The week of July 17th & 18th, we are all Celtic all the time. Well, at least much of the time. This is because of the Arizona Highland Celtic Festival in Flagstaff. In honor of that, Richard Ferguson who is one of the event organizers and Vice President of the Clan Ferguson Society of North America, provided us not one, but two traditional Scottish soups – Cullen Skink and Cock-a-Leekie.
Cullen Skink
The name of this soup comes from the fishing village of Cullen, in Morayshire. “Skink” is a soup made from a shin of beef; however, in this case, it is made with smoked haddock.
Ingredients
- A large smoked haddock (weighing around 2 lb)
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped.
- 1½ pints milk
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 8 oz mashed potato
- Salt and pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- Chopped parsley
- Water
- Triangles of toast (as an accompaniment)
Method
Cover the smoked haddock with water, in a shallow pan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, turning once. Take the haddock from the pan and remove the skin and bones. Break up the fish into flakes, return to the stock and add the chopped onion, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Simmer for another 15 minutes. Strain, remove the bay leaf but retain the stock and fish. Add the milk to the fish stock and bring back to the boil. Add enough mashed potato to create the consistency you prefer (don’t be afraid to make it rich and thick!). Add the fish and reheat. Check for seasoning. Just before serving, add the butter in small pieces so that it runs through the soup.
Serve with chopped parsley on top, accompanied by triangles of toast.
Cock-a-Leekie Soup
This traditional soup, with prunes included in the ingredients, is mentioned as early as the 16th century. It is often served at Burns Suppers or St Andrew’s Night Dinner (30 November) as well as an every-day soup in winter. Some people omit the prunes though!
Ingredients
- 1 boiling fowl, about 4lb, including legs and wings
- 1lb leeks (about 12) cleaned and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 4 pints stock or water
- 1oz long grained rice
- 4oz cooked, stoned prunes
- One teaspoon brown sugar
- Salt and pepper
- Garni of bay leaf, parsley, thyme
- Some recipes also have 3 chopped rashers of streaky bacon
Method
Put the fowl and bacon in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and remove any scum. Add three-quarters of the leeks, (green as well as white sections), herbs (tied together in a bundle), salt and pepper and return to the boil. Simmer gently for 2-3 hours, adding more water if necessary.
Remove the bird. Some thrifty chefs use the bird as another course, others cut the meat into small pieces and add them back to the soup (certainly it should have some pieces of chicken in it when served). Add the rice and drained prunes and the remaining leeks and simmer for another 30 minutes. Check for flavour and serve with a little chopped parsley.
Serves 6/8 people.
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