Scotland

Scotch Whisky and Haggis (ofcourse), sowans, peat - harvested and used for cooking and now to flavor Whisky - are in upcoming and taped talks. One intriguing talk is on the potato famine in Scotland, when there was a revolt... over oatmeal. Another talk is on the Margaret Dods cookbook (which I have used and enjoyed) and its Sir Walter Scott connection. Future taped talks will be added to this post.



Manuscript recipe books digitized by National Library of Scotland 1659- HERE

Apr 27 Tue 7:30pm Highwaymen, Scandal and Haggis: Recipes from the Cleikum Inn. "the fictional Cleikum Inn and its innkeeper, Meg Dods, who escaped the pages of Walter Scott's novel St Ronan's Well (1823) to play a prominent role in both the literary and physical landscape of nineteenth century Britain." [Dods' cookbook, The Cook and Housewife’s Manual…, Edinburgh: 1826, the next link] Amy Beingessner. The Centre for Scottish Studies. Canada. register HERE no tape

The Cook and Housewife’s Manual… by Mrs Margaret Dods, of the Cleikum Inn, St Ronan’s. Edinburgh: 1826. Dods was a character in Sir Walter Scott's book St. Ronan's Well, 1823. Online HERE

The Gastronomic World of Sir Walter Scott. Including foods he mentioned and the evolution of the Scottish Breakfast. Kay Shaw Nelson author of The Art of Scottish-American Cooking and was longtime CHoW member. Article HERE

Apr 28 Wed 2:30-4:30 Plumbing the Depths of a Bog. 5 speakers on the peatlands, mapping the changes, archaeology and land management, peatland restoration, various names. Galloway Glens. Scotland HERE

May 12 Wed 6:30-8:30pm The History of Scotch Whisky. A terrific talk on the origins, how made, the Scots history with fights against government and taxmen, from small distilleries to consolidation. David McNicoll author of The Language of Whisky. Brooklyn Brainery $7 HERE

May 12 Wed 9-10pm Scotch Whisky Virtual Book Tour event! Margarett Waterbury author of Scotch: A Complete Introduction to Scotland’s Whiskies. Women Who Whiskey Seattle Chapter $39 HERE

May 13 Thurs 11am Peated Malt Production – Traditional Innovation. New peated malt facility to take “green malt (partially germinated barley) … for final kilning and incorporation of the peated flavour (defined as phenol)… in three strengths.” The Institute of Brewing & Distilling (IBD) HERE

May 15 Sat World Whisky Day

TAPES

Burns Night Supper. First few toasts/talks very well done - Ode to Haggis, Immortal Memory talk, and another on Women & Whisky by Darroch Bratt. “academic event celebrating Scottish Romanticism with an interdisciplinary excursus on whisky production in the Romantic period.” BARS Digital Events Jan 2021 HERE TAPE HERE

Scottish food: ferments and sweets. Sowans and other ‘Scrappy’ Fermented Foods / Evolution of the consumption of sweet discretionary products. Food History Seminar - Institute of Historical Research. Dec 17 HERE TAPES HERE

275th Anniversary of Culloden. April 16, 1746. Battlefield sites and visitor center exhibits, stories of battle and aftermath, music and interviews with Outlander author Diana Gabaldon. Apr 2021 1 hour TAPE Facebook HERE or Youtube HERE

Insurrection: Scotland’s Famine Winter. 1846 potato blight in northern Scotland (Hebrides and west Highlands), protest over oatmeal rising prices. author James Hunter. John O'Groats Book Festival Apr 25 2021 TAPE HERE

Se 27 Mon 2-3:30 String: the first 50,000 years. “basic methods of making and some of the plants that might have been used in the distant past, as well as more recently, in the Highlands.” Karen Hardy, Caroline Dear. Highland Archaeology Festival HERE TAPE HERE Nv 17 fishing & hemp rope Canada

Sensing Sugaropolis. Greenlock, Scotland was mid 19th cen sugar refining hub. Migrant workers at refineries; German sugar-bakers, Italian grocers and confectioners. ‘Sensory kit’ pick up at The Watt Institution, Greenrock. U of St. Andrews. Being Human Festival. UK Nov 2020 HERE 12 min TAPE HERE

Taste the Solway: Historical Recipes. Talk and demonstrate some Roman to Medieval dishes in UK. Caroline Nicolay from Pario Gallico. Solway Coast AONB Dec 17 2020 HERE TAPE HERE

Salt making on the Solway. Andrew Fielding and John Pickin. 17th cen - Solway Coast Area UK HERE/ TAPE HERE start at 13-14 min.

How Whisky is made - 3D animation about the production of Whisky (remake 2020). Scotland HERE

WOMEN HERRING PACKERS

Jun 8 Tue 9AM Caller Herring - Scottish Women Herring Workers. “herring gutters and packers…travelled around Britain’s island and mainland communities, working for salt curing companies.” Margaret Ritchie. Museums & Galleries Edinburgh HERE

Herring info - Johnston Collection photos 1863-1975 online HERE The Wick Society oral history (284 recordings) HERE

Sharp Tongues and Sharp Knives’ The Herring Lassies. Donna Heddle. Article and hour tape Dec 10 2020 TAPE may be HERE or HERE

PEAT

Peat blog post with more tapes HERE

Let's Peat Smoke a Whiskey. Whiskey Tribe TAPE HERE

Between Islands: A brief history of Isle of Lewis Peat Scotland Se 2020 TAPE HERE

Scotland Restores Its Peatlands to Keep Carbon in the Ground HERE

In Mull, Scotland with little coal “… the best part of the year is wasted in the operations of cutting and drying peat." [1800]
Jameson, Robert. Mineralogy of the Scottish Isles… Dissertations upon Peat and Kelp. v1 Edinburgh: 1800

Image: Ramsay, Allen. The Gentle Shepherd. Edinburgh: 1808 at LC

©2021 Patricia Bixler Reber
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