Scottish Traditional Recipes, by Christopher Trotter, is one such volume. It's true that its main focus is on fish, meat, poultry and game (venison and salmon both make a strong appearance). But more than a few of its 130-odd recipes are either naturally vegetarian or can easily be adapted. The Vegetables and Grains chapter, for example, includes a barley risotto (but you need to use vegetable stock rather than chicken stock) and colcannon (which I always thought was from Ireland, but which has Aberdonian connections, according to the author).
Professional chef
Christopher Trotter is a professional chef who lives and works in Fife. The book was originally published in association with the National Trust for Scotland, and includes recipes that have been passed down by the families that have owned some of the Trust's properties.
Perhaps because of that, the recipes tend to favour frilly haute cuisine - the type of thing you're likely to find in a posh Edinburgh hotel or the tea room of an NTS property - rather than the more artisan dishes more typically thought of as Scottish. Examples include Bellevue blue and pine nut salad, caramelised onion tart, and asparagus with fondue butter. A surprising inclusion is zabaglione, which not many people would ever think of as Scottish, but is included on the strength of it being "enjoyed by the Crichton Stuarts at Falkland Palace".
Clear instructions
The recipes are all clearly laid out, with step-by-step instructions. Quantities are given in imperial, metric and US cups, and American translations are provided for culinary terms that US readers might not be familiar with.
Many of the recipes also have historical notes or other background information - including the well-known assertion that crême brulée is really a Scottish dish, introduced into a Cambridge college by a student from Aberdeenshire; it only became accepted (according to the story) after the student became a fellow of the same college - and after the college authorities decided to give the pudding a French name.
Scottish Traditional Recipes has a lot of that sort of information. There are also plenty of high-quality colour photos to whet the appetite. It's a book I can recommend, either for your own enjoyment or as a gift - provided you remember that a vegetarian will only be able to use a fraction of the recipes.
Scottish Traditional Recipes: A Celebration of the Authentic Food and Cooking of Scotland. Christopher Trotter. Aurum Press (2004). ISBN: 978-1844765409. (The book was originally published under the name The Scottish Kitchen.)
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