Stormy Weather

[Anna]

Yes, it'll be dark here this evening around 5.00 pm. Milder here today, 9°, and damp, but no rain.

On a fish and chip note, do the Welsh remove the skin from their fish before applying the batter, like the Scots, or leave it on and batter over it, like the English?

Generally, chip shop fish, skin left on (which is a shame if you are a crispy batter lover as it's then impossible to separate skin from coating) Do the Scots remove the Mars Bar wrapper before deep frying? Only teasing.
Your Children in Need baking competition - meant to ask, will you be competing? (I love Dundee Cake!)

[Nick Armstrong]

Do the Scots remove the Mars Bar wrapper before deep frying? Only teasing.

[mangerton]

Generally, chip shop fish, skin left on (which is a shame if you are a crispy batter lover as it's then impossible to separate skin from coating) Do the Scots remove the Mars Bar wrapper before deep frying? Only teasing.
Your Children in Need baking competition - meant to ask, will you be competing? (I love Dundee Cake!)

Anna, thank you for the information. That was exactly my point - it's a dead loss if you like batter.

Your q anent (good word, that!) the Mars Bar..... You'll need to come and see. I have never partaken of a dfMB myself, but I understand true Scotsmen leave the wrapper on. In addition, they put salt on their porridge, and wear nothing under their kilts.

Cue the old joke: "Is anything worn under the kilt?" "No, it's all in fine working order."

As far as baking is concerned, it's not something I do; cooking is more in my line. OTOH my tablet (qv) has been very highly spoken of, so I think I'll make a couple of batches. It's my mother's recipe, with some embellishments of my own. Tablet is very popular in Scotland, so it's sure to sell well, and it's a good cause. It may be deemed to be "not baking", but that doesn't really matter.

[vinteuil]

... and suddenly vinrouge's innocent gastronomic reference...

... innocent? innocent?? innocent???


Who do you take me for???

[Nick Armstrong]

Cue the old joke: "Is anything worn under the kilt?" "No, it's all in fine working order."

Can't believe I've never heard that one!!

'Anent' is a great word and always makes me think of the rather lugubrious little town, Tranent, half-way between Edinburgh and my Scottish friends' place where I stay up there.

Tranent - home of the legendary "Tartan Taxis"... and above all, source of many a delicious fish supper (I'd never paid attention to the fish-skin technique...), the immortal Joe's Fish bar http://www.joesfishbar.co.uk/index.html

No sign of dfMB on their carte du jour http://www.joesfishbar.co.uk/menu.html

...though the puddings are quite scary (and never braved): Black pudding ... White pudding .... Haggis pudding .... Spicy haggis ...

Can you elucidate, mangie?

[Nick Armstrong]

Who do you take me for???

A man of sincere goodwill as to my well-being and general education following my unfortunate academic career

[Anna]

As far as baking is concerned, it's not something I do; cooking is more in my line. OTOH my tablet (qv) has been very highly spoken of, so I think I'll make a couple of batches. It's my mother's recipe, with some embellishments of my own. Tablet is very popular in Scotland, so it's sure to sell well, and it's a good cause. It may be deemed to be "not baking", but that doesn't really matter.

I'd never heard of a Scottish Tablet and had to google it to see if it was legal. Seems it's a type of grainy fudge-like, extremely sugary delicacy made of sugar, butter and condensed milk! (Probably equal or more in calories to the deep fried Mars Bar then?) Not to my taste but well done you for making them and supporting Children in Need.
I wondered why the Scots seem to have such a sweet tooth and found that Tablets compensated for the Dreich

[Nick Armstrong]

Scottish Tablet

I wonder if this is the same as one of the four delicacies mentioned in my #5765 above....?

AFTERTHOUGHT: what the hell is deep-fried pizza? I've never dared ask. Is it a slice of pizza in batter?

Gloomy and drizzly out in London btw...

[vinteuil]

'Anent' is a great word ?

Fowler had a particular dislike of the misuse of the word anent by the English -

"anent, apart from its use in Scotch law-courts, where it is in place, is chiefly met with in letters to the press; that is, it is a favourite with unpractised writers who, on their holiday excursions into print, like to show that they possess gala attire. See ARCHAISM. " ['Modern English Usage']

"And anent ... is nothing less than a masquerade costume. The Oxford Dictionary says drily ... : 'Common in Scotch law phraseology, and affected by many English writers'; it might have gone further, and said ' "affected" in any English writer'; such things are antiquated rubbish, Wardour-Street English." ['The King's English']

[Nick Armstrong]

Fowler had a particular dislike of the misuse of the word anent by the English -

"anent, apart from its use in Scotch law-courts, where it is in place, is chiefly met with in letters to the press; that is, it is a favourite with unpractised writers who, on their holiday excursions ino print, like to show that they possess gala attire. See ARCHAISM. " ['Modern English Usage']

"And anent ... is nothing less than a masquerade costume. The Oxford Dictionary says drily ... : 'Common in Scotch law phraseology, and affected by many English writers'; it might have gone further, and said ' "affected" in any English writer'; such things are antiquated rubbish, Wardour-Street English." ['The King's English']

Brilliant!

Whereas there is nothing of the holiday excursion or gala about Tranent...

[Anna]

AFTERTHOUGHT: what the hell is deep-fried pizza? I've never dared ask. Is it a slice of pizza in batter?

Presumably it's what it says on the box .... a pizza which is deep fried?
Poor mangerton, we seem to be rubbishing his culinary heritage and I would like to say I eat, on an almost daily basis, Scottish oatcakes and will henceforth have my porridge made with water and sprinkled with salt, just so as to be close to him (actually, I'm aiming to go to Scotland next year for my holidays .... Dundee seems ideal!)

[Nick Armstrong]

Poor mangerton, we seem to be rubbishing his culinary heritage and I would like to say I eat, on an almost daily basis, Scottish oatcakes ...

Yum... And I hope mangerton knows it's all affectionate. I'd love to be getting ready to pop down to Joe's for supper now.. I have a sudden urge to try haggis pudding too!

Make me think of some of the best breakfasts I've ever had, on Skye: slices of the previous evening's haggis, fried and eaten with eggs and washed down with a dram or three of The Macallan Perfection!

[Anna]

Yum... And I hope mangerton knows it's all affectionate. I'd love to be getting ready to pop down to Joe's for supper now.. I have a sudden urge to try haggis pudding too!

Make me think of some of the best breakfasts I've ever had, on Skye: slices of the previous evening's haggis, fried and eaten with eggs and washed down with a dram or three of The Macallan Perfection!

I'm sure he does. he may be Scottish but he ain't daft. Did you know MacSweens haggis are now sold in slices at Waitrose so you can have them fried with your bacon and eggs instead of black pudding? (They seem to have cornered the maket re Haggis)

[mangerton]

Presumably it's what it says on the box .... a pizza which is deep fried?
Poor mangerton, we seem to be rubbishing his culinary heritage and I would like to say I eat, on an almost daily basis, Scottish oatcakes and will henceforth have my porridge made with water and sprinkled with salt, just so as to be close to him (actually, I'm aiming to go to Scotland next year for my holidays .... Dundee seems ideal!)

I'd be delighted to show you the sights, Anna. This is a lovely part of the country.

Much of our culinary heritage probably deserves to be rubbished, although there are many Good Things available here. The fish supper, bought in the right place, can be excellent, and is a great treat.

I'll do my best to answer your and Cali's questions about chip shop cuisine. DF pizza is, as you said, what it says on the box. From a chip shop, it will be bought in as a premade item, 6 or 7 inches in diameter. It will be put in the deep fryer - everything in a chip shop is put in the deep fryer - and served with chips.

"Puddings" in a chip shop are sausage shaped, about 6-7 inches long, and c 1.5" diameter. They are all battered and deep fried before serving.

Black - made with blood, suet, and oatmeal
White (aka mealy) - similar to black, but without the blood
Red - (not sold in Caliban's favoured establishment). See here for details
Haggis - haggis made into a pudding shape, battered and deep fried. Spice added for the spicy version, presumably

I'll say at this point that I wouldn't touch any of these with a bargepole!

Chip shops also sell Scotch pies made traditionally with mutton, but now more probably beef, and steak pies. These are deep fried before serving, but are not battered. There is now an annual Scotch pie competition in Scotland.

All these items are sold to carry out on their own ("single") or with chips ("supper"), and will be offered with "salt and vinegar", or "salt and (brown) sauce" in the Edinburgh area.

I'll bet you're sorry you asked now.


Edit: I've seen your posts written when I was writing this. Yes, of course I know it's affectionate. That Skye breakfast sounds delicious - and MacSween's haggis certainly is.

[Anna]

I'd be delighted to show you the sights, Anna. This is a lovely part of the country.

OMG, OMG, I HAVE A DATE WITH A SCOTSMAN!!
Of course, he insists I pay There is something lovely here, called as Scots Mince.