Where we think scotch eggs are from: UK (Scotland).

Where scotch eggs are really from: India.

It’s unclear how these meaty, eggy beauties came to fly the Scottish flag, but they seem to be doing so with a bit of a secret… they’re not really Scottish at all.

It’s thought that this picnic favorite was heavily inspired by the dish Nargisi kofta, which was first mentioned in Indian culture around 500 BC. Nargisi kofta is made up of a hard-boiled egg that’s encased in spiced kofta meat, which is then fried (sound familiar?). It’s likely the British encountered Nargisi kofta whilst traveling through India centuries later.

The London department store Fortnum & Mason claims to be the creators of the Scotch egg as we know it today, marketing it as a travelers' snack in the early part of the 18th century. And while they may not have “invented” them, they certainly popularised them. How they came to get their name is often disputed, though. One theory is that they were named after the Scots Guards stationed at a local army barracks where they developed a taste for the snack.