Great Scot!
Unser Kolumnist hadert derzeit damit, Engländer zu sein und fragt sich, unter welcher Nationalität er sich wohl wohler fühlen würde.
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Cranachan is Scotland’s queen of puddings. This regal mix of berries and oats may seem to be a simple and healthy combination, but be careful, for it’s also made with lashings of double cream and whisky. There’s virtue and vice in every spoonful. Traditionally, it was eaten around harvest time, when raspberries were at their juicy best. Strawberries are a popular alternative, and we used them here because the coronavirus had created a shortage of raspberries. You may find it difficult to believe that fruit actually grows in this constantly cold, damp nation. But central Scotland, with its fertile soils, long daylight hours and, ahem, moderate temperatures, offers optimal conditions.
Indeed, Blairgowrie, in the region of Perthshire, is known as the berry capital of Britain. It is here, in “Berry Town”, that the country’s most mouth-watering raspberries — and strawberries — grow. In the 1950s, they were transported to the shops and jam factories of the south in a steam train called the Raspberry Special.
Raspberries have a special place in contemporary Scottish lore. In the days before mass tourism, whole families would “go to the berries”, travelling to Blairgowrie on the “berry bus”. It was an opportunity to take a trip and also earn a little money. In wartime, schoolkids were recruited to replace workers who were away, serving in the military.
For the time that they worked, the pickers lived in Tin City, a complex of corrugated-iron buildings near the fields. They would leave early every morning in their wellies, with lunch and a pail, and return each evening with scratched legs and fingers coloured bright red.
Tin City had dormitories with wooden bunks, a post office and a dining room. After a hard day out in the fields, workers could look forward to a simple meal of soup, mince and potatoes, and pudding. In the evenings, they gathered around the piano for a sing-song or danced to music coming from the gramophone.
It was not exactly exotic, but for many pickers, it was a magical time — a chance to meet people from other parts of the country, to make new friends and maybe start a summer romance. Children would use the money they had earned to buy a new toy, or a uniform for the autumn school term.
How times have changed! But back to Cranachan and its very Scottish flavours. The oats, toasted with brown sugar, add a nutty crunch to this heavenly dessert. And the whisky balances out the sweetness of the honey, giving the thick cream a very northern kick. You can add as much whisky as you like. This is, after all, Scotland in a bowl.