Warm, Reekin', Rich

Ah, Burns night. I don't envy US citizens who have had Haggis banned from their country. Pretty ridiculous that people can still eat ridiculously unhealthy, heavily processed, barely legal 'meat' in the states, but are still excluded from the wonder that is Haggis. I wondered if there were any rebellious families in the US that decided to break the law in order to celebrate Burns night properly. But then I realised that was a tiny bit over-optimistic of me. Anyway. Tonight I had the traditional Haggis, Neeps & Tatties (Sheep guts, turnip, and potatoes), like many other Scots, to celebrate the life of poet Robert Burns.

You know it's going to taste great if it resembles pig shit 

I was reading a Guardian article today about how we should have something else as opposed to Haggis to become our so called 'national dish'. It went on to ask that saying as how we (apparently) have the best some of the best shellfish/grouse/marmalade in the world, and we should focus on something like that. As opposed to Haggis which was once only eaten by peasants. And also there is that question flying about that people are quick to try and ignore that the dish isn't 100% Scottish. But anyway. The thing that I love about Haggis, aside from it tasting good, is that it is not pretentious in any way. While you may get it served in 5 star restaurants, people living in council houses can still afford it and eat it. It's not the sort of thing you'd normally see Jamie Oliver grinning inanely over and plonking a bit of rocket in. It tastes good, it's filling, and absolutely anybody who isn't put off by the contents can eat it (unless you are allergic to one of the ingredients). That's not to say that it should be 'the national dish'. In my opinion, we don't even need one. With the tourism board never shutting up about the traditional Scotland, a lot of tourists are surprised to see that we don't all wear kilts and live in tiny hamlets overlooking lochs. It's nice to see that sort of thing sometimes, but we shouldn't be sold as some third world country.

I saw Four Lions today, and I have to say I was not disappointed. I've decided not to do a review because it doesn't really fit in with my blog. You really have to possess a strange sort of humour to laugh at an amateur terrorist tripping over a sheep and blowing himself up. But I highly recommend it.

Also, another plug. Sorry, but this guy really deserves it. Robert, (or Boaby as he prefers to be called), is a fellow writer. He's really struggling just now, he has to keep working on his parents farm in order to make ends meet. He's only recently convinced them to upgrade from dial-up to broadband. But he's written a few really cracking poems. Okay, a few of them are about girls he has a thing for, but he's got a real way with words. I highly recommend looking at some of his stuff. Thanks for reading!