Food and history came together this week when Aberdeen Football Club, The Dons, celebrated, in style, its centenary (Monday 14 April 2003) with the largest ever Aiberdeen Butterie Rowie - giving a bite to each of the invited guests, including the greatest ever Aberdeen player Willie Miller.

 

Three football clubs came together (Aberdeen, Orion and Victoria United) in 1903, at a meeting in the city's Trades Halls, to form the present-day Aberdeen Football Club, the only Scottish club, to date, to win two European Trophies. In May 1983, the club's most illustrious year, Aberdeen defeated the mighty Real Madrid 2-1 in Gothenburg to lift the European Cup-Winners Cup and rounded off the year in December with a Super Cup victory over European Cup holders SV Hamburg. Briefly Aberdeen could claim to be the best football team in Europe. Skipper Willie Miller proudly lifted both trophies high, as he did another ten times during his illustrious playing career at Pittodrie. Willie Miller fully deserved his bite of the record-breaking Butterie Rowie.

 

Although The Dons are the only club outwith the Old Firm never to have been relegated from the top flight of Scottish Football, they have often come close. This gave rise to the well-known joke by the Aberdeen comedian Harry Gordon :-

 

            "I hear that they're shiftin' the sand aff Aberdeen beach and pittin' it on to Pittodrie."

 

            "Why, whit for?"

 

            "To keep Aiberdeen frae slippin' into the Second Division."

 

As a devoted Don supporter, Harry Gordon said that it was hard for him to tell that joke. Although this has not been one of Aberdeen's better seasons, with yet another change of Manager, they have not needed to resort to shifting sand on to their playing surface at Pittodrie, as recent games have seen them safely rise out of the relegation zone. Otherwise that could have cast a right damper on Monday's centenary celebratons.

 

Incidently Aberdeen hold a record along with Celtic which will probably never be beaten. In their first ever Scottish Cup Final appearance in 1937, Aberdeen, although defeated 2-1 by Celtic, played in front of 146,433 fans at Hampden Park - an all time British attendance record.

 

You can already find the recipe for Butteries Rowies on The Flag, so this week we will celebrate Aberdeen's centenary with a very tasty treat - an enjoyable Aberdeen Angus Steak.

 

Aberdeen Angus Steak

 

Ingredients : 4 x 4 - 6 oz (125-175 g) entrecote or fillet steak;  1 1/2 oz (40 g) butter; 2 tbsp oil; 1 oz (25 g) medium oatmeal; 1 small onion, very finely chopped; 8 fl oz (250 ml) red wine; 3 tbsp double cream; salt and pepper; 2 tbsp whisky

 

Melt the butter in a large frying pan and cook the oatmeal slowly till it has browned slightly. Remove this from the pan. Put in a tbsp of oil and add onions. Cook them till they are also lightly browned. Remove and put in a warm place with the oatmeal. Now add another tbsp of oil and fry the staek on both sides till cooked. Remove and put in a warm place.

 

To finish the dish add the red wine and scrape round the pan to mix in with pan juices. Simmer gently for a few minutes to reduce it and concentrate the flavour. Add the cream, onions and oatmeal. Season and adjust the consistency with a little more wine if necessary. Return the steaks to the pan. Pour over the whisky and flame. Serve immediately.