Cooking in Scotland, traditional cooking that is, is has been heavily influenced by three things - fish, oats and the "Auld Alliance".
Fish has always been a staple in the Scottish diet, both freshwater and sea. Scotland has some of the best fresh water fishing in the EU. As well as the, almost legendary, salmon and trout fishing many other coarse fish abound in Scotland's largely unpolluted rivers, streams and lochs. Sea fishing has harvested the bounty of the seas all around the Scottish coast. Cod, pollack, skate, hake and mackerel have all been fished, but to my mind the best sea fish of all is haddock. Smoked haddock, the term Finnan Haddock is actually a corruption of the name if the small fishing village of Findon, just a few miles south of Aberdeen. Many believe this was the first place to smoke haddock. Real smoked haddock isn't the bright yellow fish you see in a lot a shops. Real smoked haddock is still mostly white with a pale brown tinge. It is lightly smoked, traditionally over peat fires, and has a delicate taste. Probably the most famous Scottish recipe involving smoked haddock is a soup called Cullen Skink, which translates as 'essence of Cullen', another small fishing village on the north east coast. Many variations abound, but Cullen Skink is basically a smoked haddock and potato soup.