Mince & Tatties Recipe: Traditional Scottish Comfort Food (2024)

FAQs

What are mince and tatties made of? ›

Mince and tatties is a Scottish dish which consists of ground beef and mashed potato. Other vegetables or thickening agents are sometimes added to the dish as well.

Haggis is traditionally served with mashed neeps (turnips) and mashed tatties (potatoes).

The "mince" in mincemeat comes from the Middle English mincen, and the Old French mincier both traceable to the Vulgar Latin minutiare, meaning chop finely. The word mincemeat is an adaptation of an earlier term minced meat, meaning finely chopped meat. Meat was also a term for food in general, not only animal flesh.

Add a little more oil if your mince is less than 75% lean. Fat = flavor and many seasonings are fat-soluble. Bloom / soften / sautee some aromatics in said oil before adding your mince. Onions , garlic, green onions, leeks, shallots, celery or celery seed are the usual suspects.

A stupid person or persons can be described as being as thick as mince, as Hardeep Singh Kohli writes: “Today's Tories, for all their privilege and erudite education, are arguably the least able coterie of Conservatives we have ever had in power. Basically, they are thick as mince” (Sunday Herald 6 December 2015).

Mincemeat is a combination of chopped dried fruits, spices, sugar, nuts, distilled spirits, a fat of some type and sometimes meat. The name is a carryover from 15th century England when mincemeat did indeed have meat in the mix; in fact, the whole point of mincemeat was to preserve meat with sugar and alcohol.

Scotland's iconic national dish known as haggis consists of sausage meat made from the innards of the sheep mixed with onions, oatmeal, suet, stock, dried herbs and other seasonings. These ingredients are combined and then boiled inside the lining of a sheep's stomach.

The haggis is traditionally served with mashed potatoes (tatties) and mashed swede turnip (neeps).

Tattie. Pronounced tat-tee. Potato. In Scotland a scarecrow is sometimes called a 'tattie-bogle'.

Ground beef, minced beef or beef mince is beef that has been finely chopped with a knife, meat grinder (American English), mincer or mincing machine (British English). It is used in many recipes including hamburgers, bolognese sauce, meatloaf, meatballs, and kofta.

What is a mince in British slang? ›

To 'mince' is to 'skive', to avoid doing one's allotted work. If something is 'mince', it's of low quality and poorly devised, made, or executed. 'Mince' is short for 'mince pies', co*ckney rhyming slang for 'eyes'. 'Mince' is short for 'mincemeat' - any kind of meat, but usually beef, cut into extremely small pieces.

The definition of mince is to cut into very small pieces. This term means the smallest possible pieces; smaller than dice or chop, but not pureed.

Mince is cooked when the temperature has reached 75°C. If you don't have a thermometer, ensure it's been simmering on the heat (it should be bubbling gently) for at least 15 minutes. If you're cooking meatballs or meatloaf, use a thermometer to check the temperature or cut open to check it is cooked through.

The calcium-rich properties of milk react with enzymes in the meat to gently soften the proteins. Whole milk (not reduced fat), buttermilk, and yogurt all get the job done – with a special nod to buttermilk and yogurt for their optimal tenderizing acidity levels.

Ground meat, called mince or minced meat outside North America, is meat finely chopped by a meat grinder or a chopping knife. A common type of ground meat is ground beef, but many other types of meats are prepared in a similar fashion, including pork, veal, lamb, goat meat, and poultry.

All About Mincemeat: The Fabulous Filling for Mince Pies

These days, mincemeat is made with a mixture of dried fruit, such as raisins and currants, candied fruit peels, lemon and orange zest, finely chopped apple, brandy, warming spices, and the rendered animal fat suet (or a vegetarian substitute).

Most mincemeat is vegan or vegetarian suet that is used in place of animal suet, so in most cases you'll be in luck. The only thing that might make it not-so-vegan is the addition of brandy, as some types aren't vegan. If you're not sure, double check the ingredients label.

A simple, generous dish that reminds us just how delicious simplicity can be! Mince and Tatties”, or minced meat and potatoes, is a simple but comforting traditional Scottish dish. This dish is a classic of Scottish home cooking and consists of two main elements: mince (minced meat) and tatties (mashed potatoes).