Continuing our look at weird traditional English foods (Bovril the other week), here’s one of the strangest of the lot. It’s an egg with a deep fried twist.

What is a Scotch Egg?

Okay, this thing is a hard-boiled egg that you wrap in sausage meat (no, really), roll that combo in bread crumbs, and then deep fry.

Healthy? No, it isn’t. Tasty? Erm… if that’s your thing, sure. Knock yourselves out. We can’t say we indulge in this one anymore.

Marmite, though, we still ensure we consume on a regular basis.

How Do You Cook a Scotch Egg?

It’s about 20 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. You fry them up after preparing the egg and pork mix.

Not that we’ve done this, but Gordon Ramsay sure has. So you can follow his instructions above, if you’re that way inclined.

It doesn’t look too difficult, though. You just hard-boil the egg. Wrap it in pork meat (sounds a bit like turducken already), then fry it.

Can we tempt you with some Chorley cakes instead? Seems like a nicer deal.

Where Did the Scotch Egg Come From?

England, of course! However, inspiration likely came from Indian koftas. For scotch eggs, the first instance of it in history was back in 1809 in a Maria Rundell (1745-1828) cookbook.

Clearly, she was the Jack Monroe of her day.

However, in 1809 there wasn’t a breadcrumb outer layer. But by 1861, journalist Isabella Beeton (1836-1865) was suggesting it as an option.

Clearly, she was the M. F. K. Fisher of her day.

It was traditional in the 19th century to serve the food with gravy. But, these days, it’s seen as more of a casual snack. Picnic food, essentially.

Not something you really make a major meal about. Instead, you can pick up cartons of the stuff in supermarkets with a load of mini scotch eggs.

And then gradually stuff them into your face over the course of a day, raising your blood pressure and expanding your heaving gut in the process.

It’s fair to say our interest in the scotch egg has dwindled. But, indeed, it remains something of an English comfort food cuisine icon. Belting.