Introduction

It may seem, in the recipes which follow, that it is limiting in this day and age not to talk of microwave ovens, not even to talk much of ordinary ovens. But whatever the sophistications of the modern kitchen, if there is to be an identity for Scottish cooking it must come from the deep-rooted cooking systems which have evolved from the old black pot hanging over a slow-burning peat fire, along with the iron girdle and the habit of mixing a meal in a deep wooden bowl.

It may be that such primitive cooking methods produce primitive food. But that depends on the cook and the raw materials. If the cooking Scots master the techniques and if they always stay with top quality raw materials, then it doesn’t really matter if the food comes out of a primordial pot, is cooked on an old-fashioned iron girdle, or mixed with a horn spoon in an antique wooden bowl. Primitive cooking methods need not limit the capacity for culinary excellence and I can see no disadvantage in promoting these basic cooking styles which most clearly illustrate the essential elements of Scottish cooking. They are our link with the past as we catch sight of the generations of living things which pass in a short time, but like runners hand on the torch of life.