No Excuse Now

I'm not going to bash the cuisine of the British Isles, because nearly everything I ate on our trip was interesting and delicious, which is more than I can say for the average restaurant meal in El Paso. This is also a testament to the value of guides, who could steer us to the best establishments and also make recommendations of what --and what not to--eat.

I've always fancied myself as a fairly adventurous eater, willing to jump in front of a plate of well....anything. But it dawned on me sitting in front of a truly good plate of haggis, neeps and tatties at a Scottish pub, that I best rethink my self-image as an eater. More about that later.

First things first, the desserts are wonderful.

Banoffee pie (banana and toffee!)
Cranachan (oats, raspberries, cream)
Sticky Toffee Pudding (steamed and sticky!)
Ginger cake
Crunchy Lemon cake (crystallized lemon sugar on top)
Rhubarb crumble
Coffee walnut cake
Brandy truffle
Lemon tart!

On to scones. Our guides said, "Scones at tea--a fine example of the sum is greater than its parts." True! Layer clotted or double cream, then jam on top of a scone and you are in for an eyes-rolling-back-into-your-head extraordinary.

Potatoes. When's the last time you had a truly delicious potato, one that made you stop in mid-chew and say, "wow?" Every one I had in Scotland was flavorful all on its own, with a pleasing and tender texture. No grainy, mushy taters there!

Speaking of mush, there was an interesting (and again, surprisingly good) dish of dried and then reconstituted peas. Mushy peas, they're called. Trust me, they're good.

Root vegetables galore. Rutabagas (neeps), parsnips, carrots, taters (tatties). I love root veggies. You have to respect a country that enjoys parsnips.

And peas...really good peas, becaue they're a local food. One beautiful morning, I strolled past huge field of organic peas, a very pretty crop.

Sandwiches, now. Bacon sandwiches for breakfast! Chip sandwiches made of french fries tucked between bread. Okay, so I didn't try these, but they sound interesting, no?

Hands down the best lunch was the Ploughman's Lunch at the Scottish estate in continuous habitation for 900 years. You can see a photo of the plate above. Lovely potato salad, bit of chutney, cheese, waldorf salad, pickled items, tossed salad, apples. (Thanks, Dad, for a photo of your lunch!)

Meat. For this former vegetarian, the options for meat were a culinary dive off the high platform into very deep water. Sure, there was GREAT lamb, but also several dishes of unspeakable animal parts, usually presented in sausage form. But you knew they'd been procured from the local butcher shop on High Street, the main street for commerce and community in each town. Folks gather at the butcher's or the baker's shop to meet their neighbors. Walmart hasn't succeeded in the UK--and we know this all too well here--because they are more interested in undercutting prices than in supporting community. Hey, for that reason alone I'll try black pudding! And all of it was tasty.

So this brings me back to my initial premise: if I can eat haggis (top, first photo) and black pudding with gusto where it is a traditional food, I guess I'll have to buck up and try menudo here at home!