In the first episode of Baby Reindeer, Donny and Martha go to the coffee shop for her birthday, and she tells him she wants the “Scotch broth.” She’s obviously using this as innuendo, but viewers outside the UK are likely wondering if Scotch broth is slang in the UK. We’ll explain what she meant by the term and its history below.
What does Scotch Broth mean in Baby Reindeer?
Martha is using “Scotch broth” as slang for semen in Baby Reindeer. She’s referring to Donny being Scottish, and you can probably put the rest together at this point. According to our employees located in the UK, this isn’t a common usage of Scotch broth and is one of Martha’s odd turns of phrase. So, even if you’re sitting in the middle of Edinburgh, only pop this one out if you want some stares.
It may not be everyday slang for semen, but Scotch broth is an authentic dish. It’s a starter soup that originated in the early 19th century. The primary ingredients are:
- Barley
- Stewing or braising cuts of lamb, mutton, or beef
- Root vegetables like carrots, potatoes, turnips, or rutabaga
- Dried pulses
Cabbage, leeks, and beans are often added in the later stages of cooking but are optional ingredients.
Despite Martha using it as a euphemism for semen in Baby Reindeer, Scotch Broth isn’t a thick white soup like a chowder. Instead, it’s watery and typically yellow, orange, or ochre-colored. One could confuse it at a glance for a hearty chicken noodle soup.
If Martha wanted the Scottish connection while still using a soup name to refer to semen, she’d have been better off referencing Cullen Skink. This thick soup of smoked haddock, potatoes, and onions ends up reasonably close to a chowder, which is much closer in quality to semen than Scotch Broth.
