The word 'Tiffin' originates with the British in southern India. During the 18th and 19th centuries, British people who found themselves serving in the hot, humid climates needed to adapt their eating habits to the climate: gone were the days of a large, heavy meal in the middle of the day and in its place a lighter meal or snack was preferred.
But this was no proper lunch! A new name was required to describe this meal; the name that caught on was Tiffin. Coming from the dated word 'tiff', meaning a small sip of one's liquor, and 'tiffing', or the act of taking said sip of liquor, the name stuck around (and probably says something about what those lunches were like!).
Today, in parts of southern India, tiffin still refers to this small lunch, characterized by a variety of small different foods, similar to Mezze or Tapas. Tiffin also refers to the normally round, stackable metal boxes that the lunch is served in.
In Scotland however, Tiffin means something quite different! At some point, the word came to refer to a kind of cake made by crushing cookies together with butter and other sweet things, and very often coated in a layer of chocolate. They are quite popular in bakeries, found in supermarkets and often are thrown together a quick homemade snack to serve at birthday parties.
Many families have their own version of the famous Scottish snacks, and can come with dried fruits, nuts, puffed rice - anything you can imagine! Here's my take on the treat, and feel free to adapt it to your tastes!
Chocolate Tiffins
Ingredients
200g Plain Butter Cookies
150g Unsalted Butter
2 tbsp White Sugar
1 tbsp Honey
5 tsp Cocoa
100g (1 bar) dark chocolate
100g (1 bar) milk chocolate
(Optional) 100g (1 bar) white chocolate
Pinch of salt
How to do it