Editing Scotch egg (section)

==Origin==
{{Wiktionary|Scotch egg}}
Various origin stories exist. The ''[[Oxford Companion to Food]]'' gives the first instance of the name as of 1809, in an edition of [[Maria Rundell]]'s ''[[A New System of Domestic Cookery]].''<ref name=":0" /> They did not, at that time, have a breadcrumb layer, although by 1861 [[Isabella Beeton]] suggested this as an option.<ref name=":0" /> According to the ''Oxford Companion to Food'', food historian [[Annette Hope]] speculated in 1987 that the inspiration may have been Indian [[kofta]]s<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RL6LAwAAQBAJ&q=scotch+egg|title=The Oxford Companion to Food|last=Davidson|first=Alan|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-0-19-967733-7|pages=724|language=en}}</ref> such as the [[Mughlai cuisine|Mughlai]] dish called ''[[Nargesi kebab|nargisi kofta]]'' ("[[Narcissus (plant)|Narcissus]] meatballs"), in which a boiled egg is encased in a seasoned ground-meat mixture and then fried.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2015/jul/28/scotch-eggs-world-british-india-belgium-brazil-poland-gastropub|title=Scotch eggs around the world – it has never been just a British thing|last=Balston|first=Catherine|date=2015-07-28|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-07-15|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Other claims include the item having been invented at [[Fortnum & Mason]] at Piccadilly in 1738.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/nov/05/foodanddrink.shopping |work=[[The Guardian]] | title=A facial at Fortnums? Never! |first=Jonathan |last=Glancey |date=5 November 2007}}</ref> According to ''Culinary Delights of Yorkshire'', they originated in [[Whitby]], [[Yorkshire]], England, in the 19th century, and were originally covered in [[fish paste]] rather than sausage meat. They were supposedly named after William J. Scott & Sons, a well-known eatery which sold them.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-1188,00.html|title=Are Scotch eggs really Scottish? {{!}} Notes and Queries {{!}} guardian.co.uk|website=The Guardian|access-date=15 July 2019}}</ref>

It has also been suggested that they were originally called "scorch" eggs, as they were cooked over an open flame, though according to surviving recipes they were deep-fried in [[lard]]. 'Scotching' as a culinary process is also sometimes cited as the origin, though what "scotching" was is open to interpretation, from the inclusion of [[anchovies]] to simply mincing meat.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/10328855/Potted-histories-Scotch-eggs.html|title=Potted histories: Scotch eggs|last=Hyslop|first=Leah|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=25 September 2013|access-date=15 July 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref> Further confusion is added by the large trade in eggs from Scotland in the 19th century, which sometimes involved dipping eggs in a [[Lime (material)|lime]] powder to preserve them, a process possibly also known as "scotching".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.foodsofengland.info/scotcheggs.html|title=Foods of England – Scotch Eggs|website=foodsofengland.info|access-date=20 April 2025}}</ref>