Burns Supper.

Been to quite a few Burns suppers, some better than others. I love bagpipes but NOT inside thank you.Unfortunately like many things Scottish and elsewhere too, traditions have been "touristified" (doubt there is such a word!).
I very much enjoy Haggis if it's well made but, like sausages Haggis can be good, indifferent and down right revolting, you sort of need to know which brands to go for or which butchers make their own.
I think I am right in saying that you cannot buy Haggis in the USA unless it is canned @redstar? When I visited a friend in Texas her American husband wanted to try all things Scottish and couldn't buy Haggis other than in a tin......gawd the thought, my granny who made her own would be whirling in her grave.
I have a gorgeous little antique crystal noggin jug which was give to me a wedding present. The idea of the jug is for it to be filled with Whisky and put at your place setting. You then pour it over your helping of Haggis like gravy...not for me, a waste of whisky IMO!
Photo below is pretty much what mine looks like, really pretty little items.

 

@silu you are correct, except not even canned, none is sold here. So, not sure how they are getting what they are serving at this affair. Unless its a local farmer. We shall see.

 

This was my attempt at a Burns Supper



There are no photos of the main course unfortunately.



G.

 

When are you having your next supper @Jack Sparrow ? I'll be sure to leave that date free. Food looks yummy and think your menu is lovely, well done.

 

About 8 years ago I shared a flat with a Scottish man and a trainee doctor. We shared the cooking and did Haggis, Neeps and Tatties and Cranachan and a tiny bit of Whisky. If I remember correctly we somehow managed to get most things reduced from the supermarket (apart from the whisky!) as we got it on the 25th! We had a lovely warm time and tried to read some poetry and played some pipe music from the internet to pipe in the Haggis! I would love to do it again!

 

like your style you cant be a bargain mate

 

@silu you are welcome any time.

I was very pleased with the starter. I had to experiment a bit. I had something like that as a main dish in a pub in Oban. That was the same day I bought a very expensive pair of shoes that I only wear for best, and still hurt my feet to this day.

Anyway. I used a pudding mould to shape the boiled and mashed swede and potato. The haggis came as a fat sausage and just happened to be the same diameter as the pudding mould.

I don’t mind a bit of venison but it’s not my favourite. Venison and beef combined however is divine.

The pudding was a miss hit unfortunately. I toasted the oats and soaked them in whisky overnight. I am not good at whisking cream. All the recipes tell you to whip it until soft peaks form. When I do that and put it in the fridge overnight it comes out really thick. It was too much to eat. It’s a shame coz it looked really good.

The oatcakes I made myself. I can’t remember now how I did it. We never got around to eating them that night. They were pretty tasteless on their own but went well with cheese etc.

The table accessories I bought specifically including the centre piece that now lives on a the display cabinet in our lounge.



After dinner I did a presentation on the life and works of Robert Burns. I included a couple of you tube vids of famous people reading Burns’ poems. I even tried to read a couple myself.

I would love to do it again but it would either have to be different people or different food. Or both. In a proper Burns Supper the poems are shared amongst the guests. I would like to have that happen here. We can only fit 6 around our dining table so options are limited.

Anyway. Enough from me. As you were.



G.

 

Wow you went to a great deal of trouble @Jack Sparrow most impressed. If you do decide to have another supper you could alter the menu and still be very traditional. Cullen Skink is delicious and easy to make. Depends tho if you like smoked fish, I do. Have as the main dish Haggis with Clapshot (oh I do like that word!), it's mashed Swede and Potato combined basically and maybe serve with some mince which I usually have with the Haggis. For pud you could do a Clootie Dumpling which is as near as dammit Christmas Pudding, so if you didn't fancy making a dumpling yourself you could easily cheat! Just get in touch when you have fixed a date and I'll pop down, Fife to Peterborough.......isn't THAT far is it?

 

Robert Burns - Dumfries.

 

@silu I had a friend in Dundee I visited a couple of times. I also had a friend that drove a Tesco lorry to/from there. Famous for the Tay Bridge disaster (the bridge was designed by Botcher hence the term botchered job) and the Beano. The Dennis the Menace film was on tv at the weekend. It missed the point completely. Hollywood eh?

Cullen Skunk has never appealed to me. The name puts me off for a start. Fish is also out as my wife doesn’t do fish. That also rules salmon out which really limits my options. I include haggis as a starter as it’s not to everyone’s liking. At least they get to try it this way. I love clootie dumpling. There was a clootie dumpling cafe at the Heather centre at Strathspey. I wouldn’t attempt to make it myself. My experiments with cake baking haven’t been very successful. I also wanted to avoid a heavy pudding after a heavy meal. It wouldn’T matter so much if the meal was spread across the evening. That was the plan but it didn’t work out that way for reasons to complicated to go into here.

@silu put it in your diary for next year



G.

 

I was in what the locals loving refer to as Scumdee yesterday @Jack Sparrow . It isn't the most gorgeous City by a long way but it is coming up in the world. The new V and A museum is nearing completion and is looking pretty similar to the image below...maybe without the blue sky!. I hope for the sake of the Dundonians that it brings well needed tourists/income to the city.

 

I agree that Dundee is not the most photogenic of cities. Bless it. The public school has a certain charm to it. There is a suggestion that William Wallace attended school here. I have no idea how long there has been a school there. I think it was in Dundee or somewhere close that William Wallace killed the English appointed sheriff. Isn’t this what’s written on the plaque in the square? It’s been a long while since I was last there.

William Wallace, Macbeth, Bonnie Prince Charlie. I love it all.



G.

 

went on YouTube and typed in Burns Supper Edinburgh . Lots of stuff. Just picked one for now. Will have to go back and look at all. Don't want to go to this event without more knowledge. Seems like its a mini holiday of sort for the Scottish people. More reading to do.

 

So be honest. Thinking about what to wear to this even. As I am not Scottish, so don't have a Tartan anything. But I do have a scarf from Harry Potter, the Gryffindor. I know that story is based in Scotland. Its the closest thing I have. Would this be insulting to wear that night?