Try a tartan flambe — or a thistle pate

Press, 1 October 1983, Page 12

Try a tartan flambe — or a thistle pate

Food & Fable

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David Burton

“There are two things a Highlander likes naked, and one of them is whisky,” runs the old saying, which may explain why the Scots are not especially fond of using whisky in their cooking. Whisky, they say, is for pouring down throats, not putting into pots. But if brandy is a perfectly acceptable item in the cook’s repertoire, why not whisky? I suspect the answer lies in a mere accident of history. Only in recent times has whisky penetrated France and the Mediterranean, but had it been readily at hand when the great French chefs were developing the classical recipes, whisky may well have been used just as frequently as brandy. The fact is that in flambe cooking brandy and whisky can be used more or less interchangeably, because the difference in flavour is virtually indistinguisable once the alcohol has been burned off.

Whisky can also replace brandy in liver pates, and in its own right, it seems to go well with seafoods such as crayfish and scallops. The main thing to watch when using whisky in cooking is not to overdo it, since it can easily overpower and ruin the flavour of the foods it accompanies. Whisky’d scallops 25g butter 1 small onion, finely diced

200 g buttom mushrooms, finely chopped Salt and pepper % cup water 4 tbs whisky 1 bay leaf 2 egg yolks Melt the butter and fry the onion until cooked but not browned. Add the mushrooms and fry until cooked, add salt and pepper to taste, and then set aside. Meanwhile, have the lightly salted water and whisky and bay leaf simmering in a separate pot. Drop in the scallops and simmer for about six minutes, with the lid on the pot. Take the pot off the heat, remove the scallops with a slotted spoon, discard the bay leaf, and then slowly dribble the egg yolks into the cooking liquid, beating vigorously with a wire whisk. Place the pot back on the stove and continue to beat the liquid with the wire whisk until it thickens. Do

not allow to boil. Add the scallops and mushroom mixture to reheat, and then serve with triangles of toast. Serves four as an entree, two as a main course. Scotch marinated mushrooms Vz cup olive oil 4 tbs lemon juice 2 tbs whisky 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped 2 tbs chopped parsley Salt and pepper 200 g raw mushrooms, washed and dried Combine all ingredients except the mushrooms and stir well together. Add the mushrooms and leave to marinate at least two hours, turning the mushrooms over in the liquid from time to time. Serves 2 to 3. One of the few traditional Scottish dishes to include

whisky is Ale-Crowdie, which used to be served at the Kirn, or harvest, festival.

On the morning of the festival an earthenware dish was filled with beer, and sweetened to taste with treacle. Oatmeal would then be added, and as much whisky as desired. The recipe is described in a 1787 ditty by Andrew Shirrefs, titled “A Cogie o’ Yill” (A cogie was a wooden vessel, and “yill” is gaelic for ale): A cogie o’ yill,

An’ a pickle of oatmeal, an’ a dainty wee drappie o’ whisky An’ hey for the cogie, An’ hey for the yill — Gin ye steer together, they’ll do unco weel.

The dish would be eaten at the end of the festival in the evening, by which time the oatmeal would have absorbed most of the alcohol. A ring was put into the mixture, and whoever got it was supposed to be the next to be married.

Halfway between a pudding and a drink is Atholl Brose. Recipes vary, but one is to beat two cups of cream until frothy, add one cup of oatmeal, half a cup of honey, and then two wine-glasses of whisky. This was a favourite among the Highland regiments as a toast to the New Year, accompanied no doubt by plenty more of the fiery fluid in an unadulterated form.

Apart from New Year and weddings, the other great occasion for whisky drinking in Scotland was a funeral. Often as not there is an inn at the cemetery gate in Scotland, and in former times, an extra horse and cart might be sent along for the return journey from the cemetery, to pick up the wayside drunks and those who had come off second best from drunken brawls. At the funeral of the Hon. Alexander Fraser of Lovat, several hearse bearers arrived at the graveside so drunk that they fell in, while at the laying to rest of Flora Macdonald, the protectoress of Bonnie Prince Charlie, 1 the 3000 mourners present consumed 300 gallons. Finally, there is the story of two rival whisky distillers, both of the name of Grant, who turned up early at the graveside of a departed mutual relative. The first Grant pulled out a flask, took a swig, and was about to pocket it when, on second thoughts handed it over to his rival.

“Och, ye may as well have a dram, ye’ll not often get the opportunity of anything as good,” he said.

The other Grant took a long hard draw from the flask, then handed it back with the words:

“Man that’s just what I required. I’d have brought my own flask, but I don’t want it said I smelled of whisky at the funeral.”