Auld alliances

This issue, Sue Lawrence provides some recipes celebrating Scotland's historic associations with France and Italy

There has been a strong Italian community in Scotland for decades. Italians arrived in Edinburgh as early as the 1860s when, according to author of Dear Francesca, Mary Contini, they would congregate on Sundays at Church in the Cowgate for Mass then afterwards sit under the leafy elm trees in the Grassmarket, reminiscent of the piazzas they left in Italy.

The influence is felt in Scotland as it is the world over, with pasta, pizza and risotto cropping up on all restaurant menus, not simply those specialising in Italian fare. But there is one unique item Italians brought to and developed in Scotland and that is our wonderful Italian ice-cream. Classically made only from milk (and sugar of course) instead of cream, it is milky white rather than golden and creamy. The taste is clean and refreshing and flavours made by Italian ice-cream makers in Scotland (Luca's in Edinburgh, Janetta's in St Andrews and Visocchi's near Dundee) include basic vanilla, strawberry, tablet and the more unusual Irn Bru sorbet.

The French-Scots connection is even older than the Italian one, with the first formal Auld Alliance treaty between the Scots and French in 1295, which was a pact against England.

The claret trade having begun in the late 13th century with Scottish merchantmen sailing directly to Bordeaux from Edinburgh's port of Leith, this continued for centuries. And so, years and years before the English had taken to drinking claret regularly, we were trading with Bordeaux – not only dri...

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• By : Sue Lawrence
• In : Food
• Issue : 34
• Page : 49
• Words : 994