O flour of Scotland...
In which I offer veganised traditional Scottish recipes, all for the sake of a bad pun...
Bella, left, Hector, right, and Nichole, the awesome partner, in the middle - dog sitting capers in Edinburgh
After a lovely week dog sitting for my niece’s wonderful ancient hounds in Edinburgh, (see above) I feel inspired to share some classic Scottish dishes, re-imagined for the vegan palate.
And oh boy, does Scotland need some healthier food! There are some fabulous vegan dining out options in Edinburgh, but the national cuisine is marred by the likes of deep fried battered Mars Bars, chips (fries) with everything, and even the famous haggis is high in saturated fat.
Deep fried Mars Bar! 🤮
Scottish people have a lower life expectancy that in other areas of the UK, around 65% of adults in Scotland are either overweight or obese, and cardiovascular disease remains the biggest killer.
Poverty has a big role to play in the health of the nation, but I’ve always argued that a vegan lifestyle – especially a whole food, plant-based diet – is cheap, nutritious and filling.
And compared to London, where I live, Edinburgh is an eminently walkable city, full of hills. Walking two dogs three times a day left me fitter, healthier and hungrier!
As of recent estimates, around 3-4% of the population in Scotland identifies as vegan. This translates to approximately 165,000 - 220,000 people, given Scotland's population of about 5.5 million.
The infamous ‘munchy box’ - standard dinner for Glaswegians? (google it!) 🤣🤣
And a larger percentage of the population—around 12-14%—follows a vegetarian or primarily plant-based diet.
I sort of hoped the Tesco would have an array of different products. It didn’t. I did find a vegan square Scottish sausage, and they also had veggie haggis, and some different brands of crisps, but that was about it.
One of the trip highlights was a visit to a place imaginatively called Maki and Ramen, where we thoroughly enjoyed a bowl of tonkotsu ramen (surprise!) with vegan bacon and black garlic. Not Scottish at all, but that’s one of the rare joys of living in a homogenous world, I suppose!
And nothing to do with food, but I can’t recommend a visit to the Botanical Gardens highly enough!
Anyway, without further ado, here’s my take on five classic Scottish dishes, veganised. They’re all filling, tasty and with easy ingredients. And healthier than a munchy box and a fried Mars Bar!
Footnote: I’m half-Scottish, and proudly so. It’s my better half. So I hope no-one takes offence to anything I’ve written above, or to the recipes below. Tha mi duilich.
Recipes
Vegan Haggis
A plant-based twist on Scotland’s national dish, vegan haggis typically includes a mixture of lentils, oats, onions, mushrooms, carrots, and spices like nutmeg and black pepper. It’s just as hearty and spicy as the original, served with neeps and tatties (mashed turnips and potatoes). And without involving a lamb’s stomach. Rabbie Burns would approve, I’m sure.
Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked brown lentils
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, grated
1 cup mushrooms, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 cups vegetable broth
Preparation:
Cook the lentils in vegetable broth until tender (around 20 minutes). Drain and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a pan and sauté the onions, carrots, and mushrooms until soft.
Add in the spices, soy sauce, and cooked lentils, stirring well.
Mix in the oats and cook for another 5-10 minutes until everything binds together. You can pile the mix up into a metal ring if you’re fancy, or just splodge it onto the plate.
Serve the haggis with neeps and tatties (mashed turnips and potatoes).
Cullen Skink
Originally a smoked haddock soup, the vegan version of Cullen Skink is made with smoked tofu or tempeh to mimic the smoky flavour. The creamy base is simple, made from potatoes, onions, and plant-based milk for a rich, comforting texture. You could even try it with coconut milk. Why the weird name? This dish originates from the Scottish town of Cullen, and a ‘skink’ is a meat or fish soup or stew. You could even add some seaweed to give it a hint of the sea, and a big iodine boost.
Ingredients:
1 block (extra firm) smoked tofu or tempeh, cubed
4 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cups plant-based milk (oat or almond milk works well)
1 tbsp olive oil/ oil spray
2 cups vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Heat your oil in a large pot and sauté the onions until soft.
Add the diced potatoes and vegetable broth, bringing it to a boil.
Lower the heat and add the plant-based milk, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Simmer until the potatoes are soft. I reckon 15-20 minutes.
Add the smoked tofu or tempeh, and continue cooking for 5 minutes more.
Remove the bay leaf and mash a few of the potatoes with a fork or masher to thicken the soup.
Serve with crusty bread.
Vegan Scotch Pie
Traditionally a meat-filled pastry, this vegan Scotch Pie is filled with a mix of lentils, mushrooms, onions, and herbs, encased in a crispy pastry shell. It’s a good savoury snack (especially with a hangover) or main course, often served with peas or gravy, and a good dollop of ketchup or brown sauce, if you like.
Ingredients:
2 cups mushrooms, finely chopped
1 cup lentils (cooked), or chickpeas
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tbsp soy sauce/ Henderson’s Relish
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
Vegan shortcrust or puff pastry (I buy it ready made!)
Note: the traditional pastry for these pies is a hot water crust pastry, made as follows:
Ingredients:
225g plain flour
75g vegan butter
100ml water
A pinch of salt
Preparation:
In a saucepan, heat the water and butter until melted.
Pour the hot liquid into the flour and salt, stirring to combine into a dough.
Roll and mold the dough into your pie tin.
I’m lazy, so I just buy ready-made pastry, but if you can bothered, this will be more authentic!
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
Sauté the onions, garlic, and mushrooms in a pan until soft.
Add the lentils, thyme, rosemary, soy sauce, and vegetable broth. Cook for 5 minutes until the mixture thickens.
Stir in the breadcrumbs and remove from heat.
Roll out the vegan pastry and cut into circles to fit your pie tins. Fill each pie with the lentil-mushroom mixture, then cover with another pastry layer, crimping the edges. Brush with plant milk or oil, if you like.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
Alistair Flood at the Pesky Vegan has a much more detailed and interesting recipe for cranachan - pictured above - and suggests adding a sprig of mint and serving it with shortbread. Gourmet!
Cranachan
What a great word. I like saying it. It means ‘churned mixture’ in Gaelic, and this pudding was traditionally made with a type of soft cheese, crowdie, produced with the milk leftover from butter making. A celebration of harvesting raspberries in rural Scotland, this classic Scottish dessert is made vegan by substituting dairy cream with coconut (or cashew) cream. The Cranachan is layered with toasted oats, raspberries, and a drizzle of whisky, and sweetened with maple syrup instead of honey.
Ingredients:
1 cup coconut cream (or other plant-based cream - you can buy it in most supermarkets now…)
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tbsp whisky
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 cup fresh raspberries
Preparation:
Toast the oats in a dry pan over medium heat until golden and fragrant, then set aside to cool.
Whip the coconut cream until fluffy and soft peaks form. I use my blender to make it really whipped.
Stir in the whisky and maple syrup to taste.
Layer the whipped coconut cream, toasted oats, and fresh raspberries in serving glasses, alternating each layer.
Chill in the fridge for an hour before serving.
Vegan Stovies
Originally made with leftover meat, stovies are a warming dish of slow-cooked potatoes and onions. The vegan version is typically enhanced with vegan sausage, carrots, or lentils to add flavour and protein, resulting in a comforting, rustic meal.
Ingredients:
6 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 large onion, finely sliced
2 vegan sausages or 1 cup lentils (cooked)
1 tbsp vegan butter
2 cups vegetable broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
In a large pot (with a lid), melt the vegan butter and sauté the onions until soft.
Make alternate layers of the potatoes and (thinly sliced/chopped) vegan sausages (or lentils) to the pot. I add both! 😊
Pour in the vegetable broth – enough to cover the ingredients, and bring to a gentle boil.
Reduce the heat to very low, and simmer gently, with a lid on the pot if you have one, until the potatoes are tender and have absorbed most of the broth (around 30-40 minutes).
Season with salt and pepper, and serve hot.
Stuff You Should Know – And Care About
Peter Dinklage has lost the plot
Peter Dinklage, the actor renowned for standing up for animals, and who, in his fantastic role as Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones, famously said: “I drink, and I know things”, has apparently forgotten everything he knows about animal cruelty, and gone back to eating meat. In a move reminiscent of the conflict and duality we saw in his Lannister role, Dinklage’s odd turnabout has been beautifully analysed in an open letter from Pala Najana over at Vegan Horizon here on Substack. Give it a read, and share it wide and far!
Mildred’s Soho re-opens
Those of us lucky enough to live in London are surrounded by world-class vegan restaurants, and among the OG offerings is much-beloved Mildred’s. The restaurant is re-opening its first outlet, on Soho’s Lexington Street, promising a bold, bright update to the décor and a refreshed menu.
The renowned vegan restaurant closed two months ago to completely refurbish the Grade II listed heritage building. The new look now offers dining over three floors with clashing colours, more plants and artwork. The exterior is now deep blue with orange window frames. The new Mildreds opens on Wednesday October 16 and there will be a complimentary cocktail for all those who dine at the Soho restaurant until October 31!
Fake Animal rescues exposed
Born Free, the wildlife conservation charity, has released a report in partnership with the Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC), exposing a disturbing trend of fake animal rescue videos.
These videos, on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, X and Facebook, often involve animals being put in danger just so content creators can stage a dramatic "rescue" for views and profit. Absolute arseholes.
The report urges social media platforms to act and provides guidelines to help identify such content. PLEASE report any animal abuse and exploitation content directly to the social media platform it is published on, and also report it to SMACC.
Cause of the Week
Ban testing on beagles
Testing on animals for human medical research is archaic and unnecessary. In the United States alone, there are over one million animals, over 46,000 of which are dogs, used in laboratories for product testing and research - EVERY YEAR. Gentle, docile beagles are still being used globally, and it needs to stop. I can’t even write about how horrific the practices in laboratories worldwide is – but I urge you to read more if you can – bearing witness to the suffering – and help take action, or donate, to raise awareness and stamp it out. You can also help by avoiding these brands:
PS. A quick Google suggests Bath & Body Works does not test any of its products or ingredients on animals, so it’s always wise to do your own research into a product or company.
I will definitely try the vegan haggis.
I must try a few of these Scottish gems...