Scottish Shortbread: As far as shortbread is concerned, I'm a great believer in simplicity. The recipe for Balmoral Shortbread below is typical of this style.

However, with Scots cookery, one should never ignore Mistress Margaret (Meg) Dods. Her "Cook's and Housewife's Manual" was promoted (ghosted?) by Sir Walter Scott, who coined her pseudonym. The recipe for Petticoat Tails is described by Catherine Brown (Scottish Regional Recipes) as "a ladies' shortbread - men generally prefer thick fingers".

Other recipes call for additions such as rice flour, cornflour (cornstarch), lemon peel, ground or slivered almonds (or almond essence) but these are all just curlicues. As for the commercially produced Choc Chip Shortbread and Cherry Shortbread ... they are about as Scots as the Taj Mahal.

Petticoat Tails (based on Meg Dods' Manual - see preamble)

Preheat oven to 350F / 180 °C / Gas 4.

Sift flour and sugar into a bowl. Add butter and lard, and rub in completely. Add caraway seeds; turn out onto a board, and knead till firm. Roll out to 5mm thickness into a circle (or cut out a circle). Cut in wedges the size you want and bake for 20-30 minutes until the shortbread is pale golden brown. Dredge with caster sugar (superfine sugar?) while still hot.