would be appropriate. And there is
one major subtraction: leavened bread. True, the nobility (mostly English or
Half English ) in later period ate white bread. The common man considered
this sissy food to the extent that Scotts Merchants traveling "down" below
Hadrian's little nuisance brought their own bakestone and supplies rather
than suffer the type of bread that would not sustain you. Edinburough had a
professional white bread bakery late in period, but the Idea was very slow
to catch on. Naturally this would be more true of midland to highland
scotts, and less true of lowland scotts.Read *Food In Britain* for the best
non-recipe information on this topic.

Scotts Cuisine had a heavy French influence, so suprisingly you will find
some wonderful and involved recipes. Where to look? Two wonderful books:

Lady Castle Hill's Receipt Book, The Molendinar Press, Glasgow, copyright
1976 Hamish Whyte. This is essentially a coffeetable book, with the original
recipes (selected ones, but all pretty good) typed and the punctuation
altered to make sense to the modern reader --- so beware, they may have made
a mistake.

Mrs. McClintock's Receipt Book, Edited by Isabail MacCloud (sorry, I don't
have the copyright but I bought mine within the last 5 years at a noraml
bookstore). This tiny book is a faithful reproduction of the original with a
glossary of Scottish terms and measurements. Recipes are excellent and the
book was later published under another name----either stolen or Mrs.
McClintock (a widow) remarried.

Both books date to the early 1700s. That seems to be the closest we can get
to documantation. I know, it's very very sad.

Hope that helped you. I have also been known to get a little inspiration
from "MODERN" traditional cookbooks such as the excellent Farmhouse Cookery,
Recipes from the Country Kitchen, which gives traditional recipes in modern
format with a little history of each from Reader's Digest Books, London.
Britain's Ethnic dishes are well represented here, but you'll have to
translate metric to the US system of measurement (if you live in the
states). This is easily done with a   glass pyrex measuring cup, which has
Both marked on its side. 

Aoife


From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at postoffice.ptd.net>
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 1997 21:30:31 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: SC - Re: Scotts Food

About authentic scottish food:

I forgot to mention several factors that occured to me later, after my
initial reply to Clarissa.

         First, wild large game existed far longer in the Highlands than it
did elsewhere in the country, where it was hunted out by late period. Thus
the famous "Red Deare" still existed in Scotland long after the English were
faking "red Deare" recipes with beef and veal. In addition, wild Boar still
was in good supply, and would have been available to the moderatly wealthy Scot.

        Next is the weather factor. It was relatively rare to find some of
the slow-producing fruits in Scotland outside Monastary or Nobility's walls,
since the weather rarely warmed up long enough to bring them to ripeness.
Thus peaches were probably not eaten, or softer or less cold hardy varieties
of Pears, Berries, or Apples. I did find a referance to grapes from a
Monastary Garden, being noted because of their uniqueness to Scottish
Cuisine. Quick crops such as greens and herbs were plentiful, however.

        Last, the Highland/Island Scotts were great fishermen and were
famous for saving the best of the catch for themselves. 

Aoife.


Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 15:05:04 -0500
From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at ptd.net>
Subject: SC - oat recipe

Oatcakes are traditional Scottish fare, somewhat descended from bannocks,
which are thicker and softer. Contemporary accounts say that medieval
Scotts merchants would bring their own bake-stone and oats with them when
traveling south, since they didn't trust the "sissy" white bread of England.

There is a traditional story of an old woman who heard about a Scotts Army
defeat. Hearing that the retreat was through her neck of the woods, she
gathered her supplies together and made oatcakes which she gave to the weary
soldiers as soon as they were baked, right by the side of the road.

It is said by contemporary accounts also that the Scotts soldiers were
hardier and stronger because they carried their own oatcake supplies and a
bakestone with them, rather than eat stale camp bread.

While these are not documented recipes, Cheese and other food was potted in
late period, and oatcakes are so simple to make that I am unaware of an
historical example of their recipe, although I have read accounts of their
existence.  Somewhere on a disc in Word Perfect I have a paper about
Scottish food. It's such an old version that my 'puter can't interpret it
now. Sigh.


Oatcakes, Potted Stilton   adapted from Farmhouse Cookery...Recipes from the
Country kitchen, Reader's Digest, London 1980.

Oatcakes
1 lb. fine oatmeal (NOT ROLLED OATS...THEY WON"T WORK)
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. melted bacon fat
1/2 pint boiling water

Mix together oats and salt. Combine bacon fat and water. Pour over the oats
and quickly mix  to combine. Let sit a few minutes under a towel to cool
slightly. When just barely cool enough to handle, knead quickly and turn
onto a board dusted with more oatmeal. Give a top-coating of oatmeal and
roll out as thin as possible, dusting with oatmeal all the while. Pinch any
cracks together. Use an oat-dusted glass to cut into rounds (re-roll scraps
if necessary), or make one large round and cut into triangle wedges
(traditional).

Bake at 375 degrees on an ungreased baking sheet 20-30 minutes turning once,
or longer if it's humid out, until they are gently toasted. It may be
necessary to turn off the oven and leave them to dry in order to get the
proper crisp texture/fawn color. Sprinkle liberally with salt when finished.
Serve warm or cold with potted cheese. Store in an airtight container as
they take on moisture readily. Do not pack away hot.


Potted Stilton (or any other strong flavored cheese):

1 lb. mellow Stilton or other cheese, crumbled or grated
4 oz butter, unsalted, at room temp.
1/2 tsp mace
1 tsp grainy prepared mustard
clarified butter
Combine all the ingredients together except the clarified butter and mash
very well to incorporate. pack tightly into a crock and seal with clarified
butter. if desired, decorate the surface with carrot flowers, herb leaves,
etc.. and pour on another fine layer of clarified butter to seal. Chill.
Serve cold, with oatcakes.

And that, folks, is what makes Oats an Artform.

Aoife


Date: Fri, 09 Jun 2000 02:46:09 EDT
From: Korrin S DaArdain <korrin.daardain at juno.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Help!!!

On Thu, 08 Jun 2000 15:20:58 -0500 Ruth Blake and David Blake
<tegan at swbell.net> writes:
>I agreed to do Yule revel this year and our theme is Scottish. I have a few >scottish recipes I have found..all the standards like scotch eggs, haggis, >shortbread. Does anyone have some period scottish recipes that might help me >out. The kitchen will be small and it will be a small feast for about 60 
>people. I really don't mind pre cooking.
>Thanks
>Tegan

Enjoy.

Korrin S. DaArdain
Korrin.DaArdain at Juno.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Red and White Gingerbread "Gyngerbrede" - (Scottish Medieval
dated from 1430 AD)
	A Book of Historical Recipes by Sara Paston-Williams The National
Trust of Scotland, 1995 ISBN 0-7078-0240-7; Posted by Paul Macgregor

	"Take a quart of hony, & sethe it, & skeme it clene; take
Safroun, poudir Pepir & throw ther-on; take gratyd Brede & make it so
chargeaunt (thick) that it wol be y-leched; then take pouder Canelle
(cinnamon) & straw ther-on y-now; then make yt square, lyke as thou wolt
leche yt; take when thou lechyst hyt, an caste Box (garden box) leves
a-bouyn, y-stkyd ther-on, on clowys (cloves). And if thou wolt have it
Red, coloure it with Saunderys (sandalwood) y-now."
	Historical note: Gingerbread, both red and white, was a favourite
medieval sweetmeat. Home-made gingerbread could be prepared by mixing
bread crumbs to a stiff paste with honey, pepper, saffron and cinnamon.
Ginger is omitted from the earliest recipe we have, but this may be due
to an accidental slip on the part of the scribe. Once made, it was shaped
into a square, sliced and decorated with box leaves impaled on cloves.
	** British Measurements **
	1 lb. Honey
	pinch Powdered saffron
	1 Tsp. Black pepper
	2 Tsp. Ground ginger
	2 Tsp. Ground cinnamon
	1 lb. White bread crumbs
	Box or bay leaves & whole cloves to decorate
	Warm the honey over a gentle heat until quite runny, then stir in
the saffron and pepper. Pour into a large bowl and add the ginger and
cinnamon, then mix in the bread crumbs. It is impossible to say exactly
how many bread crumbs the honey will absorb because it varies, but the
mixture should be very stiff. If not, add a few more bread crumbs. Line a
shallow gingerbread tin with baking parchment and press the mixture into
it with your fingers. Level the top and leave to firm up in the fridge
for several hours, then turn out on to another sheet of paper and cut
into small squares. Arrange the gingerbread on a large plate, then
decorate each square with two box or small bay leaves and a whole clove
stuck in the center. You can achieve an even prettier effect by gilding a
few of the leaves or painting the ends of some of the cloves red.
	If you want to achieve a checkerboard effect, make the mixture up
in two lots, adding a few drops of red coloring to one quantity of honey
before mixing, then continue as before. Arrange the red and white squares
of gingerbread alternately on the serving plate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Jumbles or Knot Biscuits "Jumbles a hundred" - (Scottish
Elizabethan dated from 1596 AD)
	A Book of Historical Recipes by Sara Paston-Williams The National
Trust of Scotland, 1995 ISBN 0-7078-0240-7; Posted by Paul Macgregor
	"Take twenty Egges and put htem into a pot both the yolkes and
the white, beat them wel, then take a pound of beaten sugar and put to
them, and stirre them wel together, then put to it a quarter of a peck of
flower, and make a hard paste thereof, and then with Anniseeds moulde it
well, ane make it in little rowles beeing long, and tye them in knots,
and wet the ends in Rosewater; then put them into a pan of seething
water, but even in one waum, then take them out with a Skimmer and lay
them in a cloth to drie, this being don lay them in a tart panne, the
bottome beeing oyled, then put them into a temperat Oven for one howre,
turning them often in the Oven.
	** British Measurements **
	1 1/2 oz Butter; salted
	4 oz Caster sugar
	1 TB Rose-water
	1/2 oz Caraway seeds
	1 lg. Egg; beaten
	8 oz Plain flour
	Extra rose-water & caster sugar for glaze
	Preheat the oven to 350¯F / 180¯C / gas mark 4. Cream the butter,
sugar and rose-water together, then mix in the caraway seeds, beaten egg
and flour to form a soft dough. Knead on a lightly floured board, then
take small walnut-sized pieces of dough and with your fingers form each
into a roll, approximately 3/4-inch in diameter and 6-inch in length.
Make into simple knots, plaits or rings and arrange on a lightly greased
baking sheet. Brush with rose-water and sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake
near the top of the oven for about 20 minutes, or until tinged with
brown. (Knots and plaits will take longer to bake than simple rings, so
don't mix shapes on a baking sheet.) Remove from the oven and cool on a
wire rack. Store in an airtight tin. Delicious when served with syllabub.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Gilded Marchpane
	(Scottish Elizabethan dated from 1699 AD & 1584 AD)
	A Book of Historical Recipes by Sara Paston-Williams The National
Trust of Scotland, 1995 ISBN 0-7078-0240-7; Posted by Paul Macgregor
	"How to make Marchpane Cake" (dated from 1699 AD) "Take blancht
Almonds and sugar and beat them up into a Past, and when have beaten it
into a Past, rowl it out about the thickness that you will have your
Marchpane Cakes to be and cut them in 3 square pieces and set an Edge to
them of the same past, and Impress the Edges of them, then take Rose
Watter and beat searced sugar in it till it be as thick as Pancakes,
butter and wet them within it and strew a few of Bisketts in them and set
them upon Wafers, and set them againe upon Papers and bake them, and keep
them for your use."
	"To gild a Marchpane or any other kind of Tart" (dated from 1584
AD) "Take and cut your leafe of golde, as it lieth upon the booke, into
square peeces like Dice and with a Conies tailes end moysted a little,
take golde up by the one corner, lay it on the place beeing first made
moyste, and with another tayle of a Conie drie presse the golde downe
close. And if ye will have the forme of an Harte, or the name of Iesus,
or any other thing whatsoever; cut the same through a peece of paper and
lay the paper upon your Marchpane or Tart; then make the voide place of
the Paper (through which the Marchpane appeareth) moyste with Rose Water,
laye on your golde, presse it down, take off your Paper and there
remaineth behinde in golde the print cut in the saide paper."
	Historical note: The marchpane was the centrepiece of any
banquet. It was a large flat disc of marzipan, sometimes with a raised
rim round the edge, weighing perhaps 3 to 4 pounds or more, which was
iced, sumptuously decorated and surmounted for special occasions with
three-dimensional figures or models in cast sugar (hot sugar syrup
moulded in stone, wooden or pewter shapes); sugar plate (similar to
modern fondant icing) or almond paste. Finally, the marchpane was often
gilded with gold leaf, readily available but exceedingly expensive in
Elizabethan times.
	** British Measurements **
	THE MARCHPANE-
	1 lb. Almonds; ground
	3 TB Rose-water
	8 oz Caster sugar
	THE GLAZE
	1 TB Rose-water
	3 TB Icing sugar
	Preheat the oven to 300¯F / 150¯C / gas mark 2. Work the ground
almonds, sugar and rose-water together to make a stiff paste. Knead until
quite smooth. Reserve a little of the marzipan for decorating the
marchpane and place the rest on a sheet of grease proof paper. Roll it
into a circle, about 3/8-inch thick, and decorate the edges with the back
of a knife as you would a pie. Slip the marzipan on to a baking sheet and
bake for 15 minutes, then turn off the oven, open the oven door and leave
to cook for another 15 minutes, then turn off the oven, open the oven
door and leave to cook for another 15 minutes, or until firm and dry, but
only lightly colored.
	Meanwhile, mix the rose-water and icing sugar to a thin paste for
the glaze. Brush over the marchpane and continue cooking for about 5
minutes until dry and glossy. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
	Roll out the reserved marzipan until quite thin and cut out into
hearts, diamonds, letters, animals or birds. Paint with edible gold
coloring and fix on to the glazed marchpane as it dries to form patterns
or pictures. Alternately, the reserved marzipan can be modeled into
figures of animals or birds, or into knots which can be gilded as before.
Sugar-coated caraway, fennel or coriander seeds, or confectioners' silver
balls can also be used for decoration. Serve as a sweetmeat with coffee
at the end of a meal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Apple Snow - (Scottish Elizabethan dated from 1572 AD)
	A Book of Historical Recipes by Sara Paston-Williams The National
Trust of Scotland, 1995 ISBN 0-7078-0240-7; Posted by Paul Macgregor
	Dyschefull of Snowe "Take a pottell (half a gallon) of swete
thycke creame and the whytes of eyghte egges, and beate them altogether
wyth a spone. Then putte them in youre creame and a saucerful of
Rosewater, and a dyshe full of Sugar wyth all. Then take a stycke and
make it cleane, and then cutte it in the ende foure square, and therwith
beate all the aforesayde thynges together, and ever as it ryseth take it
of and put it into a Collaunder. This done, take one apple and set it in
the myddes of it, and a thicke bushe of Rosemary, and set it in the
myddes of the Platter. Then cast your Snowe uppon the Rosemary and fyll
your platter therwith. And yf you have wafers caste some in wyth all and
thus serve them forthe." Historical note: The greatest innovation in
Elizabethan cookery was the discovery of eggs as a raising agent. Whites
of eggs produced "Snowe", a centrepiece for the banquet.
	** British Measurements **
	1 1/2 lb. Cooking apples; peeled, cored & sliced
	1 TB Rose-water
	Caster sugar; to taste
	3 Egg whites
	3 oz Caster sugar
	1/4 pt Whipping cream
	GARNISH
	Fresh rosemary sprigs
	Gold dragees
	Cook the sliced apples with the rose-water until soft, then rub
them through a fine sieve to make a smooth puree. Taste and sweeten with
a little sugar if necessary. Leave to get cold, then measure out about
1/2 pint. In a large clean bowl, beat the egg whites until they stand in
soft peaks. Gradually beat in the caster sugar and continue to beat to a
stiff, glossy meringue. Gently fold in the measured apple puree, then
spoon into individual glasses or sundae dishes. Top with swirls of
whipped cream and decorate with rosemary and gold dragees.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Spiced Red Wine "Ipocras" (Scottish Medieval dated from 1686 AD)
	A Book of Historical Recipes by Sara Paston-Williams The National
Trust of Scotland, 1995 ISBN 0-7078-0240-7; Posted by Paul Macgregor
	"Take a galon of claret or white wine and put there in 4 ounces
of ginger, an ounce and half of nutmeg, of cloves, an quarter of Sugar, 4
pound. Let all this stand together in a pot at least twelve hours, then
take it and put it in a clere bage made for the purpose so that the wine
may come with good coller from the wine." Historical note: Hippocras, a
rich sweetened and spiced wine drunk after meals, was still in vogue
during the 17th century.
	** British Measurements **
	3 pt Dry red wine
	8 oz Caster sugar
	1 oz Ground ginger
	1/4 oz Ground cinnamon
	1/4 oz Ground cloves
	Heat the wine gently with the sugar until it has dissolved,
stirring frequently. Mix in the spices, then allow to stand for 24 hours,
stirring occasionally, then strain through a jelly bag or a double layer
of muslin into a jug or large bowl. Pour back into the wine bottle and
recork until needed. Makes about 10 to 12 glasses.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Muskels, Cawdel of - Spiced Mussel and Leek Broth (Medieval
Scottish dated 1390)
	"Take and seeth muskels; pyke hem clene, and waisshe hem clene in
wyne. Take almaundes and bray hem. Take somme of the muskels and grynde
hem, and some hewe smale; drawe the muskels yground with the self broth.
Wryng the almondes with faire water. Do alle thise togider; do therto
verious verjuice and vynger. Take whyte of lekes and perboile hem wel;
sryng oute the water and hewe hem smale. Cast oile therto, with oynouns
perboiled and mynced smale; do therto powdour fort, safroun and salt a
lytel. Seeth it, not to stondying, and messe it forth." Historical note:
Shellfish were a special treat during Lent: cooked either in a simple
broth of their own juice with perhaps a little ale, or in rich spicy
pottages like this recipe.
	3 lb. Fresh mussels
	2 TB Dry white wine
	1 sm. Onion; finely chopped
	8 oz Leeks; thinly sliced
	2 TB Olive oil
	1 1/2 oz Almonds; ground
	2 tsp. Ginger; ground
	pinch Saffron
	3/4 pt Fish stock
	Salt and pepper to taste
	1 TB White wine vinegar
	4 TB Double cream
	Thoroughly wash and scrub the mussels, scraping off any
barnacles. Remove the beards and discard any mussels that do not close
when given a good tap. Place in a large pan and add a dash of the wine.
Cover with a lid and cook over a high heat for 4 to 5 minutes, shaking
the pan until the mussels have opened. Strain the liquor through a
colander into a bowl, reserving it. Heat the oil in a saucepan and soften
the leeks and onions in it for about 3 minutes. Add the remaining wine
and let it reduce by half. Stir in the ground almonds and spices. Mix the
reserved cooking liquor with the fish stock and gradually add it to the
pan, stirring well. Leave to simmer gently for 25 minutes.
	Liquidise the soup and strain through a sieve into a clean
saucepan. Taste and season as necessary, and sharpen with wine vinegar.
	Discard one half of each mussel shell. Reheat the soup and stir
in the cream and mussels. Serve immediately in bowls, with plenty of
fresh crusty bread.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
	Herb and Flower Salad - (Scottish Medieval - dated from 1390 AD)
	A Book of Historical Recipes by Sara Paston-Williams The National
Trust of Scotland, 1995 ISBN 0-7078-0240-7; Posted by Paul Macgregor
	Salat: "Take persel (parsley), sawge, grene garlec, chibolles
(spring onions), oynouns, leek, borage, myntes, porrettes (a type of
leek), fennel, and town cressis, rew, rosemaye, purslayne; lave and
wasche hem clene. Pike hem. Pluk hem small with thyme hande, and mingle
hem wel with rawe oile; lay on vynegar and salt, and serve it forth."
	Historical note: This is the earliest salad recipe in English.
Mixed herb and flower salads proved so popular that they continued in
fashion through to the 17th century. The salad would change according to
the season and what grew in each cook's herb garden, so adapt and
experiment with the basic recipe as you wish, as long as the result is
colorful.
	** British Measurements **
	2 bn Watercress
	1 packages Mustard greens & cress
	2 oz Fresh parsley sprigs
	1 Leek; finely sliced
	6 Spring onions; chopped
	1 oz Sorrel leaves; chopped
	1 oz Dandelion leaves; chopped
	1 Fennel bulb; sliced into match sticks
	1 oz Daisy leaves; chopped
	Red sage leaves
	Mint leaves
	1 Fresh rosemary sprig chopped
	1 cl Garlic
	1 TB Wine vinegar
	Salt & pepper to taste
	6 TB Olive oil
	Violets, primrose, blue borage flowers, dandelions & alexander
buds to decorate
	Wash and dry all the salad greens and prepare it. Mix together in
a large bowl, which has been rubbed well with a garlic clove, reserving
the flowers. Place the wine vinegar, seasonings and olive oil into a
screw-topped jar and shake well to blend. Pour over the salad just before
serving and mix again carefully. Decorate with the flowers as you wish
and serve immediately.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Date: Fri, 09 Jun 2000 10:38:34 PDT
From: "pat fee" <lcatherinemc at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Help!!! Oatcake recipe-long

  My recipe for oat cakes calls for butter and long pepper.

  The one I use weekly is a slightly modern addaptation of the original.

  Original (translated)

  32 oz ground scotts oatmeal or 1 box rolled oats ground in a blender.
   8 oz melted butter or enough to give the dough some "body"
   2 long pepper ground in a pestle and morter
   Enough water to moisten.

   Mix the oats with  long pepper and enough butter to form lumps.
   slowly add cold water until dough holds togather (sort of like pie 
crust).
  Cover a bread board with a hand full of the ground oats and roll the dough 
out into 8" circles.  Place a scant handfull of the ground oats on a  hot 
gridle. Carefully place the oat cake on the oats.  Bake untill dry and 
"crumbly" on the edges and dry and lightly browned on the bottom.  Cut into 
8 wedges.

  This recipe is from my family cook book.  The measurements are what is 
modern and have been worked out over time.

  Lady Katherine McGuire


Date: Fri, 09 Jun 2000 23:20:58 +0200
From: Thomas Gloning <gloning at Mailer.Uni-Marburg.DE>
Subject: SC - scottish food & cookery

I have no recipes, only a few notes:

Andrew Borde, in "The fyrst boke of the Introduction of knowledge"
(1542), says about certain regions of Scotland:
"[therein] is plenty of fysh and flesh, and euell ale, excepte Leth ale;
there is plenty of hauer cakes, whiche is to say, oten cakes".

About another part, he says:
"Theyr Fyshe and Fleshe, be it rosted or soden, is serued wyth a syrup
or a sause in one disshe or platter: of al nacyons they do sethe theyr
fysh moste beste".

And in a specimen of their dialect: "A pygge is good meate.  _A gryce is
gewd sole_".

In his 'Dietary' he says: "for hauer cakes in Scotlande is many a good
lorde and lordes dysshe" (p.259). There is a note in the Furnivall
edition with a complaint of an old author that then lords ate plenty of
"new, fine, and delicate dishes" (259-60; from Harrison's _Description
of Scotland_, prefixed to Holinshed's _Historie_, ed. 1586).

There are quotations in the OED:
- -- 1606 Peacham Art of Drawing 68 "A blew stone, such as they make Haver
or Oten cakes upon". [What does that mean?]
- -- There are 15th century recipes for haggis. Would it be safe to assume
that these preparations apply to Scotland too?

I think it might be good to take a look at the 7 volume "Scottish
National Dictionary" too for expressions like _oat cake_, _haggis_,
_bannock_.

Below are some books from copac.ac.uk (with the keywords "scottish" and
"cookery").

Thomas

TI- Scotland's inner man : a history of Scots food & cookery
AU- MacClure, Victor
SE- The voice of Scotland
PU- London : Routledge and Sons, Ltd
PY- 1935
PD- vii, 207 p ; 20 cm
LA- English
KW- Scotland - Social life and customs
KW- Food supply - Scotland
KW- Agriculture - Scotland - History
KW- Cookery, Scottish
HL- Leeds

TI- The haggis : a little history
AU- Wright Clarissa Dickson
AU- Hewitt Clare
PU- Belfast : Appletree
PY- 1996
PD- 59 p : col. ill., col. map ; 16 cm
LA- English
IS- 0862816351
KW- Cookery, Scottish
KW- Haggis
HL- Oxford

TI- The laird's kitchen : three hundred years of food in Scotland
AU- Geddes Olive M.
AU- National Library of Scotland
PU- Edinburgh : HMSO [for the] National Library of Scotland
PY- 1994
PD- ix, 110 p : ill(some col.)  : facsims, maps, ports(some col.)  ; 29
cm
DT- Government publication
LA- English
IS- 0114952302
NT- On cover : National Library of Scotland
KW- Food habits - Scotland - History
KW- Cookery, Scottish - History
KW- Diet - Scotland - History
KW- Recipes - Scotland - History
HL- Birmingham ; Dublin ; Edinburgh ; Leeds ; Manchester ; Nottingham ;
    Sheffield ; ULL ; Warwick

TI- Broths to bannocks : cooking in Scotland 1690 to the present day
AU- Brown, Catherine
PU- London : Murray
PY- 1990
PD- [272]p
LA- English
IS- 0719547806
KW- Scotland. Cookery, history
KW- Cookery, Scottish
HL- Cambridge ; Dublin ; Leeds

TI- The cook and her kitchen c1770
AU- Fairweather, Barbara
AU- Glencoe and North Lorn Folk Museum
PU- [S.l.] : Glencoe and North Lorn Folk Museum
PY- 1994
PD- 40 p : ill ; 21 cm
LA- English
NT- Written and edited by Barbara Fairweather
KW- Cookery, Scottish - History
HL- Dublin

TI- A Caledonian feast
AU- Hope Annette
PU- London : Grafton
PY- 1989
PD- 349p, pbk
LA- English
IS- 0586203044
NT- First published: Edinburgh: Mainstream, 1987
KW- Food habits - Scotland - History
KW- Scotland - Social life and customs
KW- Cookery, Scottish
HL- Cambridge ; Dublin ; Edinburgh ; Oxford

TI- Mrs McLintock's receipts for cookery and pastry-work : first
published
    1736 : reproduced from the original
AU- McLintock Mrs
AU- Macleod Iseabail
PU- Aberdeen : Aberdeen University Press
PY- 1986
PD- xxxiv, 62p ; 18cm, pbk
LA- English
IS- 0080345190
NT- Facsim of: ed published Scotland : [s.n.], 1736
KW- Cookery, Scottish - Early works to 1800
KW- Pastry - Early works to 1800
KW- Food - Recipes - Early works
HL- Cambridge ; Dublin ; Edinburgh ; Oxford ; SAS

TI- Blair Castle : some recipes from the old kitchen
AU- Blair Castle
PU- [Scotland?] : [Blair Castle]
PY- 1984
PD- 1sheet, [8] p ; 21 cm
LA- English
KW- Cookery, Scottish
HL- Oxford

TI- Lady Castlehill's receipt book : a selection of 18th century
Scottish
    fare: original recipes from a collection made in 1712
AU- Castlehill, Martha Lockhart
AU- Whyte, Hamish
PU- Glasgow : Molendinar Press
PY- 1976
PD- xvi, 84p : ill, facsims, geneal table ; 20x25cm, Pbk
LA- English
IS- 0904002209
KW- Food: Scottish dishes, ca 1710 Recipes
KW- Cookery, Scottish
HL- Dublin ; Leeds

TI- Much entertainment : a visual and culinary record of Johnson and
    Boswell's tour of Scotland in 1773
AU- Maclean, Virginia
PU- London : Dent
PY- 1973
PD- x, 86p : ill, map ; 20x26cm
LA- English
IS- 0460078801
NT- Ill. on lining papers
KW- cookery scotland, c.1773. recipes
KW- scotland. description and travel, 1773
KW- Cookery, Scottish
HL- Dublin

TI- A taste of Scotland : Scottish traditional food
AU- FitzGibbon Theodora
PU- London : Dent
PY- 1970
PD- xii, 124 p : illus ; 20 x 26 cm
LA- English
IS- 0460039113
NT- Facsims. on lining papers
KW- Scotland - History - Pictorial works
KW- Cookery, Scottish
HL- Oxford

TI- The Scots kitchen : its traditions and lore, with old-time recipes
AU- McNeill Florence Marian
ED- 2nd ed
PU- London : Blackie
PY- 1968
PD- x, 282 p., [4] p. of plates : ill ; 21 cm
LA- English
KW- Cookery, Scottish
HL- Oxford


Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 22:58:30 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: Help-Scottish recipes

Cariadoc wrote:
>By the late sixteenth century there are printed recipe collections in
>England, so it is possible there is evidence of one of them being
>known in Scotland. But it sounds like a hard problem, given how
>narrow the window is between the earliest English printed cookbooks
>(anyone know exactly when that is? I don't) and the end of our period.

I suppose that depends on how you define a cookbook. According to The Oxford
Companion to Food (which devotes almost 2 pages to pre-1700 English
cookbooks), the first printed book relating to cookery is probably a Noble
Boke of Cokery (1500) followed by The Book of Kervynge (1508); however A
Proper Newe Booke of Cookerye (1575 or earlier) is probably the first book
that focuses on cookery itself, and was closely followed by several others.

The earliest printed Scottish cookbook was written by a Mrs McClintock and
pbulished in 1736. F. Marian McNeill’s The Scots Kitchen is probably the
best source for old and traditional Scottish recipes, with lofts of history
thrown in.  (Which reminds me - Ìt has been on my "must have" list for quite
some time, so now I’m off to search for a copy of the original edition.)

Nanna


Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 17:59:59 -0500
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Help!!!

At 1:15 PM -0400 6/9/00, Elaine Koogler wrote:
>I'll have to go looking for it, but I suspect that Cock-a-leeky soup 
>is period...at least I believe it is.

I don't want to pick on Kiri in particular, since what she is saying 
here appears in a lot of other posts, and conversations, in the SCA. 
But "I suspect ... is period ... at least I believe it is" generally 
means that someone else told you it was--and, in my experience, SCA 
oral tradition is a very unreliable source of information. If you 
encounter a recipe in the SCA or the mundane world and don't know 
what period source it came from, your working assumption should be 
that there isn't one.

This isn't limited to recipes. I have been in the SCA long enough so 
that some of the traditional accounts one hears are of events I was a 
part of--and that isn't how they happened.

Two things, in my view, are going on. One is  that verbal 
transmission is a noisy medium. One person says "I think it is the 
sort of thing they might have had in period," and by the third or 
fourth person it goes through it has turned into "it is a period 
recipe." The other is that, within the SCA, being knowledgable, both 
about SCA history and about period history, is a source of 
prestige--with the result that some people exaggerate how much they 
know, and other people believe them.

Kiri also writes:
>Another possibility is to use some of the Norse/Viking recipes, if you have
>access to them.  After all, much of the northern part of Scotland 
>was populated by folks from the Northern lands!

Unfortunately, we don't have any period Norse/Viking cookbooks 
either, so that doesn't solve the problem.

After writing the above, I decided to see what I could learn on the 
net about the history of cock-a-leekie. I found one page that said 
the recipe was more than 300 years old, which would put it in the 
seventeenth century; no source was given. I also found the following 
assertion (about cock-a-leekie):

As early as 1598 Fynes Morrison recorded that it was served at a 
Knight's house with boiling fowl (thus the "cock") and prunes.

Further search found the following passage from Morrison, which I 
suspect is what is being referred to:

'I myself,' says the traveller Fynes Morrison, in the end of Queen 
Elizabeth's reign, the scene being the Lowlands of Scotland, 'was at 
a knight's house, who had many servants to attend him, that brought 
in his meat with their heads covered with blue caps, the table being 
more than half furnished with great platters of porridge each having 
a little piece of sodden meat. And when the table was served, the 
servants did sit down with us; but the upper mess, instead of 
porridge, had a pullet, with some prunes in the broth.'--TRAVELS, p. 
155.

If that is the right passage, what we have is evidence that Lowland 
Scots at the end of our period sometimes ate chicken stewed with some 
prunes. But that doesn't imply it was cock-a-leekie--for one thing, 
there are no leeks mentioned.

On the other hand, the quote from Morrison does give a a little 
evidence on Scottish cooking in period.

David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/


Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 09:41:12 -0400
From: grizly at mindspring.com
Subject: Re: Re: SC - Re: Help-Scottish recipes

<<<SNIP>>>The earliest printed Scottish cookbook was written by a Mrs McClintock and pbulished in 1736. F. Marian McNeill¥s The Scots Kitchen is probably the best source for old and traditional Scottish recipes, with lofts of history thrown in.  (Which reminds me - Ìt has been on my "must have" list for quite some time, so now I¥m off to search for a copy of the original edition.) >>>>>>>>

Acanthus Books appears to have a facsimile reprint of the 1st edition for $20.00US.  Maychance that meets your need.

 McNeill, F. Marian: The Scots Kitchen: Its Tradition and Lore with Old-time recipes ; Edinburgh: Mercat, 1994. facsimile, New, 259, Facsimile of 1929 edition., paperback, Scotland Scottish cookery cookbook recipes food history Acanthus Books   (UR#:BOOKS000084I)  Offered for sale by Acanthus Books at US$20.00

niccolo


Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2000 06:01:41 +1000
From: Lorix <lorix at trump.net.au>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: Help-Scottish recipes

david friedman wrote:
<snip>
> The "recipe book" that Jenne is referring to is a manuscript, not a
> printed book; the first printed cookbook in Europe is Platina, late
> 15th century. So you would need evidence that an English collection
> of recipes was known in Scotland. That probably means you need a
> Scottish manuscript containing the English recipes--which, so far as
> I know, doesn't exist.
<snip>
There is a book I have flipped thru called 'The Scots Kitchen' which
was first published in 1929 and was collected and edited by F. Marion
McNeill, currently published by Mercat Press in Edinburgh.  It's a
collection of traditional recipes, some of them from older
collections.  Nearly all of them are written in the old-fashioned
style in which exact amounts, times and temperatures are not given. 
Some of the dishes can be readily identified as post-period by reason
of their ingredients, while others do have about them the air of being
as 'old as the hills.'  At the back of the book, Ms McNeill gives a
bibliography of her manuscript sources.  Now some of those sources
(whose recipes she repeats & then redacts) are late period I think (ie
in 1600-1650).  Many of the others are 18th century.  She does
acknowledge which recipes come from which sources & the book was
designed to compile a resource of traditional Scottish recipes.  I
only examined the book briefly & have been meaning to re-visit it but
someone else may be able to comment on its usefulness & veracity.  It
is certainly worth a look.

Lorix


From: Cathie Sanders [mailto:cathies at chartertn.net]
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2004 10:23 AM
To: Dragonshade at yahoogroups.com; Tavern Yard
Subject: [TY] Bog Butter

http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART20488.html

This link, which describes the latest supposition about Scottish Bog  
Butter,
may be of interest to those with early Scottish personas or interests.

Caiterina


Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2005 23:04:47 -0500
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Native foods of Scotland (was Sca-cooks Digest,
	Vol 20,	Issue 45)
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

amanda sears wrote:
> I have a question for you all. I am looking for someplace where I can  
> find a list or research native foods of Scotland, mainly fruits and  
> vegetables. Does anyone know of such a resource online? I do not have  
> any money to buy a book at present and I just moved and do not know  
> where the library is let alone have a library card. Thank you for any  
> information you can offer up!
>
> Meadhbh

Many of the cultivated fruits and vegetables in Britain were introduced
by the Romans.  So, although medieval Scots were eating cabbage and
carrots, these are not *native* plants.
http://www.ukagriculture.com/countryside/history_of_countryside/ 
countryside_history.html

The links below have lists of native British/Scottish plants
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/environment/snts-67.asp
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/science/projects/fff/ChekLisS.htm

History of cheesemaking in Scotland:
http://www.ebs.hw.ac.uk/SDA/cheese1.html

The British Agricultural Historical Society has back issues of its
journal online.  I do not know if it would include the information you  
seek.
http://www.bahs.org.uk/

Hope this gives you a start.
-- 
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom


Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 1:36:18 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Native foods of Scotland (was Sca-cooks
	Digest, Vol	20,	Issue 45)
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

>>>
I have a question for you all. I am looking for someplace were I can
find a list or research native foods of Scotland, mainly fruits and
vegetables. Does anyone know of such a resource online? I do not have
any money to buy a book at present and I just moved and do not know
where the library is let alone have a lbrary card. Thank you for any
information you can offer up!

Meadhbh
<<<

When you find the library and can find/order books through interlibrary
loan, you might want to look at the bibliography I did for this  
luncheon--
" In 1608 William Douglas, The Earl f Angus and his Countess,
Elizabeth, were internally exiled for political and religious reasons to
Glasgow. Five months of their household expense accounts from that
period of time can be found today in the National Library of Scotland.
These accounts, along with numerous other sources, form the basis for
today’s luncheon of fare that might well have been served in Scotland in
the reign of James VI, later to become James I of England. The following
brief notes concentrate on the associations and context of the foods
served here today. Sources and original recipes are noted. It’s the
story and not the a list of ingredients or recipe instructions that I
offer here."
It's described at
http://home.comcast.net/~iasmin/mkcc/MKCCfiles/ 
AlasdairGuinevreLunch.html
One book not in that list that was on order at the time is Plants and People
in Ancient Scotland by Camilla Dickson and James Dickson. UK: Tempus,  
2000.

Johnnae llyn Lewis


Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 11:45:56 -0500
From: Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Sca-cooks Digest, Vol 20, Issue 45
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

> I have a question for you all. I am looking for someplace where I can 
> find a list or research native foods of Scotland, mainly fruits and 
> vegetables. Does anyone know of such a resource online? I do not have 
> any money to buy a book at present and I just moved and do not know 
> where the library is let alone have a library card. Thank you for any 
> information you can offer up!

Hm... among the experts seem to be James H. Dickson, author of "Plants
and People of Ancient Scotland". I'm looking for more information from
him.. A bibliography of his writings are online at:

http://www.gla.ac.uk/ibls/DEEB/jd/ref.htm

You can look him up as J.H. Dickson in Google Scholar.

I'm inclosing a review of the book from the Journal Antiquity.

Also, there's an article in Nature from 1994 that might be helpful:
   	Flowers and funerals,
	P. D. Moore
Nature 369, 708 - 709 (1994).

CAMILLA DICKSON & JAMES DICKSON. Plants and people in ancient Scotland.
320 pages, 172 figures. 2000. Stroud: Tempus/ Charleston (SC): Arcadia;
0-75241905-6 paperback 25 & $39.99.

This book represents an important new synthesis on the use of plants by
humans in Scotland from the Mesolithic through to the end of the
Medieval period. Past archaeobotanical syntheses for Scotland have
concentrated on particular aspects, such as the presence of cereals or
the reconstruction of Holocene woodland. However, the authors have
attempted to address the full range of evidence and interpretation that
can be gained from analysing plant micro- and macrofossils on a national
scale, with laudable success.

Essentially, the book is split into two sections: the first comprises a
chronological narrative of the use of plants by period and the second
details 40 particularly noteworthy plants, both common and exotic. Most
of the discussion is based on archaeobotanical remains from
archaeological sites, with wider reference to the regional plant
communities through pollen analysis and other sources of evidence, such
as zooarchaeological assemblages, where appropriate. The structure is
well laid out and the figures, appendices and references complement the
readable and knowledgeable text.

The book opens with a review of the archaeobotanical research undertaken
in Scotland prior to 1970 and the development of the palaeoenvironmental
techniques that provide the basic data discussed thereafter. This
introductory chapter refers to a series of appendices outlining the
concepts of a number of sub-disciplines, such as archaeobotany and
zooarchaeology, providing the non-specialist with the basic
understanding needed to engage with the contents. Each chapter outlines
the evidence and interpretation from the major site assemblages within a
given period. A general synthesis is also provided, with more detailed
discussion and new insights on particular topics, such as the
interpretation of Small-leaved lime and Meadowsweet pollen in Bronze Age
cists. The final chapter in this section summarizes the present state of
knowledge for each period and suggests future avenues for research.

The second section details 40 case studies of significant species,
explaining their formal name and outlining the plants' ecology,
potential uses and presence, both chronologically and spatially, on
archaeological sites across Scotland. For many of these plants, their
present-day distribution and habitat across the British Isles is
presented and discussed, highlighting the detailed palaeoecological
reconstruction possible from both plant micro- and macrofossils. The
plants covered in this section include those that are ubiquitous on most
excavations where appropriate sampling has been undertaken, such as the
cereals and more common trees and shrubs, to the rarer plants, such as
the Cloudberry recovered from the Iron Age crannog at Oakbank, Loch Tay.

The book is a success for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is accessible
to the specialist and nonspecialist, stimulating both initial interest,
judging by the number of positive responses from undergraduates, and
more complex ideas for those more familiar with the data set. Also,
concerted attempts are made to integrate the regional pollen spectra and
the on-site archaeobotanical assemblages, a process that can be
routinely overlooked in specialist reports. This integration
demonstrates the interpretive value of analysing charcoal and wood
assemblages, from sites such as Skara Brae and the Howe on Orkney, that
allow insights into the wood and timber procurement strategies practised
in relatively open landscapes. Another important contribution of this
book is the dissemination of unpublished material from sites awaiting
publication. Also, the detailed discussions of research problems unique
to Scottish archaeobotany, such as the deforestation of the Northern and
Western Isles, are full of new ideas. However, the intellectual scope is
not always restricted to Scotland as the excellent summary of the new
plants introduced by the Romans demonstrates, through its wider
comparisons to Roman/native interactions elsewhere on the frontiers of
the Empire.

The value of this book can be demonstrated by the advances in knowledge
over the past 30 years summarized in the concluding chapter of the
chronological narrative. The authors have been at the forefront of this
research and this book serves as a testament to their contribution.
Camilla Dickson, who died in 1998, inspired and helped many people to
develop interests in the archaeobotany of Scotland and this book will
continue to do so in the future.
-- 
-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net


Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 12:26:10 -0500
From: Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Native foods of Scotland (was Sca-cooks
	Digest, Vol 20,	Issue 45)
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

More references:

Diet and ethnicity during the Viking colonization of northern Scotland:
evidence from fish bones and stable carbon isotopes. JAMES H. BARRETT,
ROELF P. BEUKENS, REBECCA A. NICHOLSON.

Unusual food plants from Oakbank Crannog, Loch Tay, Scottish Highlands:
cloudberry, opium poppy and spelt wheat. Jennifer J. Miller, James H.
Dickson, T. Nicholas Dixon.
       Antiquity Dec 1998 v72 i278 p805(7)

Manners and mustard: Ideas of political decline in sixteenth-century
Scotland
Allan, David. Comparative Studies in Society and History. Cambridge: Apr
1995. Vol. 37, Iss. 2; p. 242

Five Euphemias: Women in Medieval Scotland 1200-1420, by Elizabeth
Sutherland. New York, St. Martin's Press, 1999. 282

The plants and the people from Buiston Crannog, Ayrshire, Scotland
Holden, Timothy G. Antiquity. Cambridge: Dec 1996. Vol. 70, Iss. 270; p.
954 (6 pages)
-- 
-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net 


Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 12:35:26 -0500
From: Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Native foods of Scotland (was Sca-cooks
	Digest, Vol 20,	Issue 45)
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Excerpts from
	The plants and the people from Buiston Crannog, Ayrshire,
Scotland. Timothy G. Holden.
       Antiquity Dec 1996 v70 n270 p954(6)

on 6th & 7th c. deposits:
"
The small bone assemblage shows clear evidence for the consumption of
both the prime cuts and poorer parts of domestic cattle, pig and sheep
as well as the exploitation of red deer, roe deer and geese.

....

Evidence for the economic use of plants (other than building materials)
comes from separate sources; waterlogged vascular plants, mosses,
charred plant remains, and wooden and stone artefacts. It is evident
that cereals formed the main subsistence crops; six-row hulled barley
(Hordeum sativum) dominates the charred remains, with lesser quantities
of oat (Avena sp.) and rare occurrences of wheat (Triticum cf.
aestivum). Quantities of charred flax seed (Linum usitatissimum) were
also recovered from several contexts; it is not known whether these
would have represented the use of the plant for oil or fibre production.
The cereals and the flax are represented by the cleaned grain or seed
with only minor contamination by weed seeds or persisting chaff
fragments. The charring of cleaned cereals from domestic contexts in
northern Europe is commonly linked with crop-processing. It is likely
that corn-drying, as a prelude to milling in, or over, the domestic
hearth (Fenton 1982) could account for much of this. However, as flax
seed is unlikely to warrant this artificial drying, the presence of
charred masses of flax seed suggests that these crops were more probably
charred in a conflagration of stored grain or seed. Since there is
little relevent evidence in the stratigraphic record, the question
remains unresolved.

...

Both coriander (Coriandrum sativum) and dill (Anethum graveolens) were
recovered from dumped deposits in a hollow created by the collapsing
palisade. These herbs have their origin in southern Europe (Pursglove
1968), but there is ample evidence for their presence in Britain during
the Roman period. Most early examples derive from urban sites (e.g.
Jones 1981) but there are occasional examples of coriander and dill from
rural Romano-British settlements (e.g. Robinson 1979; Jones 1977).

....

Whether the herbs were consumed as seed or as green plants is impossible
to say from Buiston data; they could have been grown as fresh herbs in
some specially tended part of the crannog.

....

The hazel-shell is a clear example of collected natural resources.
Quantities of shell fragments were recovered from many samples with a
particularly large group from around one of the hearths. Hazelnuts are
likely to have been locally available.

Evidence for other tree species such as Prunus padus L. (bird cherry)
and Sorbus sp. (rowan/service tree) was also present. These, together
with other berry-producing members of the Rosaceae also present such as
raspberry (Rubus idaeus), bramble (Rubus fruticosus agg.) and rose (Rosa
sp.) are likely to have been used as flavourings and sweeteners, made
into drinks or condiments, and - particularly the Rubus species - eaten
fresh.
"
-- 
-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net 


Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:05:29 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] scottish recipes
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Jennifer Couch wrote:
I am new to the list and also to period cooking.  I am looking for some good
references/cookbooks to get Scottish recipes.  Where is the best place to
start?
Sarait Ingen Beathain >>>

The earliest Scots cookbook is not published until 1736.
The earliest published in England is 1500. That's for starters.
The problem with Scotland is that the culinary sources are few and far 
in between and there's a lot of nonsense written about what the Scots ate.

Bookwise you might obtain

Brown, Catherine./ Scottish Cookery/. 1985. Edinburgh: Mercat Press, 
1999. http://www.foodinscotland.co.uk/books.html 

Geddes, Olive M. /The Laird's Kitchen. Three Hundred Years of Food in 
Scotland./ Edinburgh: HMSO; The National Library of Scotland, 1994.

Peter Brears did an excellent summary of Scottish cookery books in his 
introduction to Elizabeth Cleland's "A New and Easy Method of Cookery" 
from 1755. See http://www.kal69.dial.pipex.com/shop/system/index.html 
for part of that introduction and information about the book.

I have an article based on a luncheon that I created for circa 1600
A Luncheon Prepared for TRM Alasdair & Guenievre by Johnnae llyn Lewis
which should be re-appearing at
http://www.mkcc.rhawn.com/MKCC.html soon.

In connection with a lady from Calontir I also did the notes for an early Scots
feast in the time of Malcolm and Margaret. That has a full bibliography and was
published in Ars Caidis's issue on the Culinary Arts in November 2005.

You might start with those. And I am sure that Stefan will pop in and urge you to try the Florilegium too. My article on Shortbread for instance appears 
there:
"*Shortbread*" by *Johnnae* llyn Lewis, CE.

Johnnae


Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:37:26 +0000 (GMT)
From: emilio szabo <emilio_szabo at yahoo.it>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] scottish recipes
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

When there are no recipes extant, other sources that mention food might be of interest as well.

One way to find those sources might be the electronic Dictionary of the Scots Language, which includes the printed Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (12 vols., DOST, 12th to 17th centuries) and the Scottish National Dictionary (10 vols., SND, 1700 to 1970s).

A problem with using this instrument is: You already have to know, what you are searching for (i.e. you must know some of the old spelling headwords of food terms) or there must be some modern English term within the semantic comments.

This dictionary is here: http://www.dsl.ac.uk

Below, there is an example from DSL-DOST, which I came upon searching for oatcake:


 DSL - DOST   Ate brede, Ait breid, n. Also: ait, aitt, eit, eat (breid, etc.).  [Ate n., corr. to e.m.E. ote bread (1579).] Bread made from oats. (a)  The quhitt breid and aitt breid to be sauld ? as the prices of quhytt and meill stands for the tyme;1549 Ann. Banff I. 24.  That thair be na ait breid bakin in this tovne, bot that the baxstaris baik kakis;1569 Peebles B. Rec. 309.  Of ate brede called houer brede in Ingland; Dalr. I. 6 marg.  Ane soup of ait breid and ane drink; 1608 Mun. Univ. Glasg. III. 520.  The counsell discharges all ait bread to be baikin, except aucht d. ait loaves; 1656 Aberd. B. Rec. IV. 162. (b)  Eit bread, ill aill, and all things are ane eik; Montg. Sonn. xxv. 7.  Quhatsumewir brother ? sall baik eat bread heireftir, except it be of cleane eat meill, ? sall pay iiii li. money; 1608 St. A. Baxter Bks. 72.  To Alex Willeamson, baxter, for eat breid furnest be him; 1638?9 Misc. Spald. C. V. 154.

Emilio


Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:53:21 -0300
From: Suey <lordhunt at gmail.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Scottish cuisine
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

Someone asked about historical Scottish cuisine recently.
While someone else seemed discouraging to me on the subject I had no 
time to look the matter up.
Sitting down and thinking there is a vast area out there such as:
Scottish oats, oat porridges, soups, barley and leeks, kale, nettles.
oatcakes, shortbread and pancakes.
spit roasts.
fish - haddock, smoked haddock, salmon, kippers
game - birds, venison
beef, mutton
soft fruit raspberries and strawberries
cheeses
whiskey and wine
Amazon has about 30 Scottish cookbooks on sale : 
http://astore.amazon.co.uk/scotland-food-21?node=0&page=4
I think the subject of Scottish medieval cuisine super. When Marks and 
Spencer was in Madrid I bought Haggis the first payday every month as a 
special for the family. We love haggis, black pudding and morcilla which 
I personally make from our own pigs' blood.

Suey


Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2008 23:51:03 -0500 (EST)
From: Gretchen Beck <grm at andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Scottish cuisine (and now, blood dishes)
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Thu, 27 Nov 2008, Stefan li Rous wrote:
<<< Why do you say wine for Scotland? You can't grow grapes there, so it would 
have to have been imported, particularly during the later Middle Ages.  Do we 
have any idea how common it was to drink wine in Scotland? >>>

FWIW, in the 16th C, wine is fairly common. A couple of things to note. In 
his Chronicle of Scotland (this is from the 16th C Scots 
Bellenden translation of the original Latin), Boece notes "richt hardy and 
reddy to all jeoperdyis bai9th in weir and peace, iin sich maner that na 
thing may be difficill to thaim, gif they leiffit temperatelie. Therefore 
the provident Beginnar of the warld hes nocht but gret resoun maid thair 
region nakit and bair of winis, knawing be his eterne wisdome, that winis, 
howbeit the samin ar richt necessat to all uthir peple, ar richt 
skaithfull to the nature of Albianis, for thay ar given to sic unnaturall 
voracite and desire of uncouth metis and drinkis, that they can nocht 
refrene thaimself fra immodereat excess" (Right hardy and ready to all 
jeopardies both in war and peace, in such manner that no thing may be 
difficult to them, if they live temperatly. Therefore, the provident 
Beginner of the world has not but great reason made their region naken and 
bare of wines, knowing by his stern wisdom that wines, although the same 
are right necessary to all other people, are right harmful to the nature 
of Albans, for they are given to such unnatural voracity and desire of 
uncouth meats and drinks, that they can not refrain themselves from 
immoderate excess")

How excess, you may ask -- well, in Dundee alone in 1580, the shipping 
records show imports of 200 tuns of wine from Bordeaux, 1 tun of wine 
from Rochelle, and 40 tuns of wine from unspecified places. This is the 
equivalent of 15536 gallons of wine, or some 64,000+ bottles of the size. 
Dundee is not the only port importing wine in Scotland, and the 
population in the late 16th C is approximately 800,000, that's a fair 
quantity of wine for a vine barren country.

toodles, margaret


Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2008 08:28:33 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Scottish cuisine (and now, blood dishes)
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

<<< I do have a book on the history of Scotch whiskey. Sometime I will  get 
around to reading it and finding out how much information is in  there 
about the Middle Ages.  And if there are mentions of it being drunk for 
other than medicinal purposes. >>>

As I recall, the last time the subject came up, I found a reference that 
placed whiskey making in Scotland just within period.  But didn't find 
anything to tell me how similar or dissimilar it was to modern Scotch 
whiskey.

<<< Why do you say wine for Scotland? You can't grow grapes there, so it 
would have to have been imported, particularly during the later  Middle 
Ages.  Do we have any idea how common it was to drink wine in  Scotland? >>>

Very.  Scotland had strong ties with France for several centuries and 
imported tremendous amounts of wine.

<<< Stefan <<<

Bear


Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:14:53 +0000 (GMT)
From: emilio szabo <emilio_szabo at yahoo.it>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Scottish cuisine and wine
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

> Do we have any idea how common it was to drink wine in  Scotland?
Very.  Scotland had strong ties with France for several centuries and 
imported tremendous amounts of wine.
-------

If you look for "wyne" in the online Dictionary of the Scots language with the option "full entry" and "DOST and DOST Adds", you get a lot of quotations like the ones in the two links below:

http://www.dsl.ac.uk/getent4.php?plen=18230&startset=81297756&query=Wyn&fhit=wyne&dregion=entry&dtext=dost#fhit

http://www.dsl.ac.uk/getent4.php?query=wyne&sset=1&fset=20&printset=20&searchtype=full&dregion=entry&dtext=dboth

E.


Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2008 23:38:02 -0800
From: "Laureen Hart" <lhart at graycomputer.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Scottish Food
To: <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Also look for "1990 Catherine Brown From Broth to Bannocks: Cooking in
Scotland from 1690 to the present day"

I like it, it has some information from unpublished sources. I tried
Emailing Catherine Brown to see if there was any way to get our collective
hands on the unpublished sources but she didn't reply. Perhaps she will
publish them at some point.

A very valuable resource is "The Scots Gard'ner" by John Reid published in
Edinburgh in 1683.
Not a recipe book but how to garden a huge range of stuff ornamental and edible.
I have a photocopy of one procured via interlibrary loan. The Calendar
portion is online http://www.cyberscotia.com/ogmios/texts/reid/kalendar.html
Not as useful as the whole manual but still lots of good information. As
mentioned in another post you can extrapolate off of available foodstuffs in
the absence of actual recipes. Not ideal, but better than trying to serve
completely inappropriate stuff.

Lady Castlehill's receipt book: A selection of 18th century Scottish fare :
original recipes from a collection made in 1712 is ok but frustrating, They
didn't include the whole thing and I bet they chose more of the "weird"
receipt than the "normal" ones. (Like Elinor Fettiplace I would prefer the
whole thing rather than an artistic selection).

The 1736 book is Mrs. McLintock's Receipts for cookery and Pastry-Work -
This is an excellent book even though it is out of period.

Scottish Cookery has been a fascination and frustration for me since I
visited Scotland in 1977. There is just so little available to the common
person.

Randell Raye of Crianlarich

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	fd-Scotland-msg	Page 25 of 25