Bid to make biggest Scotch egg in history

Jon Fell with a couple of ostrich eggs. Picture: contributed

Led by Cumbrian chef Jon Fell, it will take at least six hours to produce the 11kg treat, which will be composed of an ostrich egg, 10kg of sausage meat and breadcrumbs.

The egg itself, which measures five inches in diameter, will take more than 90 minutes to boil before it’s carefully wrapped with enough meat to produce around 550 sausage rolls and steamed for three hours.

It will then be coated in two dozen eggs and 2kg of breadcrumbs before the chefs negotiate the kitchen space at the Mermaid chippy in Leith in order to lower the egg into 20 litres of hot oil.

Measuring 18 inches in diameter, the final result will undeniably crack the current Guinness World Record of 6.95kg, which was set in 2011 by chef Luke Turner in London.

The record-breaking egg was produced on behalf of department store Fortnum & Mason, which claims to have invented the Scotch egg in 1738.

This latest world record attempt was organised as part of the second annual Egg Award – an international contest designed by Capital food bloggers in order to encourage chefs and families to source their eggs more locally.

Last year, the inaugural competition saw scores of cooks from all over the globe submit their egg recipes via Twitter, with the top prize going to double Michelin star chef Dani Garcia, from Spain.

Mr Fell has already undergone two trial runs in preparation for his record attempt on Saturday – and claims both have weighed in at well over 10kg.

But they’ve also alerted him to a number of logistical problems.

He said: “Just the sheer size of this egg makes it incredibly difficult to work with. It takes over 90 minutes to boil all the way through, and then we’ve got to be very careful wrapping the sausage meat around the egg so that it doesn’t lose its shape.

“But the biggest obstacle of all has been to find a deep fat fryer that’s big enough to house it.”

That’s where competition  co-founder and Leith food blogger Claudia Escobar stepped in. After scouring the city for an establishment worthy of Mr Fell’s record-breaking egg, she settled on the Mermaid in Leith Walk.

“The place is famous in Leith as Edinburgh’s best chippy, and we thought there was no better place to launch our world record bid,” she said.

To ensure that he adheres to the Guinness Book of Records’ strict rules, celebrity restauranteur Tony Singh will be looking over the chefs’ shoulders every step of the way.

Hungry volunteers will then be invited to tuck in.

In numbers

1738: The year the Scotch egg was apparently invented, by London department store Fortnum & Mason.

20: Litres of hot oil in which the egg will be deep fried.

18: The planned diameter, in inches, of the final result.

550: How many sausage rolls could be made with the meat being used in the attempt.

6.95: The currently record, in kilograms, the team is aiming to crack.

2: The number of kilograms of breadcrumbs being lined up to coat the egg.