Boston's Scotch egg boomlet
Going on the "three makes a trend" principle, this UK snack is having a moment.
Jennifer Taylor for The Boston Globe
Scotch eggs appear on the menus at several new restaurants: Sam's, the Esti Parsons-run restaurant at Louis on the waterfront; the Gallows, the South End establishment in the former Sage space, courtesy of the original Biltmore team; and the Haven, which took over the old Zon's space in J.P.
For those who haven't experienced them, Scotch eggs are hardboiled eggs coated in sausage and bread crumbs, then deep-fried. I've been waiting for years for someone to open a local restaurant with a cheeky, upscale take on British food -- bubble and squeak, bangers and mash, spotted dick. (The Haven, serving haggis and other Scottish fare, comes close.) But the appeal of Scotch eggs eludes me. Perhaps it's the flashbacks to my grandmother's meatloaf. She would put a hardboiled egg in the middle so that each slice stared up at you from your plate with a baleful yellow eyeball. Sort of traumatic.
Do Scotch eggs whet your appetite? And why are they suddenly de rigueur?
I'm intrigued by scotch eggs, I think they actually sound quite good. The one opportunity to try them was at a gastropub in London called Sand's End. I saw them in a jar on the bar when I walked in, they were a bar snack. By the time the server came over to take my order, the last egg was gone, so I ordered escargot and a beef and stilton pie. I've been hooked on escargot ever since!
The Haven also serves Bubble and Squeak, Haggis Omelette, Beef and Ale pie and a Scottish Brunch - as well as the Scotch Egg.
We got a Scotch egg at Sleep no more last autumn too.
It's the covering of THREE food groups in the one bite that arouses my food sense palette.
Are you kidding? I have a horror of meatloaf, but scotch eggs are the best! C'mon, its delicious spicy sausage, not bland overcooked hamburger. At the Highland Games, we get scotch eggs with biscuits and gravy. Mmmm....The Haven is at the end of my street. Maybe I'll have to get some today.
Scotch Eggs are a great bar (as in public bar in an English pub) snacks to be eaten with a pint of good English bitter for lunch as the bitter provides the carbohydrate and the Scotch Egg provides the protein and fat to give a truly balanced meal. Oh, and you can eat a Scotch Egg without getting your hands covered in fat and without a plate. They are even better warm if you can get them soon after they've come out of the fryer.
BTW, have you actually eaten one as it is not clear that you have from the article.
Yes, I've eaten them in the UK and also now at the Haven. The Haven's was quite tasty, as was the one I had from the Ginger Pig this past spring. Others have been less so. I have only sampled a handful, however -- I don't purport to be any kind of Scotch egg expert. I just find it interesting that they have suddenly started to appear around town.
"I've been waiting for years for someone to open a local restaurant with a cheeky, upscale take on British food -- bubble and squeak, bangers and mash, spotted dick. (The Haven, serving haggis and other Scottish fare, comes close)".
Devra - sticky toffee pudding instead of Spotted Dick, the rest is there.
Come and enjoy!!!!! And we are positively upscale with out tongues firmly embedded in our cheeks.
Scotch eggs in a jar? Are you sure you don't mean pickled eggs? The Haven sounds fine to this Anglophile!
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