J-emine's reflexionando

In early July, the family found ourselves in UK for the sister’s graduation.  It was a whirlwind trip with little days to spare for self but with activities for the family. Not that I am complaining but my anxiety – infested mind does struggle with some of the coordination and logistics, especially when the parental are involved.

Three days were allocated for Edinburgh on the itinerary. We’ve all been to London and since I am not crazy about the place, and spending more than 2 days in Exeter with graduation week on a roll, would have been an overkill :).

The trip to the Highlands were one of the highlights (graduation was the main, duh) of the trip for me. It was my first trip there and since some of my fav drink in the world originated from there, there was not a chance I’ll miss out on some of the touristy stuff – whisky tour and Haggis included. The latter, a national meat pudding dish, which I was told by few of the friends is a must- try – even if my stomach (or mind) didn’t want to comprehend what goes in the dish. The opportune came for us to try the dish in a local pub near Glen Cloe.

So what goes into this dish? Sheep’s pluck (heart, liver and lungs) minced with oatmeal, spices and stock etc. A generous helping of ‘neeps and tatties’ is usually served alongside the haggis, being a fan of any root vegetables, this was a winner with me. Pour on some of the whisky- ladden sauce, swirl and mash it up with your fork- and you may just fall in love with the nutty, savoury mixture.

Once I got passed what went into the dish, I did come to enjoy this simple and comforting dish, but it’s’ going down as a ‘first and last’ experience heh. We washed it down with a pint of local beer rather than whisky and declared that our stomach was warm enough to go look for Nessie.

Read here about Burns Night (January 25th) and Haggis.