Scottish Scran 5 - Girdle Scones

After a few days of feeling rather under the weather, I have been comforting myself by cooking up a storm of Scottish comfort food. Mince and tatties, lentil and ham soup, tattie scones... Not a chili in sight for four days - maybe a record for me?!

For a morning snack - still emptying those cupboards - I made these girdle scones - also known as drop scones, Scottish pancakes, griddle scones, drapped scones, scotch pancakes... Girdle is a Scots word for griddle - just in case you were wondering!

They are one of the first things I ever made myself - and also one of the few non savoury things I remember my mum cooking when I was young. Like me, she's always preferred savoury to sweet. One of the other sweet things was rhubarb tart - the only pud my dad will eat!

My favourite way to eat these is hot from the pan, slathered in good butter. Or occasionally with a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkle of sugar... And once in a while, a daub of nutella. Some people like them with jam and cream - but I think they might just be secretly wishing for a baked scone...

Girdle scones really are best straight after cooking - and only take minutes to make, so there is no excuse!

Check out the rest of my Scottish Scran here!

Girdle Scones

Made about 20 scones!

• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• milk to mix, up to 1 cup
• pinch salt

Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl and mix in the salt and sugar. Make a well in the flour and crack the egg into it, then start incorporating the flour into the egg. Add the milk little by little until you have a thick batter.

Heat a griddle (or frying pan!) to a medium heat and grease with a bit of butter or oil. Add tablespoons of the batter to the pan and cook until bubbles break the surface. This should take less than a minute, but shouldn't start immediately - it might take you a couple of goes to get the temperature just right - it always does for me!

Lightly grease the pan between lots.

I always have mine warm with butter... but a dab of jam, or lemon and sugar would also make good toppings!

Serve warm with a cuppa!

Scottish Word of the Day!

Ok, so it isn't actually a Scottish word - but here's a quick note on the word Scotch!

The word Scotch is actually an English adjective meaning 'of or from Scotland'. It was first recorded in the 16th century, and - despite being an English word - was incorporated into the Scots language in the 17th century,

By the early 19th century scotch was rejected by Scottish people as an Anglicised affectation. It is now pretty much obsolete for general use - and is often considered to be patronising and somewhat offensive.*

There are still some valid uses of scotch though, i.e. Scotch broth, Scotch whisky, Scotch pie, Scotch eggs... and of course, today's treat - Scotch pancakes... Funny how most of them are food and drink!

One more scotch thing... Butterscotch does not originate from Scotland! In this case, scotch comes from the Old French word escocher meaning to cut. So, butterscotch is a sweetie made from butter and usually cut into small pieces!


PS. Don't think it's come up before, but I used to study history - including a year of Scottish history! And I thought it would never come in useful... ;)

* I take this quote by historian A. J. P. Taylor as a point in case! ;)

Some inhabitants of Scotland now call themselves Scots and their affairs Scottish. They are entitled to do so. The English word for both is Scotch, just as we call les français the French and Deutschland Germany. Being English, I use it.

Preface to English History 1914–1945

***

Oh, ok then. I can't leave you with out a real Scottish word of the day... so here's a handful for you to decipher yourself!

Since ah've been no weel, ah've been awfy peely-wally an' feelin' fair puggled a' the time. An' a hud tae miss ma pal's pairty which wuz a right scunner: ah'd been looking forrit to a bit o' a swally!

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