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Last week, while celebrating the repeal of Prohibition, I ordered myself a Scotch Egg (courtesy of the delicious Abbot on the Hill). It's been a good two years since Slashfood delved into the world of the Scotch egg, both as a portable breakfast and gargantuanly eggy ostrich task, so I thought I'd give the dish some more love.
Scotch eggs (recipe here) are hard-boiled eggs encased in a mixture of sausage and spices, then dredged, breaded, and deep-fried -- another case of tasty things getting wrapped in tasty things and then covered in more tasty things and turning out beautifully. They're delicious as a quick breakfast, and can also make a damn fine appetizer when teamed with chutney -- classic UK fare.
But it's not something you'd get from your Scottish friends and family. According to Wikipedia, the dish was whipped up by a London food shop called Fortnum & Mason, all the way back in 1851. (Anyone know why "Scotch" became part of the name?) You'll usually find this dish using regular chicken eggs, which makes it large enough to slice and share, but this dish also works amazingly with smaller eggs -- allowing for tiny niblets rather than large chunks.
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12-10-2008 @5:53PM Daniel said... That looks quite a bit like a picture I took once.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubinow/2816066727/in/set-72157607071301490/
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12-10-2008 @6:32PM Alex said... "... a London food shop called Fortnum & Mason ..." ... so must remember to check that one out on google & see if anyone has, like, ever heard of it before.
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12-10-2008 @6:44PM CaptainBigPants said... Sir, I must take issue with your post.
I have studied the phenomena of the so-called 'scotch egg' as part of my PhD in Ovum Studies at the LSE and I can categorically state that you will never get a Scottish person to produce such an ovum.
The typical oospore of the hebridean contains no sausage meat, instead it is cushioned from the cold by a thick layer of smenta as you can see in this photograph: http://tinyurl.com/2pgxpr
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12-10-2008 @10:19PM Pyrofish said... Dang it, Rickrolled again...
The only way I've ever had scotch eggs was cold. Are they supposed to be like that. I mean I liked them, and I ate them again at the only place locally that had them, but I wondered why they weren't hot.
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12-11-2008 @3:23AM Alex said... Yes, pyrofish - they're meant to be cold. Very popular for lunch time. Personally, I think they're disgusting! :)
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12-11-2008 @10:19AM Kat Kinsman said... Alex - I know that F&M has been in the UK since time immemorial, but they've only just started selling their wares online in the US, and don't yet have a store here, so folks aren't as familiar. Yes, entire lives lived without Picadilly Picalilli and Fortnum Pickle. We are, however, slowly learning.
And if you have a favorite F&M product, by all means, let us know! The Chocolossus biscuits make my head spin.
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12-11-2008 @3:33PM Gary said... I've had some very nice Tea samplers from F&M and the only way I've had a Scotch Egg was hot. I just cant picture eating one cold with all the congealed fat from the sausage oozing off of it.
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12-12-2008 @8:05AM Annie said... Hot! Sacriledge. The Scotch egg is always cold, it is typical British picnic food. I used to think it was blamed on the Scots* because it was deep fried.
* Yes, I know you call them Scots or Scottish never Scotch.
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12-12-2008 @11:56AM Susanne Thomas said... You can also bake them, rather than deep frying. That's how I do them and it turns out really well, and is not so greasy to serve as finger food because the outer crumbs, at least on top, remain fairly dry. And yes, they are served cold--in that fabulous pub item called a "ploughman's lunch."
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