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Traditional Shetland food recipes


ReeseTheDundonian
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So recently some of my foreign friends have been asking me to show them some Scottish food recipes. Everyone knows haggis and tablet but I was thinking of doing something a little more obscure. Shetland isn't very well known internationally, so I was thinking of showing them some traditional foods from Shetland. I found some good websites online like Elizabeth's Kitchen Dictionary and Taste of Shetland which have a lot of great recipes but an idea popped into my head: 'Why not just ask actual Shetlanders?'. I forgot I actually had this account, sorry for the hiatus, but I logged back in once more to ask. What kinds of foods are typically eaten in Shetland? I'd love to hear your suggestions.

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10 hours ago, Muckle Oxters said:

Fish n tatties! And every variation o fish n tatties you can tink o!

I live by the River Tay in the mainland of northeast Scotland. Salmon can be found swimming about the Tay and it's said to be one of the best salmon rivers in the UK. Cod and salmon are the two fish I eat the most, delicious. I've heard the northernmost fish & chips shop in the UK is in Shetland and it tends to get a lot of favourable reviews, might try it someday. Do you get Shetland fish in mainland supermarkets? I'd like to try some. :)

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8 hours ago, George. said:

Reestit mutton.

It sounds salty and chewy, nice. It reminds me a bit of other Scandinavian dishes, in Norway and Iceland they dry out/smoke fish and other meats too. Apparently you can make soup from it too, looks delicious! I'll give it a try, thanks for the recommendation George. :D

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So I decided to check the Northlink ferry website to see which foods to try and I found Shetland Bannock. It says the taste savoury rather than sweet, sounds quite nice. Has anyone ever tried it? Also the Shetland Black Potato looks odd, I've never seen a purple potato before. It looks tasty.

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Bannocks are pretty great. Simple, but delicious. I like the cheese ones in particular. Great with soup, or toasted with butter.

The tatties are good too. I didn't notice much of a difference in taste, but I prefer my foods spicy, so may be missing some of the subtleties that a more delicate palette would notice.

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3 hours ago, ReeseTheDundonian said:

Also the Shetland Black Potato looks odd, I've never seen a purple potato before. It looks tasty.

Shetland black tatties are splendid! Dey hae kinda concentric white and purple rings in dem, and dey ir usually a bit peerier dan a normal tattie. Da eens I grow ir slightly on da mellie (floury, I suppose) end o da scale

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18 hours ago, Muckle Oxters said:

Shetland black tatties are splendid! Dey hae kinda concentric white and purple rings in dem, and dey ir usually a bit peerier dan a normal tattie. Da eens I grow ir slightly on da mellie (floury, I suppose) end o da scale

Sounds delicious, I was planning on growing potatoes in my back garden but haven't found the time yet. I like growing things, I used to read a lot of gardening books when I was bored. I have a box full of them up in the loft but most of them are in Spanish. Are they good for making chips? I found a few websites which export food from Shetland to the Scottish mainland and they have Shetland black potatoes. Also do you farm? I've never done it before, seems difficult but fun. 

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