In the run-up to National Vegetarian Week (16th-22nd May 2022) celebrated in the UK, Clarence Court took a spin on a classic and created the largest vegetarian scotch egg weighing in at an amazing 8.341 kg (18 lb 5 oz) at Lacock, UK, on 28th April 2022.
A scotch egg is a British snack traditionally consisting of a hard-boiled egg enclosed in sausage meat, rolled in breadcrumbs, and fried.
Clarence Court is a premium egg supplier based in Lacock, Wiltshire and supply various types of eggs to retailers within the UK, ranging from hen eggs to emu eggs.
A Wiltshire chef has made the world's biggest Scotch egg.
— BBC Radio Wiltshire (@BBCWiltshire) May 18, 2022
Leigh Evans from Corsham, who works for @ClarenceCourt in Lacock, used an ostrich egg to make his pea, mint and cheddar vegetarian version. It weighed in at a record-breaking 8.3 kg. pic.twitter.com/CrbLsMgamd
The egg supplier is no stranger to record-breaking and currently holds the meat equivalent record of largest scotch egg using traditional sausage meat and an ostrich egg achieved in July 2008 which weighed in at 6.2 kg.
For this mammoth veggie task, Clarence Court challenged their talented in-house chef Leigh Evans to demonstrate the versatility of their eggs, creating his own recipe of a pea, mint and cheddar scotch egg.
For the egg itself, Leigh used the largest egg from their collection, a 1.7 kg ostrich egg, and the whole process took just under six hours.
The vegetarian outer consists of peas, cheddar cheese, sage and onion with breadcrumbs together with various seasoning ingredients. These were all premixed and made into a paste using a food processor.
Once this was wrapped around the ostrich egg, the whole piece was wrapped in clingfilm and placed in a blast-chiller, to assist in making it robust enough to be safely handled without falling apart.
After 30 minutes and after being rolled in semolina and liquid egg, it was rolled in panko breadcrumbs.
The whole scotch egg was then placed in a tray of pre-heated sunflower oil, basted and placed into the oven for 26 minutes.
Afterwards, the scotch egg was transferred to the kitchen's industrial scales for the all-important weigh in by an independent qualified surveyor.
Finally, the scotch egg was cut in half to check that the thickness of the vegetarian outer did not exceed the width of the egg, as required in line with Guinness World Records guidelines.
With the vegetarian scotch egg authenticated, the record was confirmed and the certificate awarded.
"This was a first for me, having not created anything so large in my cooking career! I always enjoy a challenge, and this was one that I really did enjoy doing. I am delighted to have broken a Guinness World Record [title] and have had enormous fun creating this much-loved picnic staple but glad I got lots of practice in before the judging day!" Chef Leigh Evans
For those reading who’d like to have a go at making this, you’re in luck! Chef Leigh Evans has revealed the ingredients needed:
- 1 Ostrich Egg
- 3.3 kg Marrowfat peas
- 1.5 kg Frozen peas
- 1 kg Grated Cheddar cheese
- 700 g Sage & onion breadcrumbs
- 1 kg Hot water
- 80 g Salt
- 20 g Ground white pepper
- 20 g Dried mint
- 1 kg Semolina
- 1 kg Liquid egg
- 2 kg Panko bread crumbs
- 15 kg Rapeseed oil (For frying)
After measurement and the certificate presentation, the scotch egg was taken to the onsite staff restaurant where it was consumed by Clarence Court employees.
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