Cullen Skink Archives - Scones, history and a dollop of politics

Okay, our previous post from the Garmouth was a bit heavy on the historical side so this time we thought we would come here to The Royal Oak in Cullen. Not for the history of Cullen, no, we came for its soup … and scones, of course. Anyone who departs this earth without having tried Cullen Skink hasn’t really lived at all. It’s made from smoked haddock, onions, potatoes and milk … food of the Gods! And, the only thing better than trying a bowl of Cullen Skink is trying it in Cullen itself, where it actually comes from. Hence we are here at the Royal Oak, only a few yards from the beach.

We had heard that there were several cafe’s in this little fishing village but for some reason we couldn’t find them and eventually ended up here. With a population of just over 1000, it’s hardly enough to support a thriving cafe culture.

Obligations?

Elizabeth de Burgh, Robert the Bruce’s wife fell off her horse and died here while visiting Cullen Castle in 1327. The locals removed her organs and buried them in the local church yard. Then they sent the rest of her to Dunfermline Abbey, the official burial place of Scottish Kings and Queens. Bruce was so grateful to the town for its treatment of his wife that he arranged for an annual payment to be made to the village. Obviously, expectations of how the dead were dealt with were different back in the day. In 2000 the government tried to stop the payment but a court case found in the villages favour. The princely sum of £5 per annum is still being paid every year. Okay, okay, it was a small fortune in 1327 and there’s a principle involved!

Oatcakes

Enough history, what about the skink we hear you cry! When we arrived we asked if the Royal Oak had the best skink in Cullen? The look we got said “obviously!”. They are a friendly bunch here and they soon had us sorted with a nice bowl of the ambrosia complete with some oatcakes. It was only me, Pat is not a skink appreciator! It was excellent and the oatcakes were a perfect accompaniment. Having said that I don’t think it was any better than the skink Pat makes for me at home … just need her to get some oatcakes.

Afterwards, we discovered that the World Cullen Skink Champions were Buth Bheag’s Fisherman’s Kitchen, Kyle of Lochalsh. Nowhere near here Cullen!

After the Cullen Skink it was the turn of the Cullen scones. They were nice but we were a little disappointed to find that, this far north, they felt they had to get their cream from Cornwall. We had a really nice time at the Royal Oak and for me it was a box ticked … Cullen Skink actually in Cullen. No topscone, but hey, you can’t have everything!

Brightly coloured house in Cullen — One of the brightly coloured houses in Cullen

Backbones

Meanwhile, rudderless Britain is suffering a major energy and cost of living crisis. Boris Johnson is still Prime Minister but on holiday! in spite of much cajoling he has declined to intervene. David Cameron did a similar disappearing trick as soon as he realised what a mess Brexit was. David and Boris were in the same class at Eton … presumably they were both off the day they handed out backbones.

Still no sign of that promised bottle of whisky …. time is running out!

AB56 4SD. tel: 01542 842762 Royal Oak

///farm.reverted.mandates

I regard Angus as my home county having spent my early childhood in Glen Isla. These days, however, I am only in Angus on rare occasions. That said, here we are today in Caffe Barista in Arbroath. Many a summer holiday was spent here in the caravan park but today we are just passing through.

Declarations

The town is well known for its smoked haddock … the famous Arbroath Smokie. Wonderful on its own in much the same way as you would eat a kipper or alternatively it could be used to make that soup of all soups, Cullen Skink … yum. Arbroath, of course, is also a great place to declare things. In 1320, in Arbroath Abbey, a group of Scottish nobles did just that.

The Declaration of Arbroath — Declaration of Arbroath ritten in Latin and sent to the Pope. They knew how to declare things back then

The intention was to assert Scotland’s status as an independent, sovereign state and defend Scotland’s right to use military action when unjustly attacked. Oooo, do we hear echoes of Ukraine?

Little did they know that a few hundred years later, in 1707, Scotland’s nobles would sell the country down the river in return for English bribes. Heyho, here we are, another couple of centuries on, still struggling to reverse that ludicrous decision.

Guys and Dolls

In Caffe Barista the declarations were of a different type “Hi guys, how are you today? What are you having guys? Was everything okay guys?” Pat, more of a doll than a guy, weathered the onslaught manfully! We just wanted a cuppa and a scone to share. The choice was plain, plain or plain, so plain it was!

It came with butter and jam from somewhere that couldn’t be determined. This being Angus, it was ironic that we had just driven through mile after mile of strawberry and raspberry fields and yet the jam here came prepackaged in plastic, probably from some foreign land. The scone itself was reasonable enough but a country mile away from a topscone. We left suitable refreshed with “Bye guys” ringing in our ears.

blackboard at Caffe Barista, Arbroath — A rare opportunity to combine scones and telephone boxes

Bailing out

It is also ironic, given that in 2014 we were told there was only a dribble of oil left, that the UK government is yet again being bailed out by Scotland. It’s late conversion to a windfall tax on energy companies will raise billions, 95% of which will come from Scotland. Things have got so bad for Boris we wouldn’t be at all surprised if, one day, he simply walked away. However, he could also be developing a Putinesque inability to foresee his own inevitable downfall. The latter is perhaps the most likely.

World records

We cannot leave Arbroath without mentioning the world record held by the local football club, affectionately known as the Red Lichties. In the Scottish Cup of 1885 they beat Bon Accord of Aberdeen 36-0. They had a further seven goals disallowed for offside. Of course that means that Bon Accord must also hold a world record but nobody seems to mention that?

Anyway must get back home and start planning our Platinum Jubilee celebrations??

DD11 1DP tel: 01241 872664 Caffe Barista

///taken.voter.transit

Scones, history and a dollop of politics

Tag Archives: Cullen Skink

The Royal Oak