Powsowdie (Powsowdie)
Overview
Powsowdie is a Scottish soup made from a sheep's head and trotters. The head is singed to remove the wool, then scraped and soaked, and simmered for hours with the trotters, pearl barley and dried peas, until the broth is rich and gelatinous. Carrots, turnip and onions are added towards the end. The meat is then taken off the bones and returned to the soup, and the dish is seasoned with salt, pepper and chopped parsley. It is a hearty, filling broth much like Scotch broth, with a deeper flavour from the head.
History
Powsowdie was once described as a speciality of Edinburgh, in a time when every part of an animal was used and nothing was wasted. It is closely related to Scotch broth, which uses mutton, barley and dried peas in the same way. The soup is much less known today, but the National Library of Scotland included it in its 2015 exhibition on Scottish food history, Lifting the Lid.
Main ingredients
Sheep's head, sheep's trotters, barley, dried peas, carrots, turnip. The soup is built on sheep's head broth and is usually served hot. Diet: contains meat; not usually gluten-free.
Explore: Tripe and offal soups · Barley and grains soups · More soups from Scotland
Recipe
Method
- 1
Soak the head and trotters in cold water overnight.
- 2
Put them in a large pot with 4 l water, the barley and peas, bring to the boil and skim.
- 33 h
Simmer gently for 3 hours.
- 445 min
Add the vegetables and cook for 45 minutes more.
- 5
Take the meat off the bones, return it to the soup, season and serve with parsley.
- ✓
Serve. About 4h 40m from start to bowl.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.
