KIRKING THE TARTAN FOR THE HAGGIS

THE HAGGI

How many years has it been?  Too many.

It used to be that I would "hop over the pond" every now and then when airfares to Europe were cheaper than flying to the west coast of they USA. But times change and there were so many new places to go.

So to get my theatre fix, I would travel to Chicago or New York and many places in between.

But now we are back with high airfares everywhere so what does it matter where I go?

The older I get, rather than travel to places for the sights (most of which I have seen times and again), I am on the search of great restaurants,chefs and fine wines.  In South America, I am on the search for great beef And seafood.  In Europe I am on the search for some of the top restaurants in the world and to drink a great French St Emillion or  Spanish Rioja.

This visit to the UK was all about the Haggis.

Yes, I said Haggis, that famed dish that hails from the Scottish Highlands.  On January 25 every year the Scottish (and a lot of Brits) celeb rate the birthday of perhaps one of their most famous bards, Robert Burns. 

Father of some really deep and sometimes downright creepy poetry,  Burns non-the-less echoes the sentiments of the Scottish Moors, a place of cold dank weather and mists covering the countryside. The north of Scotland inspired works such as Wuthering Heights, the Hounds of the Baskervilles and more, and Burns poetry is as dark as the places and sentiments that he wrote about.

So we celebrate his birthday with traditional Scottish Haggis, neeps and tatties.  Haggis I reality is the insides of a sheep  mixed with herbs and spices and stuffed inside a skin of a    Neeps are pureed turnips and tatties are pureed potatoes.  Tradition has it that the Haggis is carried on platter around the restaurant or home proceeded by a Scottish piper playing familiar Scottish tunes.  When the music stops, the.  (Dagger) is pulled from the knee high socks of The Lord of the house and plunged into the Haggis, which is then served to his guests along with a “wee dram” of whiskey ( which we call single malt or blended scotch). And so the drinking and the pipes continue all through the house until “crankies” a Scottish desert of oats is served and everyone returns to their homes in the early hours of the morning.

So yes I find myself just outside of London I the small town of Bedfordshire to enjoy Burns Night with some English friends of Scottish decent. I too am of Scottish heritage and so happy to live the part of my ancestors and dressed in my family tartan.

I won't miss the chance to get to London too.  But more on that later.  For now I am full of the good food and happy to celebrate this historic figure which is now part of my history too.