An Irreverent Way To Quickly Increase Your Knowledge About Scotland

The Scottish Deerhound, Halloween in Scotland, the wonders of Mince & Tatties, and another great Scotch and Shortbread Pairing

Issue #5

Autumn is zipping by, I hope you’re getting a chance to enjoy it. I love the Autumn. When you can wear shorts and a sweatshirt you know it’s the perfect temperature. I hope you enjoy this irreverent look at autumn in Scotland. All my best, Ken

The Scottish Deerhound

In the dog world, most of the glory goes to the Scottish Deerhounds cousin the Irish Wolfhound. But on a crisp and rainy fall evening as the Scottish Deerhound majestically lays in front of the fire, he is comfortable knowing that he is a far superior breed than his cousin. He’s more loving; He has a better personality; He is better looking, even if it’s in his own odd kind of way. And of course, he’s smarter because he’s from Scotland.

Plus, everyone knows that Scotch whisky is superior to Irish whiskey.

Halloween in Scotland

Scottish Halloween

Of course, Halloween was created by the Scots, everything that is great comes from Scotland. Samhain (pronounced ‘Sow-in’) documentation can be found in Celtic literature from 2000 years ago. Samhain was a pagan celebration held at the end of October marketing the end of the harvest season. The celebration included bonfires, comical pranks and the color orange was used to signify the color change of the end of the season.

It was believed during Samhain that ghosts could mingle with the living. The superstition was that visiting ghosts could disguise themselves in human form and knock on your door asking for food or money. If you turned them away empty handed, you risked receiving the wrath of the spirit and being cursed or haunted. That sounds a lot like trick-or-treating to me.

In fact, the Scots refer to dressing up in costume on Halloween as Guising, which is derived from disguising.

Lastly, long before pumpkin carving became a Halloween tradition the Scots were carving pumpkins, but instead of using pumpkins they were carving turnips. Only in Scotland

Mince and Tatties

As Autumn marches forward our taste buds start to crave comfort food. Mince and Tatties is Scottish comfort food at its best. Even though Mince and Tatties have been around for centuries it is still one of Scotland's most popular foods. What’s not to like about ground beef and root vegetables in a hearty gravy and served with mashed potatoes.

If you live on the edge, you could also throw some in some Neeps. Neeps are Turnips, but in Scotland they’re actually Swedes, which are Swedish Turnips, which are Rutabaga’s, but they’re called Neeps. Is everyone clear? The Neeps can by mashed on their own, or you can incorporate them into the Tatties. Any way you slice it, dice it, mince it or mash it, it’s delicious.

Mince:

1 lb Lean Ground Beef

1 Onion (Large, Diced)

2 Carrots (Diced)

2 T Butter

5T Flour

¾ - 1 C Beef Stock

Salt and Pepper

If you want to step it up a notch you can add Garlic and/or Worcestershire Sauce

Todays Shortbread and Scotch Pairing

Chocolate Chip and Highland Park Scotch

As I spend this crisp autumn evening sitting by the fire enjoying a Chocolate Chip Shortbread and a delicious dram of Highland Park Scotch I couldn’t be more content. Yummy chocolate chips mixed into Grandma MacKenzie’s shortbread. Sometimes simplicity is wonderful!

The perfect pairing for Chocolate Chip Shortbread comes from Scotland’s northern most distillery. Located 10 miles off the Scottish mainland in the beautiful Orkney Islands. For over 220 years the barley used for Highland Park Scotch is smoked with peat that’s more than 4000 years old, and because the windswept islands of Orkney don’t have trees the peat lends a heather-rich aroma to the malting process.

Enjoy!

The Shortbread Chronicles