Slow Food

When Phil and I were in Scotland last month, we had dinner one evening hosted by a member of the Slow Food Movement. A trained chef who runs a B&B prepared a “surprise” sort of meal for us and another couple from New York, who signed up for it the same night we did. She made a beautiful four course dinner and ate and chatted with us. Nearly all the ingredients were sourced locally and the dishes were intended to give us a feel for Scotland. Phil actively searches for these sorts of experiences before we travel internationally. We did “Monk Chat” in Thailand and “Dine with the Danes” in (of course) Denmark. Almost everyone I know would consider it a special form of torture to pay handsomely to eat and converse with strangers. Not Phil. (Sometimes when we are driving somewhere he feigns being lost just so he can stop and talk to a stranger. It’s probably diagnosable.)

Anyway, our meal in Scotland was lovely. One of the appetizers was Scottish Potato Scones topped with Chanterelle mushrooms that our host foraged that afternoon. There’s a lot to unpack here. First of all, “scone” for us rhymes with “cone” and may conjure up images of a sweet biscuity kind of pastry. In Scotland, scone rhymes with “on” and they may be called “Tattie Scones”. A tattie scone tastes more like a fresh, homemade tortilla than anything else I can think of.

Tonight, in honor of our Scottish “Slow Food” meal, I made tattie scones to accompany our carrot soup. Ben loved both dishes, but in the interest of true transparency, I must tell you that we didn’t team up to cook. For some reason, I am having some motivational problems in the kitchen after roughly 759 years of cooking one or more meals a day (or more) to fill the gaping maws around me. We are patching some easy stuff together. Phil has been my sous chef. Our boy is still being fed, as the scale will attest, but I have been sluggish all summer, and can’t seem to muster the energy to cook with my cooking buddy. My mind is already on the quickly approaching school year and I have neglected my Bensday Wednesday duties. Sorry.

I will leave you with our imprecise recipe for:

Tattie Scones

1 pound (give or take) potatoes, peeled

Flour

1/2 teaspoon (or more) baking powder

1/2 teaspoon (or more) salt

1. Slice potatoes into 1/2 inch rounds. Place in sauce pan with cold water to cover by an inch. Bring to boil and cook until very tender, probably 20 minutes or so. Drain.
2. Place cooked potato slices in food processor and pulse or process until smooth. Add salt, 1/2 cup of flour, and baking powder. Pulse. If it is still sticky, add more flour and pulse again. Add as much flour as it can handle. You want a dough that is not sticky, but not too stiff.
3. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and pat it into a large disk. Divide dough into six parts. Form a flat disk with each piece and pat or roll until you have something like a homemade tortilla (6-8 inch diameter and 3/8 inch thick). Cook over medium-high heat on griddle or in pan, turning once, until brown spots appear.
4. Remove to clean tea towel-lined plate. Cover to keep warm and pliable. 

Our summer has been “grrrrrrand” (I hope you figured out to roll the “R” as they do in Scotland.) Our Scottish hostess declared her years in Italy lovely, and in Norway “grrrrrrim”. Here’s to more times that are grrrrrrand and fewer that are grrrrrim. Make the tattie scones to edge you closer to the grrrrrrrand times. Sláinte!