Scotland has a long history of using indigenous foods. Early settlers relied heavily on seafood and agriculture introduced oats as a staple crop. Through medieval times, foods varied greatly between social classes from venison and fowl for nobility to pottages of herbs and roots for common people. Traditional Scottish dishes like haggis, cullen skink, and clapshot evolved from methods of preserving inexpensive, accessible ingredients. French influence during the Renaissance introduced new cooking styles.

1. SCOTTISH FOOD
MAIN FACTS
ALUMNOS: CIPRI RAMOS, JOSE
MANUEL CABELLO, FRANCISCO
JOSE MORENO Y ANTONIO PÉREZ

2. HISTORY
 Scotland, with its temperate climate and
abundance of indigenous game species, has
provided a cornucopia of food for its
inhabitants for millennia. The wealth of
seafood available on and off the coasts
provided the earliest settlers with their
sustenance. Agriculture was introduced, with
primitive oats quickly becoming the staple.

3.  In common with many medieval European
neighbours, Scotland was a feudal state
for a greater part of the second
millennium. This put certain restrictions on
what one was allowed to hunt, therefore
to eat. In the halls of the great men of the
realm, one could expect venison, boar,
various fowl and songbirds, expensive
spices (pepper, cloves, cinnamon, etc.), as
well as the meats of domesticated species.

4.  From the Journeyman down to the lowest cottar,
meat was an expensive commodity, and would
be consumed rarely. For the lower echelons of
Mediæval Scots, it was the products of their
animals rather than the beasts themselves which
provided nourishment. This is evident today in
traditional Scots fayre, with its emphasis on
dairy produce. It would appear that the average
meal would consist of a pottage of herbs and
roots, (and when available some meat or stock
for flavouring) bread and cheese when possible.

5.  Before Sir Walter Raleigh's introduction of
the potato to the British Isles, the Scots'
main sources of carbohydrate was gained
from bread made from oats or barley.
Wheat was generally difficult to grow
because of the damp climate. Food thrift
was evident from the earliest times, with
excavated middens displaying little
evidence of anything but the toughest
bones. All parts of an animal were used.

6.  The mobile nature of Scots society in the past
required food that would not spoil quickly. It was
common to carry a small bag of oatmeal that
could be transformed into a basic porridge or
oatcakes using a Girdle (griddle). It is theorised
that Scotland's national dish, Haggis, originated
in a similar way: A small amount of offal or low-
quality meat, carried in the most inexpensive
bag available, a sheep or pig's stomach. It has
also been suggested that this dish was
introduced by Norse invaders who were
attempting to preserve their food during the
long journey from Scandinavia.

7. FRENCH INFLUENCE
 During the Late Middle Ages and early modern
era, the French cuisine started to play a role in
Scottish cookery due to the cultural exchanges
brought by the "Auld Alliance"; and especially
during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary,
on her return to Scotland brought an entourage
of French staff who are considered responsible
for revolutionising Scots cooking and for some of
Scotland's unique food terminology.

8. This influence continued until the downfall
of Jacobitism and the defeat at Culloden,
when Scotland came into the cultural sphere
of England, and the faculties of continental
gastronomy were out of bounds.
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9. TRADITIONAL SCOTTISH
SPECIALITIES
 CULLEN SKINK (soup)
Cullen Skink is a thick Scottish soup made
of smoked Finnan haddie, potatoes and
onions.
This soup is a local speciality, from the
town of Cullen in Moray, on the north-east
coast of Scotland. The soup is often
served as a starter at formal Scottish
dinners.

10.  RASPBERRY (fruit)
The raspberry is the edible fruit of a
number of plant species in the subgenus
Idaeobatus of the genus Rubus; the name
also applies to these plants themselves.
The name originally referred to the
European species Rubus idaeus, with red
fruit, and is still used for that species as its
standard English name in its native area.

11.  ARBROATH SMOKIE (fish)
 The Arbroath Smokie originally came from the small
fishing village of Auchmithie, 3 miles North-East of
Arbroath. Local legend has it that a store caught fire one
night, destroying barrels of Haddock preserved in salt.
The following morning, the people of Auchmithie came
to clean up the ruin and found some of the barrels had
caught fire, cooking the Haddock inside. Further
inspections revealed the Haddock was edible and quite
tasty.
In reality, it's much more likely that the villagers at
Auchmithie are of Scandinavian descent as the 'Smokie
making' process is similar to methods of smoking which
are still carried out today in areas of Scandinavia.
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12.  HAGGIS (meat)
Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish.
There are many recipes, most of which
have in common the following ingredients:
sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs),
minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices,
and salt, mixed with stock, and
traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach
for approximately three hours.

13.  CLAPSHOT (vegetable)
Clapshot is a traditional Scottish dish that
originated in Orkney and is frequently
served with mince or haggis. It is created
by the combining mashing of potatoes and
turnips.