Scottish Food

                             
Scotland has several foods which are unusual if not unique to this remote part of the world. These include the legendary haggis, to the more mundane 'Scottish pizza'.
                         

                             
The haggis has long been Scotlands favourite dish, so much so that the animal from which the haggis is made - the haggi, is in severe danger of becoming extinct.

Few people have actually seen a haggi in the wild, todays commercialism means that most of the haggi that reach the dinner table have been reared in captivity, specifically for the Scottish food industry, such haggi are known as 'Battery Haggis', and battered haggis can be found in most Scottish chip shops.

As so few haggi have been seen, their actual appearance is a matter of some debate, however it is a well accepted fact that they are small rodents, about the size of a pet rabbit, with the peculiar feature of having the legs on one side of their body shorter than the legs on the other. This evolutionary development is said to have taken place through natural selection, in order to allow the haggi to run at great speed around the hills and mountains of Highland Scotland.

This feature has led to the virtual extinction of the species however, as predators of the haggi have become aware of this, and instead of chasing a haggis around the hillside, simply wait in one spot after giving the haggis a scare, and wait for it to come blindly hurtling around the hill again.
                         
                              Other Haggis Information:                         
  • Make your own haggis
  • Haggis Ceremonies
  • Myth or Reality?

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    This section by Ewan McKissock (ewanm@landacht.csd.sgi.com)
    		                         
                                 

    I have been asked the question "Is the Scottish Pizza a joke?" regarding the entirely civilised practice of deep frying pizzas.

    I can publicly confirm that this is in fact 100% true. Back home 'pizzas' are commonly deep fried, although this seems to be restricted to Scotland. We know this is an acceptable way to cook them because that's the way the Italians* cook them. Perhaps the Italians thought they would have a wee joke at our expense, but it so happens that (given the quality of the 'pizza') the result is quite delicious.

    The Scottish diet is quite frequently frowned upon as containing far too high a level of fat, most of which comes from eating dinner from a fish & chip takeaway restaurant (the chippy, or chip shop). A traditional chip shop has two or three deep fryers behind the serving counter with a glass enclosed heating area above. All food served in the chip shop (haggis, meat pies, chicken, fish, chips, 'pizza' etc.) therefore has to be deep froed as its the cooking method they have available. The 'pizza' bears no relation whatsoever to a genuine pizza. The closest I can describe it is like Wonderbread dough (partially cooked), 1/2 inch thick with a thin smear of marinara sauce and just a trace of cheddar cheese on top. The whole concoction is then folded in half and fried - as the pizza base is already precooked, it does not completely seal (unlike a calzone).

    So, the Scottish pizza is really more like a slice of fried bread, rather than a pizza.*NB The reference to Italians is due to the high percentage of fish and chip shops in Scotland which are owned and run by families of Italian heritage - these are usually the best quality chip shops.

    		                         

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