You Don't Have to Eat the Haggis

It is true that I once refused to eat haggis in Scotland 

and this did not sit well with the local population.

~ Rick Ridden

Whenever people discuss foods of Scotland "the haggis"* is usually the first item mentioned. It was mentioned in the itinerary of the tour. It was discussed by my fellow travelers all along the way. 

I think most on the trip tried it - haggis balls (small fried balls of haggis - like hushpuppies or the more standard haggis at breakfast). Many suggested it tasted at bit like meatloaf. I love a good meatloaf, but because I do not eat "organ meats" I decided to skip the haggis in favor of other things. And as far as I know, no one seemed insulted by my refusal to sample any.

I did eat black pudding (also known as blood sausage) a couple of times as I have been a fan since eating it in Ireland. In each case here it was good - one was particularly, well, almost sophisticated. I believe that was the prized Stornoway black pudding.** 

Scotland is blessed with a wide variety of restaurants. We ate at an Indian restaurant with excellent food. We stopped for "Mediterranean" fare and it too was good. But pub food is what I generally look for and, while usually available, we ran into strange operating hours and pubs which had run out of food (causing some delay and frustration). I blame these difficulties on a slow recovery from Covid shut-downs. 

We also enjoyed a catered seafood buffet, a home BBQ, and a pretty good burger or two.

Whatever, here is some of what we ate. "Food posts" are usually boring - I'm just posting for future reference. [I wish I had some tales to tell other than my refusal of haggis and love for black pudding.]

After a rotten day of travel, this should have been something stronger than tea.

On the first night I missed the dinner gathering so I headed down the street for some comfort food.  When in doubt, get something you know.

This was not my meal, but looked quite lovely - some kind of salad with pomegranate seeds.

Mediterranean restaurant's tzatziki, flatbread, and chicken skewer. 

A few empty whisky glasses (not mine). I don't do Scotch. [This was the evening we were talked into climbing Arthur's Seat - more on that later.]

This was a very fancy fish and chips. I skipped the chips, but enjoyed every bite of the fish. It was definitely NOT the usual fish and chips.

Before we left the restaurant I grabbed a shot of our potatoes. Ireland isn't alone in serving "potatoes with potatoes." I call this shot "potatoes 4-ways." They were all good, but we had ordered entirely too much food!

 Traditional version of fish and chips. I wasn't the only one who made this choice. You really cannot go wrong with fish and chips.

Oh, this seafood chowder, bread, and butter was a perfect meal! I'm inspired to make some chowder tomorrow. It won't be this good, but maybe I'll dream of Scotland.

Eggs Benedict with Stornoway*** black pudding. YUM! I wish I had discovered this earlier.

During one rest stop we had the option of coffee at this bakery. I knew I should limit myself to window-shopping. [I can almost smell the bread.]

Another breakfast with sausage and black pudding. The eggs were lousy, but the rest was fine. This pudding was the hardy/rustic sausage I expect.

Another traditional fish and chips meal with peas (but not "mushy" peas you often see in Ireland)

While it looks a little grey, this might be one of the meals I enjoyed most - an excellent mushroom risotto.

Shrimp cocktail. It's pretty, but unfortunately not very tasty.

On a couple of occasions we grabbed a sandwich from the Coop. They had a variety of sandwiches, drinks, chips and fruit (and even sushi). At other times a quick meal meant kinda of a "guess what" of unfamiliar brands and varieties. Here are some of the options from one of the stops we made on the bus.

Our chips - their crisps

Drinks

Yum, haggis flavored chips!

Interesting selection of drinks - Elderflower and Rhubarb!

And while I remember few desserts we did celebrate the climb to Arthur's Seat with a soft serve ice cream...

Notes:

* It's a good idea to know what you are eating. Here is a fairly traditional recipe for haggis:

Ingredients:

1 ox bung (part of the intestine)

4 pounds of lamb organs, minced (heart, lungs, and liver)

1 pound of stew meat - beef or lamb

1/2 pound of suet

1 pound of oatmeal (coarse)

Season with:

2 Tbsp of black pepper

finely grated nutmeg

4 Tbsp coriander seeds

4 Tbsp season salt

**This wasn't a "foodie" trip and many, many restaurants are still detrimentally impacted by staff and supply issues due to the pandemic.  A friend had warned me about the food in advance, but her experience was years ago. I cannot say the food was anything to write home about - kind of bland for the most part - but it was fine all in all.

***https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stornoway_black_pudding

FINAL NOTE:

I will say that I noticed more than a few American Fast Food places in the cities. I took photos, but (except for Five Guys) tried to avoid places where I do not eat when I'm in the states (so why would I do so overseas?).