Dishes of Scottish folk cuisine: the food of the harsh highlanders.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, although it varies from country to country. If in America you can eat pancakes and bacon for breakfast, then, for example, in Thailand the highlights of the program are fish, pork and rice. Traveler Victoria Philpott decided to capture breakfasts in the countries she visited. The girl shares with us mouth-watering pictures of a wide variety of breakfasts around the world. Of course, there is no dispute about tastes, but it is always interesting to see who has breakfast.

1. English breakfast. Beans, sausages, bacon, eggs, mushrooms, toast and a cup of tea.

2. Iranian breakfast. Nan with butter and jam. If light breakfast not enough, Iranians eat Halim. Halim is a mixture of wheat, cinnamon, butter and sugar, prepared with minced meat in big pots. It can be eaten both cold and hot. Here you can also see the Iranian version of the omelet.

3. Philippine breakfast. local fruits such as mango, as well as rice and small sausages. Roasted with salt and garlic cloves, they are called sinangag. Then they are mixed with eggs, meat and beans.

4. Scottish breakfast. Lamb tripe with scrambled eggs and Lorna square sausage.

5. german breakfast. Sausages, local cheeses and freshly baked bread. Wash it all down with strong coffee.

6. Breakfast in French. Croissants - plain or with almonds, butter, chocolate or cream.

7. Sweden. Swedish pancakes known as pannkakor, which are similar to regular pancakes but with a sweet fruit filling.

8. Polish breakfast. Scrambled eggs with sausage slices and two potato pancakes.

9. Turkish breakfast. Several varieties of cheese, butter, olives, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, jam, honey and spiced meats.

10. Australian breakfast. Vegemite pasta spread on toast.

11. Japan. Tofu with fish and rice dipped in soy sauce.

12. Thai breakfast. spicy fish with mint and sweet-spicy pork.

13. Egyptian breakfast. A dish called Madamas made from beans, chickpeas, garlic and lemon. In the photo, this dish is seasoned with olive oil, cayenne pepper, tahini sauce and served with eggs and herbs.

14. Colombia. In Cundinamarca, this dish, changua, is very popular. It is made from milk, leeks and cheese.

15. India. Indian tofu, lentils, vegetable sausages, banana toast with pepper and fried potatoes with rosemary.

16. mexican breakfast. Beef, chilequiles and other products. Nachos, cheese and beans are part of the breakfast, which is always richly spiced.

17. Ghana. A dish called wakie. Usually it is rice cooked with beans.

18. American breakfast. Homemade pancakes with bacon, syrup and blueberries.

19. Irish Breakfast - After trying out English and Scottish breakfasts, it's time for an Irish breakfast. Among other things, you will find white pudding and bread from unleavened dough with soda.

20. Breakfast in Alaska - venison and scrambled eggs on a heavy pancake.

It is most logical to start acquaintance with Scotland with Edinburgh. And it is advisable to plan the route in such a way as to be in the capital on a Saturday morning, get up early and take a walk on the "terrace" overlooking the castle. There is a noisy market until lunchtime, where local farmers bring their vegetables, herbs, fish and meat. One glance at the shelves is enough to get an idea of ​​the "Scottish diet": root crops of all varieties and inconceivable colors, varieties of cabbage that we have never seen before, lush bouquets of greenery and an amazing variety of salads. Beef, lamb, horned and feathered game are butchered and packed in such a way that the famous British food writer Elizabeth David, who once lamented the complete inability of British butchers to handle meat properly, could now be proud! Queues line up for artisanal bread and chocolate, farmer's cheese and smoked products: more and more people who know a lot about food.

Truly a royal mile

G&V Hotel located on the George IV Bridge, from the side adjacent to the Royal Mile - a series of streets crossing the old center of the capital. The name is by no means accidental: the total length of the streets is approximately one Scottish mile (1.81 km - they even have their own mile!), Connecting Edinburgh Castle, which houses the crown of Scotland, and Holyrood Palace, the official residence of the British monarchy.

A walk along the Royal Mile can last several days: there is enough "bread and circuses" here. It seems that there is no reason for a tourist to leave the city center, but this is a very misleading impression, especially if one of the purposes of the visit is real Scottish food.

Stars of Edinburgh

Edinburgh has five Michelin-starred restaurants and countless lesser establishments recommended by various respected guides and travel guides. Many are located in a picturesque area old port on the river Leith.

The names of local chefs are well known, but they are not always associated with Scotland. For example, Tom Kitchin, a real Scot with an angelic appearance and a surname that, when choosing a profession, simply left him no other chance (Kitchin is consonant with Kitchen, i.e. kitchen), in addition to two "star" restaurants, he opened a gastropub The Scran & Scally where he prepares traditional Scottish home cooked meals with a modern touch. Kitchin loves to use local ingredients: "I can find tons of amazing products right on my doorstep - isn't that a chef's dream!"

His colleague and friend Martin Wizard in all its restaurants it maintains a commitment to haute cuisine, but, like Kitchin, it uses mainly Scottish ingredients. The name of any dish from Martin's menu will contain a difficult to pronounce proper name. Do you know what it means? The name of the point on the map where it was caught scallop or sheep were grazed, special beets were grown, from which crispy macaroon is made or the cheese used for its filling is made.
“Today we have to emphasize the local origin of products, but I dream of the day when this will become a matter of course. I hope that in ten years such a day will come.

We'll go north

The "Scottish pantry" is simply filled with the most healthy foods in the world, they are nearby - in the mountains, on the plains, in the rivers and two seas there is everything you need and even more - come and take it! “We are terribly lucky, we just need to remember how to dispose of these treasures,” says our gastronomic guide for Scotland by Brenda Anderson.

The road to the north Perth, runs through the endless bright yellow meadows - this is blooming rapeseed. "Why do we olive oil if we have our own, rapeseed - just as good”!

Five years ago someone Michael Small loudly announced its decision not to use any products whose origin is more than 50 miles from home. An exception was made only for coffee, chocolate and bananas, they are too firmly included in the diet.

Since then, thousands of Scots have joined the voluntary sanctions, and Fife ration(Fife's Diet) is considered perhaps the most useful in the world. In general, nothing surprising, because it is based on fish and seafood, cheese, herbs and root crops, berries, rapeseed oil and oats. By the way, oats are elevated here to the rank national treasure. First, it grows ideally in the damp Scottish climate. Secondly, oats perfectly clean the fields from diseases, so they alternated crops of any other crops. As a result, there was always a lot of oats, and it was cheap.

So French Scotland

We were lucky to stop at Barley Bree - family restaurant with accommodation for the night. Responsible for the kitchen Fabrice Botelu. Fabrice is French, but well versed in local products and how to handle them. At all, french cuisine close to the Scots since the XIII century, when France supported Scotland during the next conflict with England.

Fabris calls his style "rustic chic with a French accent": traditional, exclusively local products prepared with the most modern technology and served with simple elegance. On Sundays, he, as expected, serves a real rise-beef, which is impossible to refuse. By the way, one of the world's best meat breeds of cattle is of Scottish origin, which is reflected in its name - Aberdeen Angus. In Scotland, however, the Angus has a competitor: the long-horned, shaggy Scottish Highlanders. She has low-fat, but very soft, almost dietary meat.

Where to visit:

• Sit at a table by the window and have a cup of tea Elephant House on the George IV Bridge. The view from the window of this modest cafe - a gloomy castle on the right, a school on a hill - inspired JK Rowling to write the Harry Potter novel that made both her and the institution famous.
• Go to a pub where, in addition to drinks, real Scottish pies are served. For example, in The Pot Still in Glasgow, which, apart from great choice pies, ale and porter, is also famous for its impressive collection of craft whiskey.

• Go to town Perth, to the Glenturret distillery, to create your own unique blend of five single malts under the guidance of a master, but relying on personal ideas of beauty. Very exciting activity, and a wonderful souvenir!

What to try:

Scottish breakfast

It certainly includes the same haggis, sung by Robert Burns - a mutton's stomach stuffed with abundantly peppered offal with the ubiquitous oatmeal. In addition to haggis, there will be fried champignons, bacon, tomatoes and scrambled eggs: scrambled or fried eggs. Toasts, butter (most often salty), jam - also part of the breakfast, for those who are not weak in spirit!

scotch whiskey

Scottish whiskey, or simply scotch, is perhaps the main gastronomic association associated with this country. The first record of the sale of a distilled barley drink was made in the book of expenses and income of the royal family in 1494. For nearly two hundred years, literally everyone and sundry has been distilling whiskey, because the organization of the process required only barley growing well in Scotland and a stream with good water. But in 1644, a tax on whiskey was introduced, and a significant part of the distilleries chose to go underground. As a result, after 150 years, 8 legal producers of barley distillate and 400 “moonshine makers” remained in the country. In the middle of the 19th century, when the phylloxera destroyed the vineyards, leaving the Europeans without wine and brandy, everyone remembered whiskey. Legislation and taxation relaxed, clear quality and labeling requirements were formulated, and new era in the life of Scotch whisky. Today, "small distilling" is back in vogue, and quite legally. No, modern moonshiners do not compete with famous brands, they are just sure that every bottle of quality whiskey will find its buyer.

Famous Scottish shortbread- short delirium.
Because of huge amount butter, it literally melts in your mouth and never stale. And this is the first thing that is presented as a gift on Christmas morning.

fruit cupcake, really entirely consisting of dried fruits, interconnected only by a drop of dough. This cake is magical - the longer it is stored, the tastier it becomes.

cream fudge and oatmeal . You'll probably want to make them at home, so bring a reference sample with you.

Thank you for visiting Scotland UK Tourism Office VisitBritain, company Tasting Scotland and personally Brenda Anderson.

Oatmeal, sir!
Today I will show you the hotel where we stayed in Edinburgh. As I already wrote, there are almost no new buildings in the city, and we also lived in an old building, on the top floor. There seem to have been 4 of them, but the ceilings are high.

At the reception we were met by a Scottish uncle. As soon as he spoke, I began to listen very carefully, trying not to miss a word of a wonderful and funny Scottish English accent. They don't talk, they sing :) Their singing is very difficult to understand, especially for the first time.

I knew that in Scotland English has its own accent and even a variant of the language, but it exceeded my expectations, but overall I liked it.

Seeing such columns outside the window, I immediately imagined some kind of film and griffins sitting on them.

2.

In the morning, a strong wind began to shake the window, I had to close it tight :) Lower it harder, that is. The windows don't close anyway.

3.

I'm not sure, but the UK is obligated to offer tea in the rooms :) And that was enough, as was coffee and hot chocolate. But no cookies :)

4.

This lamp is not just old, just almost every window you can see such things if you walk through the streets in the evening.

The room had one mysterious switch on the wall. We never understood what he turned off or turned on:

5.

English outlets. I took care of the adapter back in Riga, but you could also ask at the reception if necessary :) Note that each plug has its own date for the next check and, probably, the personal number of the electrician who checked it:

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View from the window:

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And this itself is not a balcony at all - a cornice with the ability to go to the next room through the window:

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There are no elevators, but there is a soft staircase:

9.

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We're going downstairs for breakfast.

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There is no usual continental buffet. The only thing you can take yourself is juices, cereals and a couple of little things.

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Guests are served.

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The menu is not very large, a full Scottish breakfast includes all this and Black Pudding width="800" something like that blood sausage), on the second morning we ordered breakfast without it:

14.

You can choose from an egg in any form, dark or light toasts, coffee or tea. I must admit, everything is very, very tasty, tastier than it might seem. Everything is hot on the plate: sausage, mushrooms, beans, egg, tomato, something potato, delicious bacon. And that same black pudding is not shown :) You can also order porridge. We didn't take it, but maybe it's oatmeal.

If you live for several days, then breakfast will either be the same, or it will not be enough if you do not take everything. But delicious. In general, the products in Edinburgh pleased, they are delicious. They are very often natural, at least the labels on the packages say so.

In most cases, two dates are indicated on the packaging of products in stores: display in the window and consumption, which is good.

The street where we lived:

15.

And the hotel was called the Ailsa Craig Hotel.

Hello my dear. The work week is picking up pace. We were well energized by hearty rich meat soups on Monday and Tuesday, now it would be necessary to rest a little. So today we will have fish soup. It is no less satisfying than previous soups, but much lighter. "Skink" in translation from the language of the Scottish Celts means "essence", but now it's just very thick soup. "Cullen" is a small seaside town where it was once invented. So "Cullen skink" means "thick Cullen soup". The components of this soup are very simple - fragrant chopped salted and smoked haddock, potatoes, onions and cream - it was from them that the fishermen of the pretty Scottish village of Cullen cooked the first "Cullen Skink". The fish is boiled in milk, then potatoes and other ingredients are added to it. Moreover, you can add a lot of potatoes, because for local residents this soup can sometimes replace a whole dinner. Traditionally, as I said, "cullen skink" was made with smoked haddock, but now they use fresh. I cooked soup from fresh haddock (all smoked was forbidden to my husband!) and milk, but, believe me, this option is no worse. And then a surprise awaits you - a bonus to the "Star Week".