Skilly 'n' Duff
Skilly 'n' Duff is a dish that consists of a thick sweet sauce (skilly) and pudding or dough (duff). Redwall Skilly 'n' Duff often contains a variety of ingredients, such as arrowroot and damsons. "Pudding" in this sense is the UK definition, which means the term is used interchangeably with "dessert." Thus, it's a dessert with a sauce.
Skilly 'n' Duff is most notably prepared by the shrews of Guosim, however other water or seafaring creatures have been known to make the dish, such as sea rats. In The Bellmaker, Cap'n Slipp tried to make it from memory when he and Blaggut were staying at Redwall Abbey, but it turned out horribly.
Skilly 'n' Duff Recipes
[edit]- In Marlfox, Dippler describes skilly 'n' duff as including wild plums, chopped chestnuts, and blackberries, all cased up in a ball of spongy pastry like a great dumpling.
- In Mossflower, Timballisto describes a savory version of skilly 'n' duff as containing potato, seafood, plenty of pepper, and sea salt.
What is Skilly 'n' Duff?
[edit]According to the Food Lover's Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst, Duff is defined as "A steamed (or boiled) pudding made with flour, eggs, dried fruit and spices, and once widely popular in England and Scotland. The name is a Scottish dialectal variation of the word dough, which was apparently pronounced as rough."
This pudding can be boiled in a bag, like a dumpling.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Skilly is "A kind of thin, watery porridge, gruel, or soup, commonly made from oatmeal, and traditionally used especially in prisons and workhouses."
Princeton's Wordnet has a simpler definition for Skilly: "a thin porridge or soup (usually oatmeal and water flavored with meat)."
The Sailor's Word-Book by William Henry Smyth (1867), defines skilly as "poor broth, served to prisoners in hulks. Oatmeal and water in which meat has been boiled. Hence, skillygalee, or burgoo, the drink made with oatmeal and sugar, and served to seamen in lieu of cocoa as late as 1814."
Books
[edit]Skilly 'n' Duff appears in Mossflower, Mariel of Redwall, The Bellmaker, Marlfox, The Legend of Luke, Triss, and High Rhulain, and is mentioned in Loamhedge, Rakkety Tam, Lord Brocktree, Eulalia!, and The Sable Quean.