I had a Scotch egg for lunch, and I enjoyed it very much. I have been wondering since then why it was called a “Scotch” egg – a boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat and breadcrumbs, what is Scottish about that? Did the idea of it originate in Scotland? Does Scotch have another meaning – I know it can mean scratched – as in hopscotch, where originally the pattern was scratched out on the ground, and obviously Scotch whisky, but a Scotch egg?
Various recipes appeared in the nineteenth century, the first being in 1809 which just had the boiled yolk – the white being removed, and Mrs Beeton herself had her Scotch egg eaten hot with gravy – which I can’t imagine appealing much today. The fact that the first recipe appeared at a certain date doesn’t mean that was necessarily the date the item was invented or first made, of course.
I’m so often snap happy when I’m about to eat something, that I can’t believe I didn’t take a photo of my fine Scotch egg!However, I didn’t so my featured image is of a completely different egg, accompanied by some lackluster bacon, eaten some time ago.
Lois Elsden 