Scotch egg

Origin

There are a number of different theories about the origins and etymology of Scotch eggs, and no firm conclusion. The OED gives the first instance of the name as 1809, in an edition of Maria Rundell's A New System of Domestic Cookery. For her, as with most other writers of the time, they were a dinner dish, served hot with gravy. They did not, at that time, have a breadcrumb layer, although by 1861 Isabella Beeton suggested this as an option. The Oxford Companion to Food speculates that the origin may be Indian koftas.

As a cold item, the London department store Fortnum & Mason claims to have invented Scotch eggs in 1738, as a traveller's snack, but based this on archival material since lost. They certainly popularised them, including them as part of their various hampers. It is generally believed that they in turn derived from food the British encountered in the Raj, including a Mughlai dish called nargisi kofta ("Narcissus meatballs").

Other claims include the name coming from a nickname used by Londoners who lived around Wellington Barracks after Officers of the Scots Guards stationed there, and who developed a taste for the snack. According to Culinary Delights of Yorkshire, they originated in Whitby, Yorkshire, England, in the 19th century, and were originally covered in fish paste rather than sausage meat. They were supposedly named after William J. Scott & Sons, a well-known eatery which sold them. However, the date does not fit with the known use of the term at least 75 years earlier. It has also been suggested that they were originally called "scorch" eggs, as they were cooked over an open flame, though according to surviving recipes they were deep-fried in lard. Scotching as a culinary process is also sometimes cited as the origin, though what scotching was is open to interpretation, from the inclusion of anchovies, to simply mincing meat. Further confusion is added by the large trade in eggs from Scotland in the 19th century, and which sometimes involved dipping eggs in a lime powder - a process (possibly) also known as 'scotching'.

Serving

Scotch eggs are a common picnic food. In the United Kingdom packaged Scotch eggs are available in supermarkets, corner shops and motorway service stations. Miniature versions are also widely available, sold as "mini scotch eggs" "savoury eggs", "picnic eggs", "party eggs", "snack eggs", "egg bites" or similar. These contain chopped egg or a quail's egg, rather than a whole chicken egg, and sometimes contain mayonnaise or chopped bacon.

In the United States, many "British-style" pubs and eateries serve Scotch eggs, usually served hot with dipping sauces such as ranch dressing, hot sauce, or hot mustard sauce. At the Minnesota State Fair Scotch eggs are served on a stick. Scotch eggs are available at most Renaissance Festivals across the US.

In the Netherlands and Belgium, Scotch eggs may also be called vogelnestje ("little bird's nest"), because they contain an egg, or eierbal ("eggball"). One 1880s Scottish recipe also calls them birds nests.

Regional variations

Several local variations exist. The Manchester Egg uses a pickled egg wrapped in a mixture of pork meat and Lancashire black pudding, and the Worcester Egg uses an egg pickled in Worcestershire sauce and clad in a mixture of local sausage meat and white pudding.