Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Haggis should be served with champit tatties and bashed neeps (mashed potatoes and turnips), with a generous
dollop of butter and a good sprinkling of black pepper.
Although it's eaten year-round, haggis is central to the celebrations of 25 January, in honour of Scotland's na-
tional poet, Robert Burns. Scots worldwide unite on Burns Night to revel in their Scottishness. A piper announces
the arrival of the haggis and Burns' poem Address to a Haggis is recited to this 'Great chieftan o' the puddin-
race'. The bulging haggis is then lanced with a dirk (dagger) to reveal the steaming offal within, 'warm, reekin,
rich'.
Vegetarians (and quite a few carnivores, no doubt) will be relieved to know that veggie haggis is available in
some restaurants.
Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Haggis may be the national dish for which Scotland is most famous, but when it comes to
what Scottish people actually cook and eat most often, the hands-down winner has to be
mince and tatties (potatoes). Minced beef, browned in the pan and then stewed slowly
with onion, carrot and gravy, is served with mashed potatoes (with a splash of milk and a
knob of butter added during the mashing) - it's tasty, warming and you don't even have to
chew.
The Full Scottish
Surprisingly few Scots eat porridge for breakfast - these days a cappuccino and a crois-
sant is just as likely - and even fewer eat it in the traditional way; that is, with salt to taste,
but no sugar. The breakfast offered in a B&B or hotel usually consists of fruit juice and
cereal or muesli, followed by a choice of bacon, sausage, black pudding (a type of sausage
made from dried blood), grilled tomato, mushrooms and a fried egg or two.
Fish for breakfast may sound strange, but
was not unusual in crofting (smallholding) and
fishing communities where seafood was a
staple; many hotels still offer grilled kippers
(smoked herrings) or smoked haddock
(poached in milk and served with a poached
egg) for breakfast - delicious with lots of buttered toast.
It is illegal to import haggis into the USA, as the
US government has declared that sheep lungs are
unfit for human consumption.
Broth, Skink & Bree
Scotch broth, made with mutton stock, barley, lentils and peas, is nutritious and tasty,
while cock-a-leekie is a hearty soup made with chicken and leeks. Warming vegetable
 
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