A Culinary Imponderable

Alone among the peoples of northern Europe, Scots historically have harboured an aversion to pork. The cause, extent and even existence of the aversion, at times ascending to phobia, have been subject to a certain amount of debate for over a century. The degree and scope of the aversion varied across time and space but existed well into the twentieth century. Neither economic nor ecological considerations can explain the phenomenon, which arises from cultural conditions peculiar to Scotland.