As is our usual practice, wherever our cruises take us, we absorb some of the local cuisine. So, when we undertake our British Isles cruise, we will continue this process. Scotch Broth recipes can be found in every Scottish family cookbook, with recipes tending to be handed down in families over time.
The most famous of Scottish soups, Scotch Broth is regularly served day in and day out and is a standard part of Burns Night Celebration.
Everything you’ll find in a Scotch Broth recipe comes together perfectly to create this sustaining dish. Made traditionally with mutton this warming soup is the perfect partner to counter Scotland’s not so warming weather.
Ingredients:
- 2 carrots (4 oz)
- 1 onion (4 oz)
- 1 leek (4 oz)
- 1 small neep ( rutabaga) (6 oz)
- barley (1/2 cup)
- split dried peas – ideally green but yellow is fine (1/3cup)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 90 fl. oz of lamb, chicken, or beef stock
- Slurp of oil
- 2 tbsp parsley
- 10 oz shredded white cabbage (a few handfuls) or kale
- 8 oz of cooked meat (optional)
Method:
- Cook the barley and the split dried peas before commencing below. Drain and wash through a colander. Set to one side.
- Finely chop onion and leek and dice carrots and neep.
- Add oil to the pot and heat.
- Add onion and leek and allow to cook for 5 minutes but not brown.
- Add chopped carrots and neep.
- Add the stock
- Bring to the boil then turn down to simmer for 30 minutes
- Add shredded cabbage (or kale) and chopped precooked meat and simmer for a further 15 minutes
- Add split peas and barley, bring back to heat.
- Stir thoroughly add the parsley and serve
Although not the traditional recipe, I cook the barley and split peas separately. This ensures that they do not take over the soup and make it too thick.
If you wish to add raw meat from the start of cooking add an extra hour to the cooking time.
Malcolm Green comes from three generations of caterers and has spent his life running kosher hotels, catering companies, destination weddings, and more than 70 glatt-kosher cruises around the world. Having absorbed global cuisines throughout his travels, he brings that experience into every menu he creates. Today, he oversees our kosher menu planning and food logistics, with all meals freshly prepared in our onboard kosher kitchens.
