If you believe what you read in the papers, you might think there's little more to Scottish cooking than calorific deep-fried Mars bars and the sugary fizzy drink Irn Bru. However, the oft-used phrase 'Scotland's larder' accurately describes the wealth of superior home-grown produce. Aberdeen Angus beef, Finnan haddock, Islay cheese, wild salmon and smoky whiskies from the misty Isles, are just some of the country's delicious produce.

Traditionally, Scottish cooking was frugal, filling food, featuring hearty broths, porridges, offal and oat-filled meat dishes and puddings. Scotland's fine beef and lamb products, famed across the world, were sent south to London's Smithfield Market and enjoyed by England's gentry. These days, Scottish chefs are reclaiming their local produce to make refined dishes using native goodies.

Hearty broths

Scottish soups are filling fare. Scotch broth (or hotch potch) can be made with mutton (preferably the neck), beef or chicken. An assortment of vegetables and handful of pearl barley are added to the boiled meat and generally cooked the day before required, so the fat can be skimmed from the top.

Cock-a-leekie, another wholesome Scottish soup, is claimed to have evolved from cockfighting - the cock that lost the battle was cooked whole, with leeks, in a large boiling pot and diced-up afterwards.

Another well-loved soup, Cullen Skink, is named after the Cullen village located on the coast of the Moray Firth. This Finnan haddock and potato broth can be made with either water or milk, depending on the richness desired.

Oat meals

The Scottish climate is well-suited to growing oats. From salty breakfast porridge through to mealie pudding for high tea (the main Scottish evening meal), oat features prominently in the Scottish diet.

One of the most famous of Scottish dishes, Haggis, is made from sheep's offal (including the windpipe, lungs, liver and heart) minced with oatmeal, onion, spices, suet and stock and boiled in the sheep's paunch for several hours. Haggis is traditionally eaten to celebrate the birth of the Scots poet Robert Burns, on Burn's Night (January 25), for Hogmanay (New Year's Eve), as well as through out the rest of the year. It is traditionally served with 'neeps and tatties' (mashed swede and potatoes).

Mealie pudding (or skirlie) is an even more frugal version of Haggis - oatmeal, beef suet and onion fried in a pan. Nowadays it is often served with grilled sausages and bacon.