Haggis, Neeps and Tatties


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Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Perthshire » Aberfeldy
May 18th 2006
Published: May 19th 2006
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Hello from the land of sheep and whisky. When we left Slough (the land of pork roast, wine and Jaguars) our only aim was to strike north for York. For Canadians used to long distances, places here are so close that you find yourself saying “Well, we’re already in York, so we might as well see Edinburgh while we’re here…” …and soon enough you find you’re in the middle of Scotland, surrounded by sheep, pheasants, Englishmen and the occasional Scot.

We have found long-distance transportation here to be expensive, but we found ourselves the handy BritExplorer 7-day bus pass for around £75 each, and actually ended up saving money while getting ourselves up to Edinburgh.

York



After a 5-hour bus ride we rolled into York, and we were in awe of one of the most atmospheric cities in England. Everything within the old medieval walls is hundreds of years old, and like Bruges in Belgium, there are so many cobblestone streets and tiny alleyways to explore. One of the most excellent things about it is the walk along the walls and battlements, making you feel a bit like you’d forgotten your helmet, bow and arrows at home. Another
The York Wall WalkThe York Wall WalkThe York Wall Walk

A great way to avoid elderly tourists!
excellent thing is that you’re never more than a minute’s walk from a fresh (albeit warm) pint of English ale and Yorkshire pudding (you can even “Super Size” these things up here!!). But don’t get Nick started on the “pudding” issue - how they can justify calling everything from sausage (blood pudding) and doughy, bready-things (Yorkshire pudding) to cake (Christmas pudding) a pudding is a discussion for another time. Another menu item that took us by surprise fell under the dessert column: “spotted dick”.

“Excuse me?”

Since then we usually just skip dessert.

Anyways, we thoroughly enjoyed exploring York, the centre of which is quite small and easy to walk around. An excellent (but cheesy) thing to do is “The Original Ghost Walk of York” - a little 90-minute night tour of “haunted” buildings and places in the city. Sounds too touristy, we know, but the fellow running it (Mark Graham) does such a good job, he even dresses the part, all in black with an overcoat and a cane…he’s such an entertaining speaker that it is quite fun. Another thing not to miss in York is the Jorvik Viking Centre, which realistically showcases Viking life in the town of “Jorvik” (from which York gets its name) around 1000 years ago. While you are ushered by car through the re-created scenes of life, they’ve even managed to include the genuine smells - and believe us, when you pass the model of the gentleman relieving himself into the “toilet”, NOTHING is left to the imagination. As for other activities, honourable mention goes to the Barley Hall, which is a re-created merchant’s house from the 1300’s, giving you yet another glimpse of York through the ages.
We must admit sheepishly that we didn’t go inside the most impressive structure, York Minster, but at £5 per person we were just as happy to admire it for free from the outside. We’ve since heard that it is breathtaking inside and well worth the visit…oh well, next time. One last thing we should mention is the pub called “1331”, located on Grape Lane, where we had one of the nicest and simplest meals while meeting the friendly owner. The food is not pretentious, just good.

So after a couple of days in York, we thought we’d hop on up to Edinburgh (only another 5-hour bus ride away) - after all, to
Greyfriars BobbyGreyfriars BobbyGreyfriars Bobby

In the presence of greatness...
quote Nick, York is already “practically IN Scotland”. By this point we had started to inquire about accommodation with good friends of Sarah’s family up near Pitlochry, in the middle of Scotland…

It is so bizarre how a drastic change in scenery can accompany the crossing of a man-made border, but this is what we witnessed as we crossed from northern England into Scotland. Immediately there were sheep everywhere and stone fences only God knows how old which marked the boundaries of fields that are rarely on flat ground. And everything is SO GREEN!! We even saw an older man riding a tractor, sporting one of those tweed “poor boy” caps - the whole thing was right out of the movie “Babe”.

Edinburgh



We made it to Edinburgh and, not having booked a place ahead of time (we haven’t learned yet) had to walk through the city during a steady downpour for an hour before we found the Argyle Backpacker outside the centre. We have since learned that this weather is common and is known as “Good Scottish Weather”. Yeah right. Up here we’re the same latitude as Edmonton, Alberta, and it sure as heck felt like spring in the north - we were frozen!

Edinburgh is a great, older city situated on the inlet “Firth of Forth” and amongst dramatic, hilly or mountainous terrain. The castle and old “Royal Mile” of High Street mark the centre of the city and the downtown core, full of alleyways and cobblestone streets. On just about every corner there stands a monument to one Scottish hero or another. Apparently they ran out of ideas because there is even a monument to a tiny terrier named “Greyfriars Bobby”. We got the message that loyalty is a valued quality in Scotland: Greyfriars Bobby was a loyal dog who (surprise) followed his master around until the master finally died, then slept on the master’s grave every night for 14 years until the dog, too died. A happy story. Now G. Bobby has a bronze statue, a grave marker we all might be jealous of, and even a pub named after him. Someone wrote a children’s book about the story, which was also subsequently made into a movie. Fortunately we haven’t yet seen the movie on DVD, nor is there a Greyfriars Bobby’s Greatest Hits CD or t-shirt or poster.

We had to hit “The Bobby” pub at least one night for dinner. Nick tried something called “Haggis, Neeps and Tatties”. Apparently this is Scottish for meatloaf with oatmeal inclusions (haggis) , accompanied by turnips (neeps) and potatoes (tatties). Sometimes we’re not even sure we’re all speaking the same language up here. But it was sure delicious. Also while we were in Edinburgh, the local soccer team won the Scottish Cup, and so we were treated to an impromptu victory parade for the team called “Heart of Midlothian” or simply “Hearts”. Since we don’t follow the team it was more fun just watching all the teary-eyed “superfans” turn out to appreciate the first championship in 30 years or so. After a few nice photos we got bored and hiked over to the castle in an attempt to take advantage of the absence of tourists. No such luck, the “curse of the tour bus” is everywhere and we ended up in a crowd ushered past the “Honours of Scotland” - the crown, sword and mace - that historically represented Scotland’s royalty. If you’ve ever been to the Sistine Chapel you know the feeling. Even so, the castle is really nice and offers great panoramas of the city below.

Aberfeldy



On Monday we caught a bus up to Pitlochry, near the home of some family friends - this is where we’ve been staying the past few days. Bonnie and Graham are amazing hosts who have fed us much too well, let us stay in such a comfortable bed we have a tough time getting out of, and lent us their bikes for touring the area. They actually live next to a tiny town called Aberfeldy, along the Tay River. Our guest room overlooks the valley and the small, winding river - very green and peaceful. This area of Scotland seems to have a monopoly on country walks, cycling routes and beautiful babbling brooks. We’ve been for a couple of short walks - these are cool because inevitably you end up cutting through a sheep farmer’s property along the way. There’s something called “The Right to Roam” that everyone seems to abide by - walkers have the reasonable right to cut through farmland, so all the gates are unlocked. This is a far cry from the No Trespassing or Beware of Dogs signs you see along barbed wire fences back home. You end up walking behind, in front of, or beside sheep, past the odd cairn or standing stone circle (tons here), or past the rubble of an ancient farm house - so cool!

Today we visited a re-created “Crannog” - a stilt house built out into the loch (lake). Underwater archaeology in some of the lochs produced evidence for 2,600 year-old stilt houses, which served as protection for farmers and families from the odd marauder and wild animals.

We figure we’ll continue to explore the beautiful area for another few days before heading back down south. These valleys make you want to become a sheep farmer!

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19th May 2006

Err...haggis = meatloaf... right. That's what they had to tell me to get me to eat it too... Love your blog guys, Cheers, Jen Carroll Haggis 1 sheep's stomach or ox cecum[portion of large intestine], cleaned and thoroughly, scalded, turned inside out and soaked overnight in cold salted water heart, liver and lungs of one lamb 450g/1lb beef or lamb trimmings, fat and lean 2 onions, finely chopped 225g/8oz oatmeal 1 tbsp salt 1 tsp ground black pepper 1 tsp ground dried coriander 1 tsp mace 1 tsp nutmeg water, enough to cook the haggis stock from lungs and trimmings Method 1. Wash the lungs, heart and liver (if using). Place in large pan of cold water with the meat trimmings and bring to the boil. Cook for about 2 hours. 2. When cooked, strain off the stock and set the stock aside. 3. Mince the lungs, heart and trimmings. 4. Put the minced mixture in a bowl and add the finely chopped onions, oatmeal and seasoning. Mix well and add enough stock to moisten the mixture. It should have a soft crumbly consistency. 5. Spoon the mixture into the sheep's stomach, so it's just over half full. Sew up the stomach with strong thread and prick a couple of times so it doesn't explode while cooking. 6. Put the haggis in a pan of boiling water (enough to cover it) and cook for 3 hours without a lid. Keep adding more water to keep it covered. 7. To serve, cut open the haggis and spoon out the filling. Serve with neeps (mashed swede or turnip) and tatties (mashed potatoes).
19th May 2006

short-long
Don't let anyone tell you any different, that developing short-long is very impressive (remember to cut only the top!). It really is quite breathtaking... Best of luck for the rest of the trip!
19th May 2006

Can nothing kill you???
From smileys to blood sausage to haggis! You guys would win "Fear Factor" hands down.
19th May 2006

What...no tatties?
Here I thought you were going to say you got matching tattoos in Scotland. And they turned out to be potatoes. I'm sure your folks are relieved! Have a pint for us, eh. Cheers!
20th February 2007

Haggis, eh?
Not forgetting the contents of said boiled sheep's stomach......the rest of the innards chopped and cooked....."oatmeal inclusions" you say....... Aye, there's meat in it and it kinda looks like a loaf.......

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