Cullen Skink
Food — By Finally Woken on October 4, 2008 12:19 pmI haven’t written about Scottish food for a quite long time. Not because I am sulking when some blogger alluded me as blog traffic seeker by posting unworthy thread like food, but because I haven’t tried something new for a long time.
But since the weather is wild outside, and it’s the first time we have the heater on for almost a day, I am longing for something hot, like soup.
Cullen skink would be perfect for this kind of situation. This traditional Scottish soup is rich, thick, creamy, and smoky. Yes, the main characteristic of cullen skink is its smokiness, which comes from its basic ingredient, Finnan haddie. The first element (of the name) refers to the town of Cullen in Moray, skink is a Scots word for a shin, knuckle or hough of beef which has developed the secondary meaning of a soup, especially one made from these. The word skink is ultimately derived from Middle Dutch schenke “shin, hough”.
The soup is often served as a starter at formal Scottish dinners and is very easy to make – although I never do it myself since dear husband doesn’t eat seafood (I know, he’s weird). To learn about the recipe, click here:
- Nick Nairn’s recipe from BBC food (Nick Nairn is celebrity chef {no idea what it means! A chef who also is a celebrity? A celebrity who is a chef?} who became the youngest chef to win a Michelin star in Scotland, and owns a successful cooking school).
- Rampant Scotland
- Scottish Recipes
Of course, if we are lazy, we can always buy it straight from the tin (I can practically hear Alison and Stuart’s grandma’s gasps). But certainly it doesn’t taste the same. One downside though, since it is creamy, it will fill you up fast and spoil your taste for main course, so just make sure you have big stomach to digest it and your main course.
Further reading:
- Cranachan Is…
- Deep Fried Mars Bar
- Haggis, Black Pudding, White Pudding
- Irn Bru
- Shortbread, Oatcake and Rowie
- Sticky Toffee Pudding
- Tunnock’s Teacake and Tablet
Tags: Scottish Food
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5 Comments
Huah … the soup sounds meaty and warm! In this bad European weather, any kind of soup or soto will cheer us up … I prefer the one from fresh ingredients.
santi ds last blog post..Religion: Another Layer of Multiculturalism and Multilingualism
A dark late afternoon, storm, hail and sleet outside, cozy together sitting by the fire – this is the time of year for small talk and a traditional Scottish soup.
The recipe makes my mouth water and myself craving for an invitation…
colsons last blog post..Stone on Bush
Aaaargh – You are breaking the official secrets act and disclosing too much classified information.
PS Saw you on Top Scottish Websites. I will e-mail you on how we can compete for world wide domination for the Number One position
Dilligafs last blog post..Tits out in Tangerang
shin? dibikin sup? wah aku merasa makanan skotlan aneh2, seperti masakan jawa aja, banyak jeroan
the writers last blog post..Technical problems
Santi: I myself am not really into soup but it’s a big thing here. How do find fresh ingredients since you mentioned it’s hard to find veggies there?
Colson: your comment is much better than my lengthy post. Now even I crave for cullen skink!
Dilligaf: oh I’m for it! Who doesn’t want to dominate the world? Hehehe…
The Writer: no no, it’s just the name, the ingredients are only haddock (fish), oinion, and potatoes. No real shin involved!