Scottish Food & Drink
Whisky is the best known Scottish drink and is consumed in every corner of the globe. You'll note that in Scotland whisky is spelt without an "e". The Irish make a similar (but vastly inferior) spirit that they call whiskey with an "e". Don't confuse the two!
The name "whisky" come from the Gaelic "uisge beatha", which means "water of life". Whisky is known to have been distilled in Scotland as far back as the 15th century. It was generally made in illicit or illegal stills and smuggled around the country until legal distilling was sanctioned in the 19th century.
You will usually be offered two different types of whisky - a single malt or a blend. A single malt is the produce of a single distillery and each malt has a distinctive taste that it gains during its distillation. A blend is a mixture of different types of whisky.
90% of whisky sold is blended and perhaps the best known blend is Bells, which is largely produced at the Bell's Blair Athol Distillery - a member of Great Scotland - where you can take a guided tour that outlines the processes through which whisky is produced.
Porridge was a traditional staple of the Scots for many centuries. Made with oats and water and/or milk, nowadays it is mainly eaten at breakfast as a hot cereal. However, originally it would be cooked in vast quantities and solidified in blocks from which slices would be cut to be mixed with water to provide a meal at any time of day.
Many people add sugar to their porridge to flavour it, but it is said that a true Scotsman adds salt for flavour. Try it - you might enjoy it!
Haggis is a food of many myths. Stories are told of haggis being wild and reclusive creatures that lurk in remote glens. The truth is more prosaic. Haggis is the innards of sheep mixed with oats and spices and boiled in a sheep's stomach. As such, it can perhaps best be described as being like a moist, spicy sausage.
Haggis was celebrated by our national poet, Robert Burns, in his "Address to a Haggis" in which he described it as the "great chieftain of the pudding race" (although it is normally a main course and certainly never a desert!). It is traditionally eaten with neeps (mashed turnip) and tatties (mashed potatoes). However, many top Scottish chefs now present it in new, imaginative ways such as wrapped in filo pastry or served with a variety of savoury sauces.
Salmon has long been a mainstay of the Scottish diet as our rivers offer some of the finest salmon fishing in the world. In medieval times, King James of Scotland had to issue a decree to his nobles banning them from feeding their servants salmon more than three times a week.
Today, you will find salmon on the menus of many top restaurants as either smoked salmon, which has been cured over peat or wood, or fresh salmon, which is usually served with a variety of sauces.
Scotch Broth is a rich warming vegetable soup incorporating barley, peas, carrots, turnip and whatever else may be available in season. It is usually prepared with a beef or lamb stock base.
It is one of a number of tasty soups that are indigenous to Scotland. The best known producer of Scottish soups is the Baxters Food Group, who produce a wide range of Scottish speciality foods. You can see their full range at Baxters at Tullibardine - a unique speciality shopping experience that is a member of Great Scotland.
