Staffordshire Savoury Scotch Eggs: a taste test egg-stravaganza

Staffordshire Savoury Scotch Eggs are a superior Scotch egg, made in a huge variety of flavours.

Produced by a family run business that started at the kitchen table, I recently put a range of their Savoury eggs to the test.

Can the classic Scotch egg be improved on?

If you’ve been to a farmers’ market or food fair in Staffordshire or nearby towns in Cheshire, Derbyshire and beyond, you’ll probably have seen a Staffordshire Savoury Scotch Egg.

However, if you’re a bit of a dawdler, what you won’t have seen is their incredible range of flavours. That’s because you should get there early to beat the crowds who snap them up, meaning they’re often almost sold out by early afternoon.

That’s sometimes been our fate when we’ve visited their stall at one of our local markets in Leek. Turning up after walking the dog or whatever, we’d find only two or three varieties left of the dozen or more made by husband and wife team Deborah and Colin.

But we struck gold when we recently made our first visit to the relatively new Stafford Makers Market and got there only half an hour or so after the start. There was Deborah, her stall rammed with umpteen wicker baskets loaded with the tempting golden, bread-crumbed spheres.

From farmhouse kitchen to thriving business

Staffordshire Savoury Scotch Eggs use only free-range hen and duck eggs in their handmade product. The pork is local too, including some from Deborah and Colin’s own smallholding in the Staffordshire Moorlands.

They began their business with Deborah, who’d learnt to make Scotch eggs from her grandmother, developing them in the kitchen of their farm.

They’re now a thriving business, loved by so many who discover their savoury eggs at local markets and food festivals. You can also pick them up in selected pubs, delis and farm shops.

So, what about those flavours?

Besides the Original (a classic Scotch egg of pork sausagemeat surrounding a cooked egg, the whole lot bread crumbed and deep-fried), you’ll find Caramelized Onion, Sweet Chilli, Duck Egg with Plum and Hoi Sin, Thai-flavoured ones, gluten-free Spring Onion and Garlic, vegetarian Sundried Tomato and Cheese and even an eggless Scotch egg.

Yes. An eggless Scotch egg. They really do aim to cater for all tastes.

The taste test

Challenged with such an array of choice, and not knowing when I’d have the opportunity again, I decided to go all out and do a taste-testing egg-stravaganza. I selected five varieties in all.

Those included in the taste test were: Original, Duck Egg & Black Forest Ham, Breakfast in a Ball, Boston Jerk and, at Deborah’s suggestion, the Pepperbite.

Much as I’d loved every Staffordshire Savoury Scotch Egg I’d tried up to this point, I knew I was going to need help in this undertaking. Besides wanting another opinion, the savoury eggs are pretty substantial and for a taste test I only wanted to eat half an egg at a time. Luckily my partner is something of a Scotch egg enthusiast, so didn’t need any persuading to join me. He also happens to be a photographer so could take care of that side too. Even so, we decided to stage the test over three days so that we weren’t prejudiced against the final ones due to Scotch egg fatigue.

I should say at this point, that if you’re expecting one of those runny-yolk affairs then you’ve come to the wrong place. In my opinion, that’s all very well if you’ve got a dainty quail’s egg, eaten from a plate with a knife and fork, but that will do you no good if you’re after a hand-held snack like these.

The Original

First off had to be, of course, the Original against which I think it’s right to judge any innovation. A control Scotch egg, if you will. After all, you may be able to flavour the traditional Scotch egg in lots of new ways, but have you really improved upon it?

Having had the Original several times before, this specimen shouldn’t have held any surprises. But it was interesting to find that, sitting down with pen and paper, there was actually more to say than I would have guessed.

Besides the beautifully golden yolk, the most obvious attributes were its pure, porky flavour and the firm texture within. Straight away, that tells me this is a quality product as I find that cheap, mass produced versions have little pork taste, coupled with a mushy texture.

That’s little wonder, as a quick look at the ingredients of one of the big supermarket’s own brand Scotch egg (and not an economy brand either) finds ‘Dried Potato’ and ‘Sugar Beet Fibre’ (a waste product of the sugar beet industry) listed amongst its ingredients. Any sensible person will tell you these have no place in a Scotch egg. Nor does the supermarket example contain British pork or free-range egg.

The breadcrumb coating on the far superior Original had much more flavour than I was expecting too, with delectably browned, oniony bits speckling the outside.

To summarise, this was an impeccable Scotch egg and I can’t remember ever having eaten a better one.

Duck Egg & Black Forest Ham

When you cut open the Duck Egg & Black Forest Ham version, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was identical to the Original. But, look carefully, and you’ll see a pinky-brown halo of ham surrounding the egg. Nice. I was expecting the ham to be chopped into the pork meat but no, that was left as purely porky as in the Original.

Ever the inquisitive sort, I removed one of the egg halves to have a proper look, and sniff, at the ham. There was a nice amount of fat (and fat equals flavour), but not too much, with the ham giving off an enticing smoky aroma too.

I soon popped the egg back in its hammy hollow and took a bite. The ham gave a good smokiness to the firm pork and rich duck egg without trampling their identities. Another triumph.

Boston Jerk

No, Boston Jerk isn’t a Massachusetts insult. Boston jerk refers to the spice mix used in a form of meat preservation made popular around Boston, Jamaica, in the mid-twentieth century.

Cut open a Boston Jerk savoury egg and you’ll see evidence of the spicing in the slightly golden colour of the meat and little flecks of red from chilli and pimento.

When I bit into it, there was at first a feeling of slight heat which, as I ate on, gradually built to medium. I thought this was about right as I find that too much heat can overwhelm other flavours. In this case, the stars of the show were still quality pork and egg, but we enjoyed the delicate spicing and warming heat.

The texture of the Boston Jerk variety was not as firm as the previous examples but, as the ingredients include garlic and onions, this is to be expected and was perfectly acceptable as they added complexity of flavour.

Breakfast in a Ball

The inside of a cut open Breakfast in a Ball is a thing to behold. The bright yellow and white of hen’s egg wrapped in our old friend black forest ham, surrounded by the stark, purple-black of black pudding and bordered with a golden aura of fried breadcrumbs.

The taste ain’t so bad either.

Actually, with apologies for the hackneyed cliché, it tasted just as good as it looked. The slight sweetness brought by the black pudding was cut through by the salty smokiness of the ham, making this a satisfying breakfast for anyone with an ounce of good taste.

As with the Boston Jerk flavour, added ingredients to the pork meat necessarily made it softer but, skilfully added, in both these cases the effect was to enhance the product.

Pepperbite

At the centre of the Pepperbite, replacing the egg, you’ll find a cream cheese-filled miniature red pepper. You’ve perhaps seen these lightly pickled peppers, filled or not, on deli counters.

I’ll admit I was rather sceptical about an eggless Scotch egg and only included it when Deborah, hearing us talking about doing a taste test, suggested we try it.

I was a little reticent cutting open the Pepperbite in case there was a messy gushing or squirting of cream cheese. But I needn’t have worried. The whole thing cut cleanly in half and very pretty it looked too with its bright red ring of pepper.

The pepper made a subtle crunch as I bit into it and I really enjoyed the textural contrast between that, the creamy cheese and the classic, firm pork. The pepper was of the piquant variety, not flaming hot, but left a pleasant tingle on the lips.

Before trying the Pepperbite I couldn’t imagine circumstances where I’d want a Scotch egg that didn’t have an egg in it.

However, apart from the enjoyable taste and textures, I also like the fact that it felt a little lighter. As much as we like Scotch eggs, they can sometimes feel a little heavy (especially that second half if you’re not as hungry as you first thought) so I think there’s definitely a role for the eggless Scotch egg and not just for those who don’t like eggs.

Conclusion

So, which was our favourite?

In truth, neither of us could pick a winner.

That’s because, while I’ll regularly return to the classic Original, I think that Staffordshire Savoury Scotch Eggs have done a great job creating some new and interesting flavours.

In fact, I’d happily eat any of them again depending on what I fancied at the time, whether that be traditional, spicy, smoky or eggless.

Whichever I chose, I know that I would be getting a superior product, whose core ingredients are local and made by a business that puts quality at the heart of what it does. And that’s what makes Staffordshire Savoury Scotch Eggs so good.

I think there’s still some flavours I haven’t tried but why don’t you get yourself a few, conduct your own taste test and let me know what you think?

All images © Ian Dakin Photography