Editing Scotch egg

{{Short description|Boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat}}
{{Infobox food
| name            = Scotch egg
| image           = File:One scotch egg (No jar of Marmite).jpg
| caption         = Scotch egg, halved
| alternate_name  = 
| country         = [[England]]
| creator         = 
| course          = 
| type            = [[Picnic]] food
| served          = 
| main_ingredient = [[Boiled egg]], [[sausage]], [[bread crumbs]]
| variations      = 
| calories        = 
| other           = 
}}

A '''Scotch egg''' is a [[boiled egg]] wrapped in [[sausage]] meat, coated in [[breadcrumbs]] and [[baked]] or [[deep-fried]].

==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>

==Preparation and serving==
[[File:Scotch eggs.jpg|thumb|Two Scotch eggs, just fried]]
Scotch eggs are prepared by hard- or soft-boiling an egg, wrapping it in sausage meat, and deep-frying it.<ref name=":0" /> It is often eaten in pubs or as a cold snack at picnics.<ref name=":0" />[[File:Draft House, Tower Bridge, London (8050539139).jpg|thumb|Soft-boiled Scotch egg served with sauce]]
In the Netherlands and Belgium, Scotch eggs may also be called ''vogelnestje'' ("little bird's nest"), because they contain an egg. One 1880s Scottish recipe also calls them birds' nests.<ref name=":1" />

==Regional variation==

The [[Manchester]] egg consists of a [[pickled egg]] wrapped in a mixture of pork meat and [[Lancashire]] [[black pudding]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/apr/29/manchester-egg |title=A plan is hatched: the Manchester egg |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=29 April 2010 |access-date=1 July 2010 |first=Tony |last=Naylor}}</ref>

Vegetarian versions have also been made. In 2022, [[Guinness World Records]] certified a {{Convert|8.341|kg|lboz|frac=32|adj=on}} vegetarian Scotch egg as the world's largest.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Addow |first=Amina |date=20 May 2022 |title=World's largest vegetarian scotch egg weighs a cracking 8.3 kg |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/corporate/2022/5/worlds-largest-vegetarian-scotch-weighs-a-cracking-8-3kg |website=Guinness World Records}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=British chef cooks up world's largest vegetarian Scotch egg |url=https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2022/05/18/Guinness-World-Records-largest-vegetarian-scotch-egg/9191652906925/ |access-date=2024-03-21 |work=United Press International |language=en}}</ref>  It used an [[ostrich egg]] in the center, with a coating made of peas and cheddar cheese.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cullinane |first=Ed |date=2022-05-18 |title=Chef creates scotch egg that weighs as much as a small toddler |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/scotch-eggs-record-size-ostrich-b2081863.html |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>  The [[Harwood Arms]], a [[Michelin-starred]] restaurant in London, started selling a vegetarian Scotch egg that uses a plant-based [[meat alternative]] in 2020,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-10-02 |title=The UK Sees its First Michelin Star Restaurant Serving Plant-Based Meat as Market Continues to Change Post-COVID |url=https://vegconomist.com/gastronomy-food-service/the-uk-sees-its-first-michelin-star-restaurant-serving-plant-based-meat-as-market-continues-to-change-post-covid/ |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=vegconomist |language=en-GB}}</ref> and the next year, the supermarket chain [[Tesco]] started selling a vegan version.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barrie |first=Josh |date=2021-06-07 |title=Tesco launches vegan Scotch egg containing more than 70 ingredients |url=https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/food-and-drink/tesco-launches-vegan-scotch-egg-containing-more-than-70-ingredients-1039389 |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=[[i (British newspaper)|i]] |language=en}}</ref>

== Nutrition ==
A fatty food,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Cross |first1=Maria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GGEyqFWsSzsC&pg=PA126 |title=Nutrition in Institutions |last2=MacDonald |first2=Barbara |date=2009-01-26 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4443-0167-0 |pages=126 |language=en}}</ref> a typical sausage-coated Scotch egg has about 200 mg [[dietary cholesterol]] per 100 grams.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Floch |first=Martin H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KnDSBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA442 |title=Nutrition and Diet Therapy in Gastrointestinal Disease |date=2013-11-21 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-1-4684-3791-1 |pages=442 |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Deep fried egg]]
* [[Farsu magru]]
* [[Kwek-kwek]], battered hard-boiled eggs popular as street food in the Philippines
* [[Meatloaf]]

==References==

{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Scotch egg}}

{{Eggs}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scotch Egg}}
[[Category:British snack foods]]
[[Category:English beef dishes]]
[[Category:Deep fried foods]]
[[Category:Egg dishes]]
[[Category:Fortnum & Mason]]
[[Category:Street food in the United Kingdom]]