Crumbs of Comfort
SCOTTISH COMFORT FOOD IS
SERIOUS STUFF WHEN IT COMES TO QUALITY AND QUANTITY. SUE LAWRENCE EXPLAINS WHY
Comfort food comes in many shapes and sizes, but in Scotland it is invariably in the shape of a soup pot, casserole dish or pudding basin. There is nothing minimalist about comfort food and no place for fancy towers of food or pretty arrangements on plates.
It is often served direct from the dish or pan it was cooked in – admittedly without finesse, but most certainly with taste. Comfort food is usually cold-weather food, food that sticks to your ribs, food that nourishes and soothes. This is food we want to eat, not food we think we ought to.
Soups are the obvious choice, and instead of the thin or cold soups of summertime, comfort food means thick, chunky soups often topped with crispy bacon, roughly-hewn croutons or a hearty grating of farmhouse cheese.
At this time of year, however, there is no more comforting sound than the reassuring shudder of a steamed pudding in its pan, and there are few more gratifying sights than fugged-up windows all running with steam.
And then, best of all, there is the pudding sitting proud on the serving dish, all steamy and sticky, just waiting to be devoured.
The most traditional kind of Scottish pudding is of course the cloutie dumpling: the word ‘cloth’ is the origin of this recipe, as cloot or clout is Scots for cloth, and it refers to the cloth in which the dumpling is boiled.
Unlike other dumplings or steamed puddings, it forms a characteristic ‘skin’, made by sprinkling flour and sugar onto the cloth before filling with the mixt.....
To read the rest of this article you can buy this issue
or subscribe to Scotland Magazine to have every issue delivered direct to your door.
By Sue Lawrence
Section : Scottish Food
Page number : 38
