The origin of Scotch Eggs

Out of pure curiosity, I wanted to know why Scotch eggs are named that way. I searched the web and found some interesting claims and similar dishes. There is nothing Scottish about the eggs, and their origins may lay geographically in other regions of the world. As with many foods, we cannot always trace the roots to one geographical region, place or even a person.

A Scotch egg consists of a hard or soft-boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat, coated in bread crumbs and baked or deep-fried. The practice of encasing a pre-cooked egg in forcemeat is also known in North Africa and in the region of Iran and Northern India where the Mughal emperors reigned – there it is known as Nargisi Kofta – Narcissus meatballs.

In English records, Scotch eggs are mentioned during the reign of Elizabeth I. Originally, they were spiked with cloves and highly spiced in an attempt to sweeten the often, putrefying meat. The term itself is obscure but may be derived from the word “scorch” – as the first Scotch eggs were cooked over a naked flame.

Lynda Bowen from Nottingham writes: According to A Caledonian Feast by Annette Hope (Grafton Books, 1989), Scotch eggs were an Indian export in the early 19th century, along with curry and kedgeree. The dish was mentioned by Meg Dods, circa 1830, in one of her recipe collections. Annette Hope continues: “It bears an odd similarity – striking though probably coincidental – with an Indian dish called Nargisi Kofta, which consists of hard-boiled eggs coated with cooked spiced minced mutton and fried, then cut in half and served in a sauce of curried tomato and onion.”

And Wikipedia mentions: There are several different theories about the origins and etymology of Scotch eggs. The London department store Fortnum & Mason claims to have invented Scotch eggs in 1851, but the name for the snack was supposedly derived from a nickname used by Londoners who lived around Wellington Barracks after Officers of the Scots Guards stationed there developed a taste for the bite.
According to Culinary Delights of Yorkshire, they originated in Whitby, Yorkshire, England, in the 19th century, and were initially covered in fish paste rather than sausage meat. They were supposedly named after William J. Scott & Sons, a favorite eatery which sold them.
The earliest printed recipe appears in the 1809 edition of Maria Rundell’s A New System of Domestic Cookery. Rundell, as well as other 19th-century authors, served them hot with gravy.

Whatever the origins of the forcemeat encased eggs are, their preparation is very much the same. The meat and the spices vary, so does the outside coating with just plain flour or breadcrumbs and the way they are served. I prepared the two versions of the Scotch egg and Nargisi Kofta, and both are delicious.

Pictures: King Philip II of Spain banqueting with his family and courtiers (The Royal feast) by Alonso Sanchez Coello, 1579; Portrait of Mir Bakshi Nawab Sarbuland Khan with courtiers, Mughal, India, late 17th Century