Talk:Stovies

Stovies with milk

I don't know about anyone else, but the recipe with a cup of milk in it seems very strange to me. I don't think I have ever experienced milky stovies. Has anyone else?Ewan carmichael 12:40, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

Transwiki

Don't forget, all recipes belong over on WikiBooks as per WP:NOT#HOWTO.FlagSteward 20:52, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Some Observations

Neither of the two recipes for stovies given in F. Marian McNeill's classic, 'The Scots Kitchen' (1929), incorporates meat. In fact, the recipe quoted from Lady Clark of Tillypronie doesn’t even use onions. The later(?) addition of meat perhaps reflects increasing affluence. In our house in Aberdeen and from the late 1940's onwards, stovies were always made with mince specially left over for the purpose (and served with oatcakes and a glass of milk). However, I am aware of stovies being made with corned beef and, post Christmas, with roast turkey. It seems to me that the essence of stovies lies in the cooking method and that the addition of any kind of meat, including sausages, is permissible.

Also in Aberdeen, at the time when the licensing laws were such that one could drink later in a pub provided one consumed food, a plate of stovies was the standard passport to 'late'-night drinking.

Finally, I have lived for the last 30 years in Glasgow and have scarcely met anyone who has even heard of stovies, let alone knows how to make them; this led me to suppose that stovies were an east-coast or perhaps just a north-east delicacy. My prejudice in this was reinforced on the one occasion I had them outside my own home in this part of the world. They turned out to be pieces of potato, onion and sausage awash in a thin gravy - not a shadow of the real thing. IanHH (talk) 16:06, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

You are right, the stovies are best in Aberdeen. I am from Ayrshire, but my family are from the Edinburgh area, and stovies I had had before moving up here were much more watery and are made with sausage. Up here in Aberdeen they are much thicker with big chunks of meat! Stovies from Thains on George Street on the way home from the pub - the food of the gods!Ewan carmichael (talk) 22:52, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

I think it’s an age thing (as in, young people the day dont know thur liv’n) as opposed to geography. I lived most of my live in Glasgow and further west, and my grandma made me stovies many times. But yes, they always had gravy and manky sausages, so same name, slightly different recipe. OK, now we need an entry on “Fish’n’milk” or “fush’n’mulk” as I’d have called it. 68.203.9.184 (talk) 00:59, 18 February 2020 (UTC)

Photo Available on Scottish Wikipedia

There's an article with a photo of Stovies available on Scottish Wikipedia here [1]. I didn't move it to commons for use in this article as I can't tell what the licensing on the image is. There isn't any indication. Can someone help?Geoff (talk) 22:59, 11 August 2008 (UTC)

Found another photo that had been posted to Commons. Added the new one to the article.

Older Comments

two wee points:

1. I am not 100% convinced that stovies absolutely have to have meat in them. (Keith Floyd agrees with me, so it must be right...)
2. I have never seen stovies with sausages in them, ever. This might be a regional variation, but I would have thought it was always corn beef or leftover roast.

any thoughts? Although I know this is the sort of thing that could vary hugely depending on where in Scotland you came from and how your mum cooked them, I did do a double take at the mention of sausages. Mendor 20:01, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

I'm Scottish and have lived in Scotland all my life and have only EVER had stovies WITH sausages. That's the way my Mum makes it, her Mum makes and her Mum made it. If it's made with corned beef then that isn't stovies it is simply corned beef hash. Traditionally it could be made with leftover meat but most people are agreed that sausages are what is best nowadays. This may vary from region to region. I know that this is the case in the North of Scotland and East of Scotland but it may vary in and around Glasgow where they might think corned beef hash is stovies but generally this isn't the opinion of most Scots. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.41.228.81 (talk • contribs) 2006-01-23 15:13 (UTC)

I'm from Glasgow and have also only ever had stovies with sausages (always decied square sausage)....it might be a west coast thing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.3.104.27 (talk) 00:58, August 30, 2007 (UTC)

Well, I'm suprised by that. I'm from Dundee and have lived in Scotland all my life as well, and I have never seen stovies with sausages. I don't get the impression that it's "the opinion of most Scots", but clearly tastes vary on the issue. Stovies with sausages does sound nice. Will have to try it. Mendor 23:20, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

Here is a much tastier stovies recipe:

This Recipe has been passed down from generation to generation in my family and has always remained a big favourite of everyone.

Serves: 4 Preperation: 15 mins Cooking Time: <1 hour

Ingredients

2 lbs White Potatos 1 lbs Sausages (Richmonds thick Irish Recipe sausages work well) 2 Medium Onions/1 Large Onion 4 tsp (20ml) Bisto (Gravy powder/granules) 1 Oxo Cube (Optional)

Notes on ingredients

Old potatos will make mushier stovies whereas newer will mean less of the potato breaks down.

Irish or Scottish recipe sausages are nice, but any standard sausage works If you like/dislike onion you may want to use slightly more/less

Equipment Required

Large Pan With Lid Sharp Vegetable Knife Chopping Board Vegetable Peeler A Ladel Cooker Hob with Gas or Electric Supply A healthy appetite

Preperation

1) Cut Sausages into inch long pieces (This is about 4 pieces for most sausages) and place in pan.

2) Peel and cut onion in your preferred way, trying not to cry (Chopping in a bowl of water prevents this). Place onion on top of sausage.

3) Peel Potatos and slice them into slices of varying thickness, not too thick or they will take too long to cook! Put them in the the pan.

4) Add a mug (1/2 pint/300 ml) of cold water to the pan, crumble in the oxo cube if you wish to use one (for more flavour) and put the lid on.

5) Gently bring to the boil and simmer on a low heat until the thicker slices of potato are soft enough to eat (This can be anywhere from 30 mins to an hour), you will smell it is cooking and won't be able to resist lifting the lid to smell and look... when you do this give it a stir with the ladel. The more you lift the lid the longer it'll take to cook!

6) 5 mins before it is ready mix the bisto with half a mug of water. Gradually add the water to pan.

7) Return to heat and bring back up to the boil.

Recommendation: After this stage go and spread some bread as stovies is lovely when put in sandwiches... this will make it go further when unexpected visitors are lured in by the smell of it cooking.

8) Serve up onto plates using the ladel, eat and enjoy!

-- —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.41.228.81 (talk • contribs) 2006-01-23 15:13 (UTC)

Recipe

Moved the recipe from the article per WP:NOT and posted it here in case someone wishes to move it to Wikibooks:Cookbook. Geoff ^{T C} 19:10, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Ingredients

50g (2 oz.)beef dripping or butter
3 medium onions, roughly chopped
1 kg (2 pounds)potatoes
125-250g (4-8 ounces) cooked beef or lamb (leftovers from a roast dinner)
2 -3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley, chives, or spring onions
Seasoning salt, freshly ground black pepper, allspice, or grated nutmeg

Method

Heat fat in a large heavy-base pot (one with a tight-fitting lid) and add the onions. Cook until lightly brown. Peel potatoes if they are "main crop", but leave the skins on new potatoes. Slice about 5mm (1/4-inch) thick. Or slice roughly in different thickness so that the thin go into a mush, while the others stay whole. Add them to the pot with the onions and stir well. coating all sides with the fat. Put the lid on and cook over a very low heat, shaking the pot once or twice to prevent sticking, until the potatoes are cooked. Add the meat, mix through, and turn up the heat to brown a little. Serve with brown sauce.

The same recipe can be adapted to use steak, beef or pork sausages instead of leftover meat. If making stovies this way, brown the sausages with the onions at the start.

As a child growing up in Edinburgh in the late 1940's early 1950's I was often treated to the winter dish we knew as Stovies. My mother would fill a deep pot with alternating layers of, sliced onions, pork sausages and sliced potatoes, heavily seasoned with salt and pepper and dods of beef dripping on the potatoes, as many layers as would feed a family of 9. With a lid on and held tight with greaseproof paper, it was left on a peep (absolute minimum heat) on the gas stove top for probably a couple of hours until cooked through. The result was both warming and delicious for a winter treat. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.201.85.54 (talk) 20:08, 31 October 2010 (UTC)

Picture

The closest thing I've ever seen to that picture is soup... I'm Scottish and had stovies for tea tonight! I've never heard of sausages in stovies either, but even with, this picture would not represent it! Fortunately, I can't regurgitate my dinner to take a photo, but even if I did, it'd still look more appealing... Anything better available? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Luck plus (talk • contribs) 18:56, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

I took that picture of stovies made in Ayrshire. The lady who made them told me there are many different recipes around Scotland, and that none are "right" and that each area or even village has its own ingredients. JSL595 (talk) 21:49, 22 January 2011 (UTC)

I dunno, I've eaten ready-made meals of stovies from supermarkets (which I doubt sell different recipes depending on area) and from bakeries around the East coast of Scotland, and it's always been much thicker. The pictures on the first couple of pages of Google images are more like what I think stovies look like (apart from the one that's the same as the one used here, of course). Haha sorry, it's my favourite meal :P Luck + 22:07, 29 January 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Luck plus (talk • contribs)

dead Youtube link in references

I was disappointed to discover the youtube spoof video has been removed for copyright reasons Adagio67 (talk) 22:17, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

Gravy?

Would it be OK to put some sort of gravy on top? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.246.86.168 (talk) 03:27, 10 November 2011 (UTC)