Week 4: Scotland

In last week's blog, I mentioned that we weren't drawing for a country this go 'round since we already had a country in mind due to a special holiday. Only one person made a guess (nice effort, Meredith!) but no one guessed that January 25th was Robbie Burns Night. Why is that so special to let us bend the rules and not draw (and, erm, even make something we've had before)? The reason is that my sister and I  are a quarter Scottish--we love our heritage and love celebrating special days (for that matter, we need to take a look at some other countries' holidays--anybody know any Czech Republican/Slovak, Irish, or English holidays we should observe?).  In his honor, I'd like to take a brief paragraph to introduce you to Robbie Burns--the beloved Scottish poet.

Robbie Burns

Robbie Burns (1759-1796), the famous Scottish poet, was born on January 25--hence the celebration of his birthday every year on the same day. He was born in Ayrshire (the same region of Scotland my family's from--yay!) and lived in various parts of the country until his death at age 37. He is known for several poems, including some that you might know: A Red, Red Rose, My Heart is in the Highlands,  and Address to a Haggis. Traditionally, haggis is served on Burns Night in honor of his poem about the meal. <From Wikipedia> Visit the Robert Burns Wikpedia Page to learn more about "Scotland's Favorite Son," his works and the traditional Burns Supper.

Since there is a traditional menu for the Burns Supper, we worked from it to create our Burns Night feast. We decided to include several dishes: cock-a-leekie soup, haggis (vegetarian), neeps and tatties and Highland toffee. Cock-a-leekie soup is basically a chicken and leek soup. Haggis--well--let's say it's a Scottish delicacy! We weren't quite brave enough to try the real thing--and yes, Deidra, you're right--that's the whole point of the ATWin52 experience!--maybe next time I'll be able to convince my family to at least try canned haggis or even this beef "presentation haggis" (wow!). For those of you who aren't aware of what haggis is, here's a brief description: sheep's heart, liver and lungs with other ingredients cooked inside a sheep's stomach (read full description). Needless to say, that's a lot of "special" ingredients to procure, so we opted for the vegetarian version. "Neeps and tatties" is the Scottish phrasing of "turnips and potatoes"; both boiled and mashed separately and served alongside the haggis. The last item, Highland toffee, is a toffee dessert made with oats (while not necessarily a traditional Burns Night dessert, 'tis a traditional Scottish dessert so 'twas quite acceptable).

The soup is a fairly basic recipe which was not too difficult to make--it was time-intensive, though; it required making your own stock which was the most time-consuming part.We strayed away from the recipe's directions somewhat (by omitting bacon and prunes--whoops!). The soup turned out to be quite tasty and not very different than chicken-and-rice soup--the leeks did not carry a strong flavor. The haggis contains an array of ingredients including hazelnuts, oats and mixed spice. Courtney and I had this haggis recipe last year at Burns Night, so re-creating it this time around wasn't too difficult (albeit time-consuming); since we had church on Wednesday night, we did most of the preparation before church and finished it off in the oven after we got home. The veg haggis definitely has a unique flavor--it's similar to dressing/stuffing in both flavor and texture. The neeps and tatties were also simple to make--chop 'em up and get them each boiling in separate pots and then prepare like you would mashed potatoes (except no milk in the tatties). Courtney made the toffee (and did an excellent job on it!), which consisted of baking the oat mixture, coating with melted chocolate and letting it set.

Cock-a-Leekie Soup

Neeps, Haggis and Tatties

Highland Toffee

Everyone liked the cock-a-leekie soup--it was close enough to something we're used to that it was eaten without hesitation. The haggis, well, everyone tried it (way-to-go Rick!) but like I said before, it's quite a distinctive (and highly spiced) flavor--you should totally try it and let me know what you think about it! With the neeps and tatties, we all enjoyed the "tatties" part, which was pretty much good old fashioned American mashed potatoes, but the "neeps" were met with mixed reviews: mom absolutely LOVED them, Courtney managed to eat her portion, and I struggled through mine (only with the help of the bites of tattie and haggis that I put on the same forkful each time!). I honestly tried the "neeps" with an open mind, but the vegetable itself I did not care for--the flavor is reminiscent of cabbage (which I do like), but somewhat different--mom REALLY liked them, so don't let my opinion sway you on the neeps. The Highland toffee was a big hit and a great treat--the oaty flavor along with saltiness and chocolately/caramelly sweetness made it something I'll definitely want to try again!

I hope this week's adventure helped you learn a bit about the Scottish history that Courtney and I love so much--it's a pleasure sharing it with everyone! Props to Courtney this week for doing at least half the work on the feast and taking great photos as always! You did awesome!

We've already drawn our next country--it's definitely a different region than we've visited so far. This week's choice is Thailand. Bring on the suggestions! I think the only Thai food we've ever had is satay, so the opportunities are wide open! Thanks in advance for your suggestions and as always, thanks for joining us on our culinary adventure!