Scotch-Eggs-msg - 5/12/20

The sausage-coated hardboiled eggs commonly called "Scotch Eggs". A fairly common lunch food and fingerfood in the SCA.

NOTE: See also the files: eggs-msg, sausages-msg, meat-smoked-msg, Scotland-msg, cl-Scotland-msg, haggis-msg, chicken-msg, fd-Scotland-msg.

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                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: caradoc at enet.net (John Groseclose)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: breakfast poll
Date: Wed, 01 Mar 1995 10:10:11 -0700

Suze.Hammond at f56.n105.z1.fidonet.org (Suze Hammond) wrote:
<snip>

>Usually called Scotch Eggs. I've tried to make them, and no matter what I
>do (and what advice or recipe) I can't keep the meat covering from cracking.
>
>I've tried three Scottish cookbooks so far... This is one of my favorites...
>
>HHHHHHELLLPPPP!
> 
>... Moreach NicMhaolain

Well, if you make the covering too thin, it'll crack, and if you make it
too thick, it'll crack... Between 1/4" and 1/2" is what works for me...

Deep-frying cooks the meat more evenly so there's less chance of cracking.
If you pan-fry, you need to keep the eggs moving so their covering cooks
evenly.

The last batch of these I did was a dozen, and I cracked the coverings on
two of those. Practice makes perfect.

Also, don't forget to dip them in the beaten egg, as it helps to hold the
whole delicious mess together.
-- 
John Groseclose <caradoc at enet.net>


From: Corbie <corbiegirl at aol.com>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.scottish,alt.scottish.clans,rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Scottish Eggs  was Haggis
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 14:27:01 -0700

Peterson wrote:
> I just went to the Ozark Highland Games yesterday and had Scottish Eggs for the first time.  All of us agreed
> these were great.  I was wondering if anyone had a recipe out there.  It was a hard boiled egg rolled into some
> type of sausage with added spices.  Kind of spicy.  Any suggestions.  Cheers
> 
> Cory

I make Scotch Eggs for breakfast all the time.  My recipe is a little
different from the previous posted recipe; I take loose country sausage
or ground pork (the lower the fat content, the better, as a high fat
content will cause the meat to shrink too much).  Spice the sausage to
taste (I use hot sauce, pepper, salt, and various spices).

Hard boil some eggs and peel them.  Wrap them in sausage.  Bake in the
oven for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.

Two pounds of sausage will cover about eight to ten boiled eggs,
depending on how thickly you cover the eggs with the sausage.

That's it!

I like them better baked than fried, as they taste a lot less greasy.  I
also find they're great to take to events -- a compact, portable,
filling little meal.

Cheers,
Mara


From: Brian Annesley <brian at scotbooks.demon.co.uk>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.scottish,alt.scottish.clans,rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Scottish Eggs  was Haggis
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 1997 21:32:48 +0100

Robert Gurley <robert.l.gurley at worldnet.att.net> writes
>Peterson wrote:
>> 
>> I just went to the Ozark Highland Games yesterday and had Scottish Eggs for 
>the first time.  All of us
>> agreed these were great.  I was wondering if anyone had a recipe out there.  
>It was a hard boiled egg rolled > into some type of sausage with added spices.  
>Kind of spicy.  Any suggestions.  Cheers
>> 
>> Cory
>
>Cory,
>
>It's a very basic recipe.  Wrapped hard-boiled eggs in sausage dip in
>beaten egg and roll in flour.  Deep fry til golden brown.  The spices
>usually come from the sausage, from what I've tasted.
>
>Robert

They are known as Scotch eggs

nothing to do with Scotland

take:
4 eggs
2 tablespoons of flour
8oz of Sausage meat
breadcrumbs
1 egg for coating
1/2 teacup milk for coating
Deep fat for frying

Hardboil 4 eggs cool & shell. divide sausage meat into 4 fold evenly
round lightly floured eggs, coat with blended egg  & milk roll in
breadcrumbs. Fry till sausage meat is cooked (this is important if you
don't want a sick tum)  Half each egg with sharp knife (mind the
fingers) serve hot or cold.
-- 
Brian Annesley books of Scottish Interest
26 Duchess Drive 
HELENSBURGH
G84 9PR
Scotland
01436 676222
http://www.scotbooks.demon.co.uk

returns ok  within 10 days but first please
email:brian at scotbooks.demon.co.uk


From: mikepat at backhaulnet.com (Micheil Rob Mac Phàdruig)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.scottish,alt.scottish.clans,rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Scottish Eggs  was Haggis
Date: Thu, 01 May 1997 13:14:39 GMT
Organization: HookUp Communication Corporation, Vancouver, BC, CANADA

Brian Annesley <brian at scotbooks.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>They are known as Scotch eggs

>nothing to do with Scotland

I wonder why nobody told us. I shall go through my Scots cookbooks and
rip out the offending pages immediately.

Mìcheil Rob MacPhàdruig
Drùidh:duine-uasal


Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 20:48:25 -0800
From: "Anne-Marie Rousseau" <acrouss at gte.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Scotch eggs

Hi all from Anne-Marie,

While I don't believe they're period per se (I know of no medieval recipes
involving a hard boiled egg wrapped in meat and bread crumbs and fried or
baked), they are tasty little tidbits.

I find that if you start with small eggs, not large you'll be much happier
and have much fewer blowouts.

thanks for the idea of baking them! I never thought of that.

- --AM


Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 00:10:07 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: SC - More on Scotch Eggs

> You are quite welcome!  These are still *very* rich, but I am sure that baking
> or roasting (ooh on a skewer over the fire pit!?) would make them a little
> leaner, your choice or make of sausage coating would probably control the fat.
>  Somebody eating with us also suggested making "scotch devils" by cutting them
> in half and mixing the yolks with the mustard and then refilling them.
> The kids could probably *make* them too!
> - -brid

Another possible way to reduce the fat slightly is to use lean raw ham,
ground up. I recall reading somewhere that the original dish was made
with ham, and that the sausage version was introduced later. Don't
recall offhand where I ran across this info.

I believe the dish was originally used by 19th-century English chefs
(yes, they did exist) as a garnish for roast game, and entered the Pub
Food repertoire later.

Adamantius
troy at asan.com


Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 08:13:32 -0600
From: Wes Will <wwill at siu.edu>
Subject: Re: SC - Scotch Eggs

>think I would like to try this baked version, sounds like something that
>would not be as hazzardous to my health!

Healthier version, minor amendments.

Use a 1-pound roll of turkey breakfast sausage; add to it enough (usually
about 3/4 cup) of seasoned bread crumbs, and work it all together until it
will hold up easily when wrapped thinly around a soft-boiled (4-5 minute)
egg.  Roll the coated egg in more of the bread crumbs.  I sometimes like to
lightly dry and toast these for the outside layer.  Place on a jelly-roll
pan (baking sheets without lips are a bad idea.  Eggs love to roll.) and
bake at 350 about 20 minutes, or until the sausage is completely done.

Cheap way to feed a lot of hungry folks, and they're quite portable if
wrapped in foil or such, for lunches.  Or even a hand-held breakfast.

Eoin


Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 09:20:45 -0700 (MST)
From: Sabia <sabia at unm.edu>
Subject: SC - Scotch eggs

Sabia here:  this is the recipe Mistress Kathryn used at St Cecilias Feast
Day a year ago.  They went over well, although as noted at the end the
switch to oven baking was comtemplated.

<Snip>
Recipe from "A Feast of Scotland" by Janet Warren

Makes 5:
1 lb sausage (2 cups, firmly packed)
5 hard boiled eggs, shelled
1 large egg, beaten
a dusting flour 
dry white breadcrumbs
deep fat for frying

Dust each egg with a little flour.  Divide the sausage into 5 and on a
floured surface work each piece into an oval.  Place an egg in the center
of each one and mould the sausage round it making sure the surface is free
from cracks.  Put the beaten egg and breadcrumbs onto separate plates and
coat each egg first with the egg and then in the breadcrumbs so that the
surface is completely covered.  Coat each egg again if you like to ensure
a really good surface.

Heat a deep fat fryer half full of oil to 360 degrees, lower in the eggs
and cook them for about 5-6 minutes.  If the fat is too hot the outside
will brown before the sausage is cooked.  Drain when cooked and leave to
cool.

Serve with a salad for lunch or as a picnic food

- ---------------------

Cealte and Kathryn tricks/changes:  Make sure the egg is completely dry
and wrap the sausage around it w/o the flour.  Dip into the beaten egg,
but roll alternately in fine Scottish oats.  Bake the eggs in the slow
oven 10-12 minutes or until sausage is cooked.  Less fat and they taste
better I believe with the scottish oats inside of the breadcrumbs

<SNIP>
Sabia (sabia at unm.edu)


Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 20:07:21 EST
From: LrdRas <LrdRas at aol.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Frozen Scotch Eggs

themorrigan at softhome.net writes:
<< The
 >texture was a little tougher than fresh, but the taste was fine.  Also, the
 >outside was a little wet. >>

Heating them for a half hour at 350 degrees fahrenheit, would crisp the
exterior and freshen the product. A wet exterior would indicate to me, IMO,
that the technique used for reheating was not the correct choice.

Ras


Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2000 17:20:42 -0500
From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Scotch Eggs

On Tue, 7 Mar 2000 10:27:03 EST Seton1355 at aol.com writes:
> I am going to make Scotch Eggs for Friday.  I've read the recipe but 
> never actually made them before.  Some advice please.
> 
> 1.   Wrapping a 5-6 minute egg in ground beef / turkey sausage....
> How hard boiled is the egg at that point?  Wouldn't it just gush 
> out, OR do you just wrap very carfully & gingerly?

	I would not necessarily under-boil the egg just because it will be
cooked again.  The main trick when frying them is to get the sausage to
cook long enough without burning, and to heat the egg inside all the way
through, but I wouldn't count on it really adding doneness to the egg . 
Using a frying temp of 300 - 325 is best.  You can also cut your eggs in
half and then wrap them, as the whole ones tend to be quite large.  This
is an especially good idea if you are going to be serving these with
other foods. 
And yes, wrap very gingerly.  I have never seen this done with beef
sausage, only pork and turkey.  
 
> 2.How thick a coating of ground sausage do you give each egg?

	About 1/3 - 1/2 inch.  You want to make sure it will not break open and
expose the egg underneath to the frying oil.  By the way, something I
rarely see in S.E. recipes that I consider a very important step.  When
you are assembling them, dip the egg itself in egg wash, and then apply
the sausage.  This holds true even if you are doing half or quarter eggs.
 (Most recipes take you from there to then dip the whole thing in egg
wash, and then roll in breadcrumbs - a step you can omit if you want. 
The breadcrumbs tend to burn, anyway.)  The eggwash layer between the egg
and the sausage will keep the whole thing stuck together as a unit. 
Without it, you get the egg rolling around inside the sausage casing, and
it becomes difficult to eat it.  Remember to serve this with a mild
mustard sauce, mmm, where did you say you would be serving these on
Friday? ;)

> 3 Is another name for Scotch Eggs:  "hedgehogs"?

Nope.  Those are meatballs with almond slivers, made to look like
bristling hedgehogs.  As far as I know, Scotch Eggs are not period. 
Tasty, but not period.  
	Good luck, 
	Christianna


Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 13:10:45 -0400
From: Lurking Girl <tori at panix.com>
Subject: SC - [OOP] Vegetarian Scotch Eggs

Some while ago, people were discussing vegetarian variations on Scotch
eggs.  I went out pub-crawling with a friend last night who inclines
that way, and she mentioned she had an excellent recipe for same.
Finally, it has been unearthed...

Vika
share and enjoy

********************************
Here's that Vegetarian Scotch Eggs recipe I've been promising:

Scotch Eggs Vegetarian-Style

From: The Complete Vegetarian Cuisine by Rose Elliot

Serves 4

4 Hard-Boiled eggs, shelled
1 egg, beaten
1/2 quantity Brown Lentil Bake mixture (see recipe below)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Whole-wheat flour and fresh whole-wheat breadcrumbs for coating
vegetable oil for deep frying

Dip each egg into beaten egg, then coat with a quarter of the lentil
mixture, pressing it around smoothly and firmly.

Coat the eggs first in the remaining beaten egg, then in seasoned
flour; then repeat egg and breadcrumbing.

Heat the oil in a deep fryer to 325 degrees F., or when a small cube
of stale bread browns in one minute.  Put the Scotch eggs into the oil
and fry gently until golden.

Remove the Scotch eggs with a slotted spoon and drain on paper
towels.  Cut the eggs in half and serve hot or cold.


Brown Lentil Bake Mixture

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, peeled and finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1 cup dried green or brown lentils, cooked until tender, and well
  drained
2 tablespoons chopped parsely
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
2 tablespoons soy suace
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large suacepan and saute the onion for 10 minutes
until soft and lightly browned, stirring occasionally.

Add the garlic, lentils, parsley, mixed herbs and soy sauce.  Mash by
hand or puree roughly in a belnder or food processor, until the
mixture holds together.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.
********************************


Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 12:01:05 -0000
From: nanna at idunn.is (Nanna Rognvaldardottir)
Subject: Re: SC - Help!!!

Gwynydd wrote:
>Umm, I feel really bad saying this, but I have a nasty feeling that "Scotch
>Eggs" are neither Scottish nor Period.  (The first is from a quick wander
>through the Florigieum, the second is something which one of the cooks on
>this List said to me - she suggested that they are 17th or 18th century.

According to John Ayto, that is probably correct:
"The Scotch egg - a hard-boiled egg enveloped in sausage meat and then
fried - appeared on the scene at the beginning of the nineteenth century,
although whether as a new invention or simply as a wider dissemination of an
ancient traditional dish is not altogether clear. The first known printed
recipe for it appears in M.E. Rundell’s New System of Domestic Cookery
(1809)."  (A Gourmet’s Guide). Alan Davidson supports this and adds that the
Scotch egg may possibly be a descendant of a form of Indian kofta. The
recipe first appeared in a Scottish recipe book in 1826.

Nanna


Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 14:38:57 -0500
From: <kingstaste at mindspring.com>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Scottish Eggs revisited
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

The steps that seem to be left out by most folks is re-dipping in the egg
wash on every level.  Dip the hard boiled egg in the egg wash before you
apply the sausage layer and it will stick together.  Apply egg wash on the
outside and then roll the whole thing in bread crumbs for a consistent
coating, which I would think could help keep them from cracking as well.

Christianna

>>>
I made Scottish Eggs, for the first time, last week for Estrella War.  They
were very well received and very convenient, as they are a nice food to prepare
ahead and pack in the cooler.  However, the sausage coating on the egg had a
tendency to crack, and I realized the subject had been discussed on this list
in the past.  I don't recall the preferred remedy.  Was it baking them rather
than frying, or was it, perhaps, freezing them a bit first?

Beathog
<<<


Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 11:50:38 -0800
From: Susan Fox-Davis <selene at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Scottish Eggs revisited
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Beathog wrote:
>I dusted the hard boiled egg in flour, coated it with the sausage, dipped it 
>in an egg wash and finally in bread crumbs.  Still, they cracked.
>
>Beathog

Hmm.  Maybe the sausage layer was not thick enough? I use a 12-ounce 
chub of breakfast sausage for four eggs.
I also deep-fry them for an even exterior treatment.  

My low-carb version, which nobody seems to have noticed yet, was to 
substitute a mixture of half soy flour and half wheat bran for the 
breadcrumb exterior.  Browns up nicely and supplies some fiber, a Good 
Thing when living la vida lo-carb!

Selene, Scotch Egg Veteran


Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 15:43:50 -0500
From: "Mairi Ceilidh" <jjterlouw at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Scottish Eggs revisited
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

What I was told by a Scot was that they crack because they are being cooked
too hot.  Cooking oil should not exceed 345 Deg. F.

Mairi Ceilidh


Date: Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:57:49 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Scotch Eggs- rebuttal
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

And to that end, some recipes for Scotch Eggs from the Georgian and
Victorian eras:

From A new system of domestic cookery By Maria Eliza Ketelby Rundell
In 1814 the recipe reads:

Scotch Eggs.

Boil hard five pullet's eggs, and without removing the white, cover
completely with a fine relishing forcemeat, in which, let scraped ham,
bear a due proportion. Fry of a beautiful yellow brown, and serve with a
good gravy in the dish.

By 1847 it reads:

SCOTCH EGGS.

Boil hard five pullets' eggs, and, without removing the white, cover
completely with a fine relishing forcemeat, in which, let scraped ham,
or chopped anchovy bear a good proportion. Fry of a beautiful yellow
brown, and serve with a good gravy in the dish.

from A new system of domestic cookery By Maria Eliza Ketelby Rundell.

Note that anchovy has crept in.
-------------

A more complete recipe from 1908-

Scotch Eggs

6 hard-cooked eggs.
Salt and pepper to taste.
two-thirds cup stale bread crumbs.
one half cup milk.
1 cup minced ham or other meat.
Egg and bread crumbs.
Frying fat.

Cook the eggs twenty minutes in water just below the boiling point,
stand in cold water for half an hour, then remove the shells and wipe
the eggs quite dry.

Cook the half cup of bread crumbs in. the milk till thick, add the
seasoning and meat and mix all together to form a rather stiff paste.
Take a portion of this and press around one of the eggs smoothly with
the hand, having the paste of equal thickness all over, and continue
till the eggs are covered. Take a raw egg with one tablespoon of water
and beat lightly; dip each of the prepared eggs into this and cover
every particle with the raw egg. As soon as covered, drop onto a paper
containing stale bread crumbs, coat with these and fry in deep fat till
golden brown. Cut in halves, stand cut side up, and serve plain or with
white or tomato sauce or gravy.

The Rumford complete cook book, By Lily Haxworth Wallace, Rumford
Chemical Works, 1908.
---------------

Beeton's version:

SCOTCH EGGS.

1666. Ingredients.?6 eggs, 6 tablespoonfuls of forcemeat No. 417, hot
lard, 4 pint of good brown gravy.

/Mode.?/Boil the eggs for 10 minutes ; strip them from the shells, and
cover them with forcemeat made by recipe No. 417 ; or substitute pounded
anchovies for the ham. Fry the eggs a nice brown in boil?? lard, drain
them before the fire from their greasy moisture, dish then, and pour
round from J to 1 pint of good brown gravy. To enhance the appearance of
the eggs, they may be rolled in beaten egg acJ sprinkled with bread
crumbs ; bnt this is scarcely necessary if they are carefully fried. The
flavour of the ham or anchovy in the forcemeat must preponderate, as it
should be very relishing.
/Time./?10 minutes to boil the eggs, 5 to 7 minutes to fry them.
/Average cost. Is. id. Sufficient /for 3 or 4 persons. /Seasonable /at
any time.

The book of household management By Isabella Mary Beeton, 1863.
-------------------------

Last but not least here is Meg Dods..
In 1826
Scotch Eggs.
?Five eggs make a dish. Boil them as for salad. Peel and
dip them in beat eggs and cover them with a forcemeat made of grated
ham, chopped anchovy, crumbs, mixed spices, &c. pry .them nicely in good
clarified dripping, and serve .with a gravy sauce in a tureen.

In 1828 the recipe reads:
Scotch Eggs.
?Five eggs make a dish. Boil them as for salad. Peel and
dip them in beat egg, and cover them with a forcemeat made of grated
ham, chopped anchovy, crumbs, mixed spices, &c. Fry them nicely in good
clarified dripping, and serve with a gravy-sauce in a tureen.

In 1862 it reads:

571. Scotch Eggs.
?Five eggs make a dish. Boil them hard. Shell and dip
them in beat egg, and cover them with a forcemeat made of grated ham,
chopped anchovy, crumbs, mixed spices, etc. Fry them nicely in good
clarified dripping or lard, and serve them with a gravy sauce
separately.?

The cook and housewife's manual, by Margaret Dods. [&c.]. By Christian
Isobel Johnstone.

------
Oxford Reference Online mentions:

"The first known printed recipe for it appears in M.E. Rundell's /New
System of Domestic Cookery/ (1809): ?Boil hard five pullet's eggs, and
without removing the white, cover completely with a fine relishing
forcemeat.? Its Scottish origin is perhaps pointed up by its inclusion
in Meg Dods's /Cook and Housewife's Manual/, published in Edinburgh in
1826. This describes the eggs being eaten hot with gravy, a method of
consumption echoed by Mrs Beeton in 1861, but a hundred years on their
role had become that of a convenient cold snack eaten in pubs, on
picnics, etc." "Scotch egg" /An A-Z of Food and Drink/. Ed. John Ayto.

Rundell is the first recipe that I found tonight. Fenton doesn't mention
them in The Food of the Scots.

Johnnae

Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote:
<<< I wonder if a single one of these chefs knows that Scotch eggs are 
_supposed_ to be made with chopped ham, and that sausage meat (as with 
toad in the hole) is the lazy person's expedient?
I don't believe pork sausage meat has ever been very popular in 
Scotland, except possibly in the lowlands...
Adamantius >>>


Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2012 23:59:48 -0500
From: Sharon Palmer <ranvaig at columbus.rr.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] German Scotch Eggs??

This list has talked about whether Scotch Eggs are period.

Rumpolt's Kalb 44 has white meatballs of chopped 
veal, with a yolk inside rather than a whole egg. 
Made with either a raw yolk, or a hard boiled one.

I start off with a bit of a previous recipe, 
because it says make dumplings as told before.

Modernly Kn?del are dumplings mostly or 
completely of bread (or potatoes), but Rumpolt 
uses Kn?del consistently for something more like 
a meatball, sometimes but not always with some 
bread added.

Ranvaig

Ochsen 65.   Take beef/ cut it thin and small/ 
lay it in a water/ so it draws the blood out/ and 
becomes nicely white.  Wash it well in two or 
three waters/ pick beef fat clean/ and soak a 
sliced weck bread in water/ press it out well 
again with clean hands/ chop it together/ that it 
becomes small/ also an egg or three/ wash the 
hands clean/ and from it make round meatballs/ or 
how you wish to have them/ (snipped)...


Kalb 44.  Make white dumplings/ as has been told 
before/ and before you make them round or 
lengthwise/ then spread the chopped meat apart/ 
and break two egg yolks next to each other/ and 
the other part drive out/ and lay the egg yolks 
over the meat/ spread it nicely/ that it stays 
smooth/

(This is a little confusing, but I think it means 
that you spread out the meat for each dumpling, 
put the raw yolks in the middle, then shape the 
meat around it. They must be smooth or the egg 
will come out).

throw it in a beef broth/ and when it boils/ put 
them in/ and when you dress it/ then cut the 
dumplings apart/ then one sees the yellow from 
the eggs inside it/ dress it with the same broth/ 
and sprinkle parsley on top.

However if it did not hold together with the 
yolks between the veal/ then take the eggs/ and 
let them boil hard/ and when they are boiled/ 
then take the yolks out/ that it stays whole/ lay 
it with the chopped veal next to each other/ that 
they do not push together/ and make it/

before you put it in the broth/ as is told 
before/ as you should cut them apart/ when you 
dress them/ make it yellow or leave it white/ 
together with the green well tasting herbs/ then 
it is good and well tasting.


Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:59:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: Donna Green <donnaegreen at yahoo.com>
To: "sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] German Scotch Eggs??

The Portuguese apparently made a version of Scotch Eggs too. 
From A Treatise of Portuguese Cuisine from the 15th Century

Translated by Baroness Faerisa Gwynarden

Alm?ndegas

Tomem carne de porco ou de carneiro muito gordo, sem ossos, e piquem-na bem miudinha, temperando-a com sal, cravo, a?afr?o e gengibre. Fa?am as bolas de carne, recheiem-nas com uma gema cozida, passando-as em seguida pela farinha de trigo. Numa panela com manteiga bem quente ou, se preferirem, manteiga e caldo gordo de carneiro, lancem um amarrado de cheiro-verde, e coloquem ali as alm?ndegas. Tampem a panela e tenham o cuidado de mexer as alm?ndegas de vez em quando, evitando que se partam. Sirvam com bastante molho. Se este for pouco, ajuntem ?s alm?ndegas o caldo de outras panelas. 

Hazelnuts (meat balls)

Take very fat pork or mutton, boneless, and mince it very finely, seasoning it with salt, cloves, saffron and ginger. Make it into meatballs, fill them with a cooked egg yolk, rolling them afterwards in wheat flour. In a pot with very hot butter or, if you prefer, butter and fat mutton broth, add a bunch of cheiro-verde (I'm not familiar with this herb, it literally translates as "green smell", and add the "hazelnuts" (meat balls). Close the lid and take care to stir the meatballs once in a while, avoiding breakage. Serve with lots of sauce. If the sauce isn't sufficient, add broth from other pans.

Juana Isabella


Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:07:27 +0000
From: Gretchen Beck <cmupythia at cmu.edu>
To: Donna Green <donnaegreen at yahoo.com>, Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] German Scotch Eggs??

Google suggests that, modernly, cheiro-verde is a combination of parsley and scallion (essentially an oniony green sauce -- sounds like a yummy meatball seasoning).  Don't know how far back it goes (most of the hits are for restaurant's named cheiro-verde)

--margaret


Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2012 18:03:53 -0500
From: Sharon Palmer <ranvaig at columbus.rr.com>
To: Donna Green <donnaegreen at yahoo.com>,	Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] German Scotch Eggs??

<<< add a bunch of cheiro-verde (I'm not familiar 
with this herb, it literally translates as 
"green smell", >>>

That sounds a lot like the "grene wolschmeckende 
Kr?uter" green (or fresh) well tasting (or 
smelling herbs) that Rumpolt puts in many dishes.

Ranvaig


Date: Wed, 5 Jun 2013 12:00:31 -0700 (GMT-07:00)
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Turkish Meatballs (not Scotch eggs)

Here's one of the recipes i translated from among those added by Shirvani to his translation of al-Baghdadi's cookbook in the mid-15th c.

[131r] Meatballs
Grind some meat as for meatballs, continue to beat in a mortar. Put in plenty of pepper, onions and a little sifted starch and knead. Insert some cooked egg peeled of their shells, into the center of the meat patties, then form all into meatballs. The meatballs are released into a large pot [131v] of thoroughly boiling water, turning occasionally to cook. [my translation]

Similar meatballs were made in late 16th c. Persia. There isn't a detailed recipe for them, but they are mentioned in a recipe for the very complex dish called qobuli-ye murassa' (jeweled qobuli) in "Maddat al-hayat, resala dar 'elm-e tabbaki" (The substance of life, a treatise on the art of cooking) by Master Nurollah, chef to Shah 'Abbas I, written in 1594/95:
"...Fill large meat balls each with an egg cooked in meat stock and cook them separately. Then cut in half and arrange on the dish in such a way that they show the inside of the eggs." [excerpted from the long recipe - my translation]

The Ottoman recipe does not say to cut the meatballs in half to show off the eggs, but it's possible they did - while some of the recipes are very very detailed and specific, others are very sketchy in terms of details,.

In modern times, a spicy meat mixture is formed into balls with hard cooked eggs inside, then cut in half just before serving. They are called Nargisi Kofta, that is, daffodil meatballs.

So the concept has a long history. Unlike Scotch eggs, they do not appear to have been served as snacks, but as part of a larger meal.

Urtatim (that's oor-tah-TEEM)


From the FB " Medieval & Renaissance Cooking and Recipes" group:
11/13/13
Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya 
On the other hand, i have a mid-15th c. Ottoman recipe & a late 16th c. Persian recipe with hard cooked eggs wrapped in spiced ground lamb, then added to the dish - but not fried and served on their own.

Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya 
The Persian ground lamb covered eggs are part of a more complex recipe for pilaw of rice from a 1594 cookbook, written by Nūr-Allāh, the head cook for Shah 'Abbas I: Māddat al-ḥayāt, resāla dar ʿelm-e ṭabbākī ("The substance of life, a treatise on the art of cooking").

Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya 
OK, i just looked at the 16 c. Persian recipe again, and the eggs are poached on top of the ground spiced lamb rather than enrobed in it.

nargesī-polāw (nargesi = poached or fried egg)

Its property is as follows: Simple polāw (polāw-e sādā) is prepared separately. In a little water put finely chopped meat, onion, spices and peeled chickpeas, that have been browned in fat. Then add white cabbage (kalam) and spinach thereto. Therein crack eggs and a quantity of pistachios into all, let it simmer for so long until the water has evaporated and only the fat [as liquid] remains. Then serve the rice and pour the cooked [ingredients] over it, so the [poached] eggs come to lie on top. [nargis=daffodil]

[words in square brackets added by me]

There is no single dish identified as "simple polāw", rather there is a whole chapter with this title, in which this recipe for nargesī-polāw is included.

Basically, very long grain white rice is washed, picked over so there are NO broken grains, and then soaked in water while the meat is cooked until tender. Then the rice and meat are layered in a pot. A cloth or woven plant fiber mat placed over the opening of the pot, then the lid is put on and sealed with band of soft dough, and the pot is put over a *very* low fire for 45 min or so and then opened and put in the serving dish. Sometimes it is let stand off the fire for 15 min. or so.

In the case of this recipe, i suspect the rice is cooked separately, and the ground lamb & eggs put on top at the time of serving. There is no recipe for cooking the rice alone, however - in another recipe in this chapter, the author notes that polāw is well known so he doesn't have to include a recipe for it. I would expect, based on the 37 recipes in this chapter, that after soaking the rice is enriched with sheep tail fat or butter, and the water perhaps with some lamb broth, as well as fried sliced onions when it is put in the pot to cook.

Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya 
As for which spices to use, saffron (but i think it would be mentioned by name), cinnamon, pepper, & ginger are the most common. And salt should be added. Less commonly used spices that might have been included are cardamom, cloves, and sonbol [that is, spikenard, Nardostachys jatamansi]. These 16 c. Royal recipes do not include lots of spices, usually only 3 or so. ETA: this is based on my count of all the spices used in these recipes.

Drew Shiel 
November 15 at 12:41am
Scotch Eggs as such were invented by the Fortnum & Mason department store in London to sell to Victorian picnickers. Or at least, their official history claims so.

Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya 
2/14/20
Scotch eggs aren't period. But there are recipes in the one extant Ottoman cookbook, circa 1430, and in the 1594 Persian cookbook for hard cooked eggs wrapped in ground lamb.

Andy Kailhofer 
I'm making them (the ottoman ones) for a vigil. Well, with lamb and beef. And size medium eggs too.

Xaviar Fideli 
ok spliting hairs....on what they are called...lol

Urtatim Al-Qurtubiyya 
I don't consider it hair splitting. Scotch eggs use pork and are fried. The Persian and Ottoman eggs use lamb and are boiled, then cut in half so the color contrasts can be admired.

They are used to garnish another dish, rather than being solely on their own. They are called Nargisi Kofta, Narcissus Meatballs.

So not just a difference in name, but difference in ingredients, cooking method, and serving...

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	Scotch-Eggs-msg	Page 2 of 16