"scotland" news and stories

In celebration of yesterday's Robert Burns Day, I thought I'd introduce you all to the world of haggis.

Now don't recoil and run screaming in the other direction. Haggis' urban legend bark is much worse than any bite you could take of the Scottish food. Really, the whole anti-haggis stance doesn't make much sense. Usually larger versions of foods get applauded and loved, but haggis gets the pointy end of the leftover meat sword. It doesn't have the widespread appeal of its cousin, the hot dog, nor the culinary adoration of cousin #2, the sausage.

But it's just a spicy, tasty meatloaf sort of food stuffed in innards, whether they be intestines, stomach, or other lining. In fact, if you're like me, your first bite of haggis will make you think that you're being played and fed ground beef instead. Scots knew what they were doing. This isn't a food where you try to bring out the delicate flavors of the pluck. It's boiled, ground with tasty bits like onions and oatmeal, and heavily spiced so that it slides down with deliciousness, rather than revulsion.

Slop it on a plate with neeps and tatties, and you can't go wrong.

By now, I think most of us are aware that drought is hurting many places around the world. However, one place that is going through a drought that probably won't get any attention is Scotland, the Western Isles to be precise.

The world may take notice, though, when it can't get Scotch whiskey from that part of Scotland. OK, maybe only whiskey connoisseurs would really notice, but still. About half the distilleries in the Western Isles have had to shut down so far, and the other half only have a few weeks of water left.

Sure, a lot of people are worried about running out of water (I mean other than the distillers), but apparently plenty of residents are also pretty happy about all the sunshine. Well, here's hoping that they, and all drought sufferers, get some much needed rain soon. Hopefully it'll be enough to keep the whiskey flowing.

[Via Gaurdian]

Have you ever been fired from a job? It's a horrible experience, I'm sure, but no matter what you might want to do, I bet you never challenged your boss to a duel with a meat cleaver.

That's what a Chinese cook in Dumbarton, Scotland did upon being fired this week. Unfortunately, he also threatened to chop his boss up and said that he had already done that to someone else, so he had to be taken into custody be the authorities. The cook was fired because he couldn't produce a work permit, and was sentenced to seven months in jail.

I can imagine that you might think crazy things if you were to be fired, but to actually threaten your ex boss is taking things a little too far. To actually brandish a weapon at him or her is definitely a sign of instability. While I feel bad for anyone who gets let go, let's just try to remember that getting fired is not worth going to jail for.

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Ah, Scotland. The beautiful landscape. The deep lochs. The cheap beer!

That's right. Beer in Scotland is so inexpensive that it costs less than bottled water and soda. At least in the supermarkets. It's still more expensive in the pubs.

The price of beer in Scottish supermarkets has been trending down for quite some time. The reason is competition. More supermarkets are selling beer as compared to many years ago. And more recently, people want to drink at home since the smoking bans went into effect. The combination of more competition and higher volume of sales has driven down the prices.

Oh yeah. I know that getting alcohol from the supermarkets and liquor stores anywhere is cheaper than the bars, but when do I get beer cheaper than water? Surely it has to happen soon, at least where smoking bans are in effect. Maybe if we all buy more beer at once, and keep it up, we can make it happen. It'll be a group effort. Beer drinkers unite!

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To most Americans, the thought of haggis, the national dish of Scotland, is stomach turning. In fact, that is what it's made of: specifically sheep stomach stuffed with minced sheep organs and onion. There has been a ban on importing haggis into the U.S. since 1989, when the BSE threat first appeared.

Now the Scottish government is thinking of asking the U.S. to drop the ban at the request of Scottish haggis maker Macsween. The Macsween company thinks they can sell a lot of haggis here, due to all of the Scottish ex-patriots. A company spokesman also claims that "once Americans try a good quality haggis, they can't get enough of it". (Er, maybe.) Officials say that haggis is perfectly safe as long as hygiene procedures are followed correctly which would make haggis safe to import into the U.S.

I have a personal rule that I have to try everything once. I won't lie, haggis is one thing that makes me nervous. Once I found out what it involved I was a little alarmed. However, if I did have the chance to try some high quality haggis I would not pass it up. What's the point in living if you don't take a chance from time to time?

[Via ColdMud.com]

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