Sharabelle bakes

You must be  inebriated, before you can try them DEEP FRIED PIZZA Scotland has a colder climate than the rest of the UK, especially in the North where I was born.  So historically we would eat a lot of carbs because they were also cheap.  Being able to walk into a supermarket and have an endless range of food, is a pretty new phenomenon.   Which is why favourite traditional Scot's meals are - mince and tatties - stovies - porridge - Scotch broth soup.  (must be thick enough to stand a spoon in it) - Oatcakes  - tattie scones For most of the population meat was a luxury and wasn't eaten often.  Stovies was created as a way of bulking out the left overs. So it's not too hard to understand that when it comes to our modern day take away food it tends to be heavy on the carbs. Deep fried Pizza  - from serious eats.  Seems our Scottish classic is now being served in the US. Traditionally in Scotland, the...

High Street Bakers www.rowies.scot When I was researching  Haggis  for a previous post, I started thinking about what us Scot's really do eat.  Haggis might be our national dish, but at most we only eat it once a year. The typical Scottish working lunch usually comes from one of our local bakeries or a food van.  Hot and cold filled rolls  are still the top item to buy. But who could pass up the chance of a pie and a cake. Buttery or Rowie This is a breakfast classic from my hometown of Aberdeen, sold widely in the Aberdeenshire area.  You might see them sold in other parts of Scotland, but there just not the same.  Think of a flat croissant that's a doesn't puff up. There considered a savoury pastry due to their salty taste.  Traditionally these were made with butter, which is why their called butteries. However some less than scrupulous bakers started to use lard.  The commercially produced ones are made using oil, ...

Haggis  Haggis is referred to as Scotland's national dish, however most records show that it was popular all over Britain.  I always see it as a thrifty food, that used up parts of the animal that the wealthy wouldn't eat.   Traditional haggis was made from the sheep's pluck, heart, liver and lungs. Which are minced down, then mixed with oatmeal and spices.  Every haggis maker have their own secret spice recipe, that's locked away. Most Scots only eat it with neep's and tatties once a year on Burns night.  Were more likely to buy it ready to eat.  For non meat eaters like myself, vegetarian haggis is readily available.   Haggis shepherds pie Perfect recipe for using up leftover haggis.  Use Vegetarian haggis, if you don't like the sound of normal haggis ingredients.   Haggis Bridie recipe   Most Bakers shops in Scotland will have some version of a haggis pie.  Perfect for eating on the go. Hagg...

My mum knows how hard it is for me to find dairy free products.  She gets more annoyed than I do when were out for a fly cup and I can't get anything to eat.   Fly cup: Scots for an illicit cup of tea or coffee.   Traditionally there's a morning and afternoon fly cup   When she finds anything she buys it for me to try out. On this trip out she discovered   Angelic Gluten Free  cranberry crunch cookies, at Loch Leven Larder.     Loch Leven's Larder   Gluten free, egg free, dairy free and reduced fat.  Less than 75 calories per cookie.  I bake a lot...  which is probably an understatement.  Baking dairy free is pretty easy, baking reduced fat is pretty easy, however doing the both together not so much.   Then you add on gluten free,  high on impossible.   However the guys at Angelic Gluten free have done it.  If my mum had not told me it was gluten free ...

On the menu today at the Pantry was mince and dumplings and eve's pudding with custard.  The mince and dumplings looked just as good as my mothers. While the Eve's pudding was a last minute substitute, that was really popular with the customers.   Scotland = Cold weather = Stodgy food It might be February but it's still feels like winter outside, so stodgy filling food is the best remedy to warm the bones.  Slight dilemma this morning,  we discovered there were only 4 eggs left in the fridge.  To make a traditional jam sponge we need 6 eggs. (It's a canteen, so we make really large puddings) Plus we also needed eggs to scramble for the breakfast break.  Reducing food waste isn't just practised in the home, restaurants and cafes need to watch there costs to keep there prices down.  After checking the fridge we discovered some apples, then after a quick look in the cook books we found  an E...

STOVIES Today's menu at the Pantry Turkey and rice soup Corn beef Stovies  Apple crumble or Jam sponge pudding with custard I never really know what am going to blog about until I turn on my computer.  I like the randomness of it, makes things more interesting that way.  I mean this morning I could never have imagined I'd be blogging about Stovies!!! Stovies is one of the Great Scottish comfort foods, however the versions change depending on the region you live in.  In Aberdeen we made it from tatties and beef mince. When I moved down to Fife I found there recipe was more wet with gravy, which I loved. At the Pantry it's made with cubed corn beef, onions and mashed potato's.  Then served with gravy on the side. Traditional Stovie recipe  Stovies is one of those foods that reminds me of being a kid again.  In our house it was always made at Hogmanny to see in the bells.  It was always on hand to serve...