[Sca-cooks] scottish recipes

[emilio szabo]

When there are no recipes extant, other sources that mention food might be of interest as well.

One way to find those sources might be the electronic Dictionary of the Scots Language, which includes the printed Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (12 vols., DOST, 12th to 17th centuries) and the Scottish National Dictionary (10 vols., SND, 1700 to 1970s).

A problem with using this instrument is: You already have to know, what you are searching for (i.e. you must know some of the old spelling headwords of food terms) or there must be some modern English term within the semantic comments.

This dictionary is here: http://www.dsl.ac.uk

Below, there is an example from DSL-DOST, which I came upon searching for oatcake:


 DSL - DOST   Ate brede, Ait breid, n. Also: ait, aitt, eit, eat (breid, etc.).  [Ate n., corr. to e.m.E. ote bread (1579).] Bread made from oats. (a)  The quhitt breid and aitt breid to be sauld … as the prices of quhytt and meill stands for the tyme;1549 Ann. Banff I. 24.  That thair be na ait breid bakin in this tovne, bot that the baxstaris baik kakis;1569 Peebles B. Rec. 309.  Of ate brede called houer brede in Ingland; Dalr. I. 6 marg.  Ane soup of ait breid and ane drink; 1608 Mun. Univ. Glasg. III. 520.  The counsell discharges all ait bread to be baikin, except aucht d. ait loaves; 1656 Aberd. B. Rec. IV. 162. (b)  Eit bread, ill aill, and all things are ane eik; Montg. Sonn. xxv. 7.  Quhatsumewir brother … sall baik eat bread heireftir, except it be of cleane eat meill, … sall pay iiii li. money; 1608 St. A. Baxter Bks. 72.  To Alex Willeamson, baxter, for eat breid furnest be him; 1638–9 Misc. Spald. C. V. 154.

Good luck,

Emilio