(R)evolution in Scottish Food
Scotland’s culinary fame has always been based on its eponymous drink (scotch), with perhaps a nod to its salmon (fished, not farmed). Experienced travelers might also note the role of haggis on the Scottish table — for literary, not gastronomic, reasons, as anyone knows who has ventured to try it. (For those non-ventured, haggis is a pudding made of sheep’s heart, liver, and lungs minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, salt, and stock, then cooked in the animal’s stomach. See, you probably didn’t want to know.)
But the domestic diet of the Scots was not centered on haggis. The local population ate lots of seafood, raised very good meats, grew veggies like kale, used fresh herbs, and had healthy diets producing tall, healthy — and disproportionately red-haired — people, according to Wendy Barrie, a Scottish chef, food authority, author, and commentator on all things food-related in her country. She even has blazing red hair.
With the coming of the Industrial Revolution, life in Scotland became poorer, and the food became as industrialized as the lifestyle. The English tried to rub out the Scottish food culture, reports Barrie, and locals wound up eating “stodge and fried Mars bars.”
But the Scottish table has improved tremendously in recent years. Currently there are 11 Michelin-starred restaurants in the country, including a two-star…
