For our entry into Scotland, we started by watching The Water Horse. After that, I wanted to try haggis. So, we tried to make or go find haggis. We didn't have a lot of luck. I didn’t find anywhere nearby to buy it to cook or a restaurant to go to and get it. I did find, however, The ScottishGourmetUSA. This is a cool website for all things Scottish.
Oddly enough, it seems to be based out of Greensboro, North Carolina, which is only about 90 minutes from where I live. If you call, the guy is VERY Scottish, so it was very cool to talk to him. Plus, the food arrived the very next day!
We got a Tartan meal, which consisted of haggis, tatties & neeps, and Glenfiddich shortbread cookies. We added Isle of Mull cheese, which is a sharp white cheddar. We also ordered the marmalade sampler they offer since marmalade originates from England and Scotland. All of this is traditional Scottish food.
Haggis, if you don’t already know, is sheep intestines mixed with suet, oatmeal, and seasoning, traditionally one made from the animal's stomach. Does that sound appetizing to you? I guess if you’d never eaten hot dogs and someone described them as all the leftover parts of a pig mixed together, you’d think that sounded nasty too. So, maybe it’s what you grow up with. I grew up with hot dogs and love them. I bet Scottish people that grew up with haggis love it too. Having NOT grown up with haggis…I can’t say that I loved it. Not awful, but “good” wouldn’t be a descriptor I'd use either.
Tatties and neeps are mashed potatoes (tatties) with rutabagas (neeps) chopped and stirred in. These were better than the haggis by far AND, when you mixed them WITH the haggis, made that better too.
The shortbread cookies were, of course, great. The marmalade, which is kind of a jelly or a jam made from oranges, was STRONG. Three flavors came with the marmalade sampler. The first was basic orange marmalade. Each other flavor had an orange base with another flavor mixed in, whisky and honey. While each was very tasty, again each was STRONG. Lastly, the Isle of Mull cheese was also strong.
Nothing subtle about Scottish flavors, I guess.
Our itinerary for Scotland?
Movies:
Braveheart
Brave
Water Horse
Highlander
Local Hero
Rob Roy
Dog Soldiers
Fact or Fiction (Real Stories of Braveheart & Rob Roy
Real Rob Roy
History of Scotland (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1g72g0)
Food: Haggis, Dundee Cake, Isle of Mull Cheese, Marmalade, Tatties and Neeps, Bangers and Mash (again...1st time was in England)
Music: Bagpipes
Stories: Angus the Tartan Goat, Hamish the Highland Cow
Craft: Tartan Painting
Custom: Highland Dancing
Check out more of our World Culture Tour.
Kommentare