Remember when I was obsessed with Scotland? I wrote about Edinburgh, then Inverness, then Inverness again, and I also made Cranachan. Well, here’s one more plug for Scotland… tattie scones. Tattie scones are basically fried flat discs made of potato dough. They are delicious and I first had them when I tried Scottish breakfast. In a very meat-heavy meal, yet my favorite thing was made with potatoes.

Although I did have tattie scones a few times during my vacation to Scotland, I sort of forgot about them afterward. That is until I recently went out for breakfast with my friend Hannah. I had tattie scones with scrambled eggs and fell in love all over again.

I really love cooking things I normally have at restaurants because at home I can have MORE. Lots more. In a restaurant I will be served two, maybe three, tattie scones. I want to be able to have at least four and preferably six. It’s gluttonous, but it’s true. Sure, I could order three side orders of tattie scones at a restaurant but I do have some amount of dignity. At least in public. At home, I’m totally cool with Ryan seeing me gorge myself on tattie scones. That’s real love people.

So, I find tattie scones are best eaten warm and fresh out of the pan. This way they are crispier and overall more delicious (in my opinion). But you could of course have them cold. As for what potatoes to use, you need floury ones. Floury potatoes are soft and fluffy, but dry once cooked. They aren’t great for regular boiling as they will fall apart. For example, when I poked my potatoes with a fork to check doneness the potato split with a large crack. It wasn’t ruined, but boiling potatoes will hold their shape when poked. Here in the UK examples of floury potatoes are King Edward and Maris Piper. In the US the lingo is a bit more muddled. Look for potatoes that have a high starch content or that are labelled good for baking. Russet or Idaho potatoes are good examples.

What makes tattie scones different than other foods with potato based doughs? I’ll tell you. These sort of reminded Ryan and me of latkes in flavor, but I think it’s been forever since he and I had eaten a latke because they are pretty different. Latkes use shredded potatoes, onions, and egg, and barely (if any at all) flour. I also looked into gnocchi – which is sort of similar to both latkes and tattie scones. Gnocchi is made with potatoes, flour, eggs, and salt. The big difference is you boil gnocchi. Who knew there was such diversity in potato based doughs? Now we all know a bit more. You’re welcome.

Adapted from the Guardian.

Messy level: When Ryan looked at the kitchen afterward he called it “a warzone.” I would argue it’s not that bad, but you do have to boil the potatoes, mash them, then make a dough, and then roll out the dough. That’s a lot of steps, a lot of tools, and the potential for a lot of mess.

Tattie Scones

 

Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

 

Serves: 24 triangles

Ingredients

• 1 lb/500g floury potatoes, unpeeled (see notes above about types of potatoes)
• 3 tablespoons/40g butter, plus a little more for greasing
• 1 cup/ 125g all-purpose flour, plus a little more for dusting
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Put the potatoes in a big pot and cover with salted water. Bring the water to a boil and then let the potatoes simmer until cooked. The potatoes are cooked when they are fork tender. This takes about 25-30 minutes depending on the potato's size.
2. Drain the potatoes and then return them to the pan. Leave them in there to dry a bit from the heat of the pot. Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle rub off the skins. You can do this bare handed or use a paper towel to help you.
3. Add the butter and then mash the potatoes using a potato masher or fork. Mash them as best as you can. Some tiny pea sized lumps are ok, but big lumps will not do!
4. Now pour in the flour and salt. Use a wooden spoon and mix everything all together until you have a dough.
5. Divide the dough into 4 pieces (or more pieces if you have a small skillet and so need to make smaller circles). Roll the dough out into circles that are a little less than ¼" thick. If you want perfect circles use a small salad plate and a knife as a template. Otherwise roll it out into a rough circle and that's good enough.
6. Heat up a large skillet over medium high heat. Put some butter in the pan to grease it.
7. Put one dough circle in the preheated skillet. Use a spatula to press it down against the pan. Cook the dough for about 3-5 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. [Note: As you cook you might need to lower the heat so the later tattie scones don't get immediately burned.] Repeat until all your dough circles are cooked.
8. Once the scone is cooked remove from the heat, cut into four triangles and serve. It goes well with Scottish breakfast or scrambled eggs and lox.

3.3.3077

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Ok everyone, this is my last post about my vacation to Scotland. If you missed the other two posts, feel free to go back and read about Edinburgh and Culloden Battlefield. I know I’ve been talking about Scotland a lot, but the thing is, it was such a wonderful experience!

Vacation is meant to be a break from regular life, to try something new, and to relax and recharge from the stresses of work. Unfortunately sometimes when you get back home life hits you like a ton of bricks and it feels like you never went away at all. But this trip has stuck with me. We’ve been back over a week and I still feel at ease. I feel better about work, about the hot sticky temperature of the tube, about our tiny flat, about chores, and about all the tiny things that bug the regular life version of myself. Scotland was so lush, green, sunny, and friendly. It was such a great holiday and I’m just not over it yet. 

The last bit of site seeing we did in Inverness before heading back to London via Edinburgh was to Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness. Urquhart Castle is situated in the valley between some very large rolling hills, but still sits somewhat high above the sparkling blue water of Loch Ness. As you can image, Loch Ness is the reason a lot of tourists go to visit this area of the Highlands. Who can pass up an opportunity to see Nessie?

In fact, Ryan and I may have seen Nessie. Here’s the story: In general I like the idea of fantastical creatures and wish they did exist (or that I believed they existed). Ryan is logical and realistic and does not believe in those kinds of things. However, as we stood at the top of the hill and leaned on the railing overlooking the water surrounding Urquhart Castle Ryan noticed some splashing in the water. There wasn’t a boat nearby or anything else that we could see, and the waves looked somewhat sizable. Was it the wind? A fish? An eel? It was Ryan who suggested it could be Nessie. And since we were on vacation and in good spirits, we said that yeah, probably it was Nessie. We don’t have any proof, but I think it’s fun to believe.

While we were by the Castle, I had also hoped to look around the town and check out one of the Nessie exhibits. My Rick Steves’ guidebook said there were two, with one being cheesy and one being slightly less cheesy. But, Ryan and I had been dropped off at Urquhart Castle by the bus, which only came a few times per day, and the walk back up to town was steep so we didn’t make it. If you’re in the area and you have a car you would definitely have enough time to do both the castle and the Nessie exhibits in one day.

Urquhart Castle though is a clear crowd pleaser. I mean, look at these pictures! It’s the most gorgeous place in the most gorgeous setting. Beautiful stone, rolling hills, lush greenery, and shimmering blue water?! Nature is obviously showing off. And it worked, I was impressed.

In the visitor’s center is a small exhibit about Urquhart Castle, who lived there, the work they did, and where they would have been. The name of the Castle comes from a mix of Scottish Gaelic and Welsh. Additionally, there is a short film that goes over the history of the Castle. At the end of the film the projection screen rolls up and we got a panoramic view of the Castle and Loch. It’s a little heavy handed at making you feel wonder and awe, but it works because the view is breathtaking.

The ruins of the Castle date from the 13th-16 century. However this site may have been occupied much earlier as the introductory film says that St. Columba visited the site in about AD 600. Anyway from the 1200’s to its demise in about 1692 the castle served as a military stronghold and did see a lot of action. Apparently over it’s long history control of Urquhart passed back and forth between the hands of the English and the Scottish. Most notably, the Castle was in English hands after King Edward I of England invaded in 1296. Then in the 1300’s it was part of the Scottish struggle for independence and was under control of Robert the Bruce who became King of the Scots.

What I liked best about visiting the Castle is that we got to wander around on our own. We could get up close to the stones and peer through windows and really explore. Back in the visitors center there had been a model of the Castle in its heyday which marked how different areas would have been used. As we walked around in the Castle there were small signs that let you know what might have been a kitchen, bed room, or hall and built on what we had learned inside. I liked that I could stand in the place and imagine what it might have been like. I liked the minimal signage because it was enough to help me create a picture but not so much that it took away from the experience of being in the Castle, the place that witnessed the history. I think it’s a good museum practice that you can allow people to interact with very little text, but that the text that does exist is really evocative and informative.

For example, in the model I had seen a representation of the kitchen and learned a bit about food preparation. From what I had seen inside I knew that there would have been lots of people working with various roles, all with the aim of creating big feasts for the rich. Then outside in the Castle, there was just a small sign giving brief information about the kitchen and then they had a small info graphic showing how cooks could have used one cauldron to make 3-4 different dishes at a time. It was simple, informative, and brought the history to life. An empty building in ruins can potential be hard to connect with, but I thought the Historic Scotland (the branch of government that cares for the site) had done an excellent job of bringing the history alive without being invasive to the Castle structure.

We ended our visit by walking down the hill towards the waters edge. I put my fingers in the cold water just so I could touch just a little bit of Loch Ness. I love the water and want to get in it any chance I can. We walked up the hill to the cafe. Ryan and I had a pot of tea, shared a scone, and enjoy the perfect weather as we waited for our bus. It was a shining, beautiful way to end our Scottish vacation. I can’t recommend this experience enough.

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I’m writing this while in Edinburgh on our last day of vacation. When Ryan and I decided we wanted to take a week long summer vacation we talked about a lot of places. Mostly, we talked about sunny places and mostly we talked about Italy. But, we went to Italy last year and so we decided it was time to finally visit a place we kept dreaming of, but hadn’t yet made the time for: Scotland. We had visions of old castles and rolling hills, while I also had a desire to visit every part of the UK. So, Scotland it was. And it turns out, we had a lot of sun while we were here too. We chose to visit Edinburgh at the beginning and end of the trip with Inverness in the middle. 

There are lots of things to do in Edinburgh, but at the same time isn’t not a giant overwhelming city. Ryan and I spent a lot of time wandering the streets and closes (tiny alleyways). We laid in the grass at the University or Edinburgh, we sat outside the new Parliament building, we bought a bottle of whisky, and we went on a Mercat ghost tour that made another patron scream and made me hope I’d see a ghost.

On the first day we arrived we saw St. Giles Cathedral. The spire is pretty cool and is a Scottish crown steeple that dates from 1495. I found the interior of the church really beautiful. It feels both big and cavernous and somehow approachable and comforting. Apparently inside near the entrance is a statue of a bag-piping angel, which I missed, but Ryan saw. There’s also a stained glass window (photo below, top right) which celebrates the poet Robert Burns. He wrote a song with the famous line, “my love is like a red, red rose,” and that top of the window is supposed to remind people of those words. I love that song. Years ago Ryan and I went to a concert as part of a road trip and we heard this song. I remember listening to that song and in that moment thinking, maybe… maybe we might get married some day. There are some other cool parts to the interior of the church. There are 4 big pillars that date to 1120. And there’s a bronze statue of John Knox (which they apparently move around). He was a Reformer and he insisted everyone should be able to read the word of God and it’s in part thanks to him that Scotland had an educational systems centuries ahead of other parts of Europe. After the church we did some wandering and ended up by Arthur’s Seat. One of the things I wanted from vacation was the opportunity to walk, or hike, surrounded by beautiful countryside. We weren’t sure we should attempt the climb right away as we weren’t carrying sunscreen, water, food, or any rain gear. But we were there at the foot of it and my Rick Steve’s guidebook said it was a 45 minute walk, to wear comfortable shoes, and that you could just stroll. Needless to say we decided to go for it. By no means did we need special climbing gear, but from that description we thought it was going to be easy. It turns out Arthur’s Seat is the 822 foot remains of an extinct volcano and some of the walk is pretty steep. At times we were huffing and puffing up uneven stairs and were hopping among rocks like a billy goat. 

Although we might be out of shape, this was one of the best things we did during our whole time in Scotland. There’s something about living in London that makes me yearn for wide open spaces and the outdoors, and this experience satisfied that desire immensely. It was great to be surrounded by plants and rocks and feeling the wind and sun on my face. The scraggly cliffs you see behind Ryan in the photo below, are the Salisbury Crags. When we were at the top of Arthur’s Seat they just look like a smooth hill, but I love the way the reddish craggy stone looks from lower down. Best of all, were the views from the top of Arthur’s Seat. We saw the city of Edinburgh, golf courses, the sea, and more green space. It was day 1 and I was getting everything I wanted from Scotland.The next day we went to Edinburgh Castle. The castle looms large over the city and we saw it from the outside a few times while we wandered around. There is a lot to see at the castle. First, there are the crown jewels and some fun lore/history surrounding hiding them and rediscovering them years later. But more than the shiny gems, I liked seeing the Stone of Sconce, which is the coronation stone for kings and queens. It was taken by the English in 1296 and wasn’t returned until 1996. But, for future coronations the stone will be brought back to London.

There’s also the royal palace where you can see where the royalty actually lived. King James VI, who became King James I of England was born there. There’s also St. Margret’s Chapel, which is tiny but has some lovely stained glass windows including one picturing William Wallace. Honestly, beyond William Wallace, I knew so little about Scottish culture before this trip. It was nice to have the opportunity to learn a lot more and to add to what little I knew about William Wallace.

Inside the castle grounds there is also the National War Museum of Scotland. It’s a well done museum that tells not only about wars fought by the Scottish, but also shows the evolution of their fighting and contributions, and the experiences and effects that war had on Scottish soldiers and families. I really love bagpipes, kilts, and tartan and this museum helped me learn more about their practical uses to identify, instill pride, and organize people. It was really so fascinating. Finally, here too the views of the city were incredible. It felt like everywhere we went in Scotland there was something beautiful to see.

In our first few days in Scotland we found people to be really warm and friendly (at the hotel the concierge talked our ear off by London standards!) We tried Scottish breakfast and I even ate haggis (which I was a little nervous about). The verdict on haggis: I thought it was fine, I wasn’t in love, but I would (and did) try it again, and that it gets an unnecessarily bad wrap. We heard bagpipe music and I got a sweet picture of the piper blowing fire. So far, the first few days of vacation were pretty fun and beautiful – and I was excited to travel north to Inverness. Curious about the Highlands? Stay tuned! Next week’s Tourist Tuesday is all about Culloden Battle field in Inverness.

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