Making a scotch egg sustainable

Three miles north west of Glastonbury, through winding Somerset roads and with rain lashing down on the car windscreen, we found ourselves in the village of Meare. A marshland village typical of Somerset (with dwellings dating back to pre-historic times), this small West Country settling is home to Matt & Annabelle, and this is where we were headed.

Matt & Annabelle, our scotch egg artisans, single-handedly run The Somerset Smokehouse from their family home in Meare. A small out-building, just in front of the rolling green hills and luscious wetland scenery, is where you’ll find Matt & Annabelle. Hand-crafting scotch eggs by eye, free-rolling sausage meat in golden panko breadcrumbs and peeling eggs with speed that one can only dream of when constructing Sunday brunch at home. It was a miserable day in the West Country, but the prospect of freshly cooked scotch eggs awaiting our arrival was enough to keep us going.

Handmade in Somerset

As the car pulled in, the rain had subsided to a mist and we were welcomed by Matt & Annabelle, already busy in production. Somerset Pies were first on the agenda, and it was clear by watching Annabelle carefully mould the pastry and hand-fill each parcel, this wasn’t the first time she’d done this. Given the accuracy, speed and devotion in topping each and every handmade pie with a miniature pastry pig, you’d be forgiven for thinking Matt & Annabelle had been in the business their whole life.

In reality, it was 4 years ago that Matt & Annabelle gave up their 9-5 lifestyle for something a little more rustic. They began with sausage rolls and smoked meats (hence the name, Somerset Smokehouse) and, in a stroke of genius, ventured into scotch eggs. The pinnacle of British picnic season and (near enough) universally loved by all, the humble scotch egg has been given an artisan, high-welfare and sustainable makeover in the small, un-assuming kitchen belonging to Matt & Annabelle.

Somerset Pies in the oven, pastry bubbling and golden, it was onto the main event. Matt carefully floured each egg (expertly peeled by Annabelle, who holds the self-declared record for peeling a quails egg in 9 seconds), shaped the sausage meat around the egg, re-floured, dipped in free-range egg yolk, and rolled the scotch egg in breadcrumbs. The process was smooth and methodical, entirely by eye and just as you might expect it to be if you were making scotch eggs at home.

Hand-crafting 90,000 scotch eggs over 4 years is no mean feat, but Matt & Annabelle insist on keeping it between the two of them to ensure artisan quality. But, as important as this is, every good craftsman will know that it’s essential to have the right materials to work with.

Locally sourced, free-range & sustainable

Matt & Annabelle source free-range Large Whites and Oxford Sandy Blacks from a local Somerset butcher, just 3 miles from Meare, and from April they’ll be rearing a handful of pigs in their own back garden. Over the winter months the ground isn’t suitable for the pigs to rootle around and live happily, so building a relationship with their local butcher has been crucial in ensuring high-quality meat goes into their scotch eggs all year round. The pork is strictly free-range, high-welfare and locally sourced, seasoned with nothing more than a little rosemary, sage, black pepper and sea salt (which they plan to grow themselves in the near future). Similarly, the eggs are free-range and locally sourced from Cheddar, and the breadcrumbs are sourced to order from a local bakery.

But the sustainability doesn’t stop there. Every scotch egg is individually hand-packed into recycled carboard boxes (which can be recycled again after use), there’s no plastic tape and the baking parchment used to keep products safe is recyclable (as well as being sourced from a British company). On top of this, the oil used to fry the scotch eggs is picked up by a sustainable bio-fuel company and put to use elsewhere.

Artisan in every sense of the word

As Matt & Annabelle chatted to us about the sustainability and provenance of their product, the fryer was ready for the scotch eggs. Carefully dropped into the oil as mesmerising bubbles surrounded each egg, it took 7 minutes for the iconic golden crust to form.

While waiting those torturous 7 minutes we mused the topic of flavour combinations (which, we were told, often come to Matt in a dream). For the traditionalists among us there’s pork & sage, but if you like a hint of spice then try the pork & sweet chilli, or for something completely different, smoked salmon & dill is a must. Always cooked on the same day they’re made, these scotch eggs are fresh, sustainable, free-range and delicious.

We left Matt & Annabelle’s Somerset kitchen with warm scotch eggs & Somerset pies in hand, heading straight for the hills of Glastonbury Tor. Plonked on a bench and with the wind and rain lashing in our faces, there’s nothing that could have hit the spot more than that crispy golden scotch egg, complete with juicy free-range sausage meat and a perfectly soft-boiled egg. Not quite the petrol station snack we’ve become accustomed too.