This comprehensive guide to Scottish cooking throughout history begins with enlightening descriptions of several eras of kitchen methods and customs and their influence on the culinary practice. Features over 200 functional yet traditional recipes built on historical staples such as Pot-Roasts and Scots Brose.

Investigating the roots of national cuisine from a study of archive material and historical cookery books. From the open hearth kitchen of Sir John Foulis of Ravelston in the 1690s to the stone-flagged dairies of Orkney in the 1980s the pageant of history is mirrored in the kitchen. Rarely has a nation’s cooking been so passionately celebrated. More than just a collection of recipes, Broths to Bannocks takes us on a tour of Scotland’s kitchens, from the late 17th century to the present day, that reveals all that is simple and authentic in the nation’s food traditions.

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Louise Gray

Environmental journalist

My Dad gave me this for Christmas one year and it’s a great reference book if I want to recreate dishes from my childhood. Some of my favourite memories of food are my grandmothers’ cooking which tended to be simple Scottish fare: lamb broth, drop scones, fried herring, porridge and proper marmalade. Scotland has a reputation for bad food and we do have some fabulously unhealthy junk food. But we also have some of the best produce in the world and know the best ways to cook them. Because these recipes are historic, they tend to use ingredients in season at the same time, which is also useful.