Mike Meyers once suggested all Scottish cuisine was based on a dare. I can see his point when faced with haggis, congealed oatmeal porridge or rock hard oat cakes. But I’d walk a highland mile for good shortbread, a smooth single malt or piping hot scones.
Soup is another dish the Scots do well. Years ago, when my mother and I were in Scotland, we had lunch at a small restaurant in the middle of nowhere. Most rural establishments at that time had limited menus with toasted sandwiches as the standout special. There’s only so much white bread and cheese you can consume, and at this point in the trek we were ready to eat the table cloth just to experience a different texture. This place offered lentil soup and we devoured it. I guess we were a bit vocal in our enthusiasm since the proprietor gave us the recipe. And now I’m passing it onto you.
As promised to Jim Estill, who kindly provided his favourite food combination, here’s the recipe for that lentil soup. I’m assuming from his comment that Jim already has several such recipes, but this one is the simplest, most comforting I’ve ever had. Granted, it reminds me of the highlands every time I have it, but its simplicity still has merit 20 years later. No garlic, no onions, no hot spices. Kid-friendly, low-fat, high-fiber and delightfully uncomplicated, this soup needs no hyphenation, just a salad and slice of bread.
Simple Scottish Red Lentil Soup
Printable recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter (use butter, not oil. You want the flavour)
- 2 large onions, minced
- 2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
- 4 stalks celery, finely diced
- 2 cups red lentils, rinsed
- 2 tbsp dried cumin
- 8 cups water (or chicken or vegetable stock)
- salt and pepper to taste
- fresh cilantro (optional)
Instructions
- In a Dutch over, melt butter over low heat.
- Add vegetables, tossing to coat in the butter. Don’t fry.
- Add lentils and cumin. Stir to coat.
- Add water.
- Cover and simmer for 2 hours.
- Season to taste. No need to puree as the lentils will fall apart on their own.
- Sprinkle with fresh cilantro, if desired.
Note: Stock will add more flavour, but the original recipe said to use water and it’s still tasty.
I’ve made a soup something like this (except for the cumin and cilantro) and just the thought of this is making me want to whip your recipe up tomorrow–which I will probably do! It’ll freeze for fun, too, which is great for me because Lowell doesn’t share all my tastes in some soups. He MIGHT eat this, though–he’s getting better about lentils.
Sounds delicious, I love lentil soup! Your describtion of the Scottish cuisine made me laugh; I’m going on a holiday there next June. Thanks for the warning!
Did you know that the Scottish deep fry everything now? They’re very much into deep fried Mars bars, pizzas and other such erm delicacies. Found your blog via Jodi’s!
Hi I am 66 years of age and have lived in Glasgow all my life!
I have heard all this rubbish about deep-fried Mars bars over the years. I would love if someone could actually tell me where this alleged delicacy is cooked, because in all my years it has proved to be as elusive as the Loch Ness monster.
This is another story that we have put about that is believed by people who should know better.
Do you know that the only way to kill a Haggis is by poking his eyes out!
When you go haggis hunting, do you ever encounter snipe?
Scotland may well have given up on the deep-fried Mars bars but they do exist. I have witnessed them on a menu here in Ontario. A friend ordered it at a local pub. He had the choice between Mars Bars or Snickers. I wasn’t brave enough to partake, but watched him eat it with interest. The inside was all melty, but otherwise, it looked just like you’d imagine. It was just an unwrapped bar, battered and plunged into hot oil until the coating was cooked — kind of like deep-fried ice cream (which I have had many times). That was a while ago and the item has fallen out of favour. I blame bacon.
You can deep fry just about anything. Whether or not you should is another question. Often these outrageous foods begin at specialty food shows and get a lot of press for their novelty factor. Deep-fried Coca Cola anyone? No guff. I have also had deep-fried pecan pie (it was horrid) and a friend once had deep-fried spinach. Apparently that was pretty tasty. I’ll stick to fish & chips and the odd onion bhaji.
Hi Yolanda,
Thanks for commenting. Yes, I’ve heard the Scots deep fry everything and even made reference to it in a previous blog
http://christie-corner.blogspot.com/2007/11/baked-not-fried.html
Hope you have a wonderful holiday in Scotland. It’s a beautiful country and I’m sure they’ve come a long way in the culinary department since my last visit.
Mmm. I have been looking for a recipe for lentil soup for a while, and this one seems perfect. I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Hi Christie,
If you’re looking for a slightly tangier lentil soup, I posted a recipe earlier. I’m constantly surprised how versatile lentils can be.
http://christie-corner.blogspot.com/2007/12/sparks-are-flying.html
Let me know how the soup turns out.
Charmian
Ummm actually I’m from Scotland and I can assure you that I have never deep fried a Mars Bar or a pizza or anything weird for that matter! We do have some fantastic food over here you know…fantastic fish, world class beef etc etc…come and experience it for yourself! I can even direct you to some fantastic restaurants! So don’t believe the hype – because that’s all it is! We’re pretty average folk really!
Lindsey, thanks for the note. I haven’t been to Scotland in a very long time and traveled in remote, sparsely populated areas. I’m sure this affected our food choices.
I hear you on the fried Mars bars. I’m Canadian and you don’t see moose meat on our menus all that often.
I’m actually planning a scotch tour in a couple of years. While my husband drinks the single malt, I’ll be checking out the food.
This reminds me of a split pea soup, without the onion or ham hock. It’s hard to believe that without any sort of meat or stock, or even an onion, that this soup would be tasty, but I am going to assume that it is, and will try this when my current batch of soup runs out.
As for the whole deep frying thing, I think this is a stereotype that is pandered to by some restaurants. I saw Tony Bourdain on a trip in Scotland trying various new deep fried foods with a restaurant owner. They tried all sorts of things, and found that hard boiled egg was the best new one they could come up with.
As for me, I think I will stick with lentil soup and single malt.
Good heavens, Erik, I forgot to include the onion!! Yes, there IS onion. How could I have missed that?! I’ve fixed the recipe but am not sure about my reputation.
The restaurant owner made the soup with water, but I don’t see any harm in using stock. My black bean soup also calls for water, so I guess the lentils and legumes have enough flavour.
My Mum’s recipe calls for a ham hough, 4 carrots, 2 onions, a medium turnip and 2-3 coarsely chopped potatoes, 2 cups red lentils and the same amount of water. You have to simmer the hough for about 2 hours then add everything after it. I saw your recipe and thought I’d combine them. It’s in mod-cook right now. Looking forward to the taste. (I also used 2 tins of vegetable stock as I can’t find ham stock (bouillon) cubes here. Thanks for posting this.
Abritdifferent, I love combining recipes. I’m sure your mother’s recipe will add layers of flavourto this simple version. Let me know how it turns out.
okay, at the risk of derision or at least a brief snort of disgust at the rookie…I’m new to lentils…I’ve never cooked with them.
Do you soak them first or are there canned versions that I don’t know about yet?
Hanging her head in shame…
Diva, not snort of derision here. Lentils and legumes are so varied you can’t apply one rule to them all.
This recipe calls for red lentils. These cook quickly and only require a quick rinse before using. No need to pre-soak.
I’ve seen tinned green and brown lentils, but never red. I think they’d disintegrate into mush.
Hope this helps and keep asking questions!!
Good soup almost in any cafe in Scotland. Use stick rather than water, stock cubes are fine, fresh ham hough is better. West coast offers some of the best seafood in the world. As for haggis, don’t knock it til you’ve tried it – just make sure it’s good quality.
Likewise I’ve never eaten a deep fried mars bar and I don’t think I’ve ever even seen one sold.
Stock definitely adds more flavour. The owner said he used water so that’s what I have been doing, but I like your idea of stock. I make my own chicken stock regularly so will use that the next time. Thanks for your suggestion.
Perhaps the deep-fried Mars bars were just a fad. It was a long, long time ago. Oddly, a local pub here sold them for a while. I even witnessed a friend eat one. He offered me a bite, but I declined. There are just some things I am not adventuresome enough to try.
I’m from Glasgow, in Scotland and there are plenty of fried mars bars and pizzas here I’m ashamed to say! Along with fried pizza we also do something called a pizza crunch, which is pizza in batter and then it’s fried. Its actually quite tasty but very greasy! Out of all the fried & battered chocolate bars, I’ve heard that a fried Bounty is the best, so if you’re brave enough to try any you should ask the chip shop owner for that. They can stick anything you want in the friers. You were correct the chocolate bars were a fad, however you can still ask for them if you go in. The fried and battered pizzas weren’t a fad though and you can see them all over Scotland in chip shops. They also do something called a fritter which is a cut potato a couple of centimetres thick battered and fried, and you would normally have it on a roll! Your lentil soup is very close to my families recipe, however we don’t add onion and we have a little tiny bit of chilli in it to give it a kick and plenty of chicken stock. It is the best soup I’ve ever had. Throughout Scotland the lentil soup is pretty much the same recipe. It is best served with a nice warm chunk of half baked bread and butter! We have some amazing Scottish meats and fish here not to forget whiskey, not just fried foods, although in cities you do see a lot of chip shops. I loved reading your comments on Scotland, thank you for being so nice about us
D Nicola x
Ps my family don’t put any cilantro, celery or cumin in our lentil soup either! But its still very tasty. Nicola x
Interesting how the recipes vary. I put cilantro in anything I can (except desserts). My sister hates it.