My Encounter with Haggis

When people think of Scotland a few things may immediately come to mind. Rain, Brave Heart, Kilts, Bagpipes, and Haggis. The day finally came for me to try it, no not wear a kilt while playing the theme some of Braveheart on the bagpipes out in the rain. It was time to try some true genuine Scottish Haggis. For those of you who don't know Haggis is a dish traditionally made of sheep's offal, minced onions, suet, mixed with stock and spices typically encased in an animal's stomach and boiled. Yummy, just the description is enough to make you salivate, or maybe not.

One night me and Rachel decided to try a place down by campus called The Schoolhouse. It is a nicer restaurant within an older building, appearing large from the outside but it isn't until you get into the place you see just how spacious and big it actually is. They even give a 10% discount to students, awesome! We go in, get seated, and order. I wanted badly to try their fish n' chips, as I have made a point to try this dish all across Scotland at the places we have gone, but no, tonight it was time to try something different. I see they have a traditional Scottish Haggis dinner reasonably priced (cheaper than the fish n' chips that is) so I decide to go for it, along with a pint of Guinness. Rachel orders a baked potato garnished with chili and the likes, probably what I should have ordered...

The Schoolhouse, they had a nice big outdoor covered patio as well.

Our food comes, I take a big gulp of Guinness and begin.

Here is my plate, Haggis with Nepes and Tatties, along with some biscuits and whiskey flavored brown gravy.

I go for the Haggis first, since this is the center of the dish. Initially it kind of reminded me of stuffing, especially in terms of the consistency. A grainy stuffing with a funny aftertaste. After a couple of bites I felt fine, and I was impressed I actually was liking it! The nepes (mashed turnips and rutabaga) and tatties (mashed potatoes) were okay, the biscuits were similar to cardboard, and the gravy had a funny aroma and with that an even funnier taste. I continue to eat the Haggis, and so far surprisingly it is my favorite part of the whole dish, but then it begins to set it. Maybe I had just psyched myself so much at first that it took a bit for me to come to realize how nauseous I was beginning to feel. What was once good and like grainy stuffing to me was now very quickly becoming nasty. I couldn't swallow more than 2 more bites of the stuff before I had to throw in the towel. What started out so great ended so poorly.

All around the dish wasn't all that good, maybe it was the combination of Guinness with the meal (since Guinness has a very bold distinct taste to it) or perhaps this just wasn't the best place to get Haggis. Whichever, I was embarrassed by how little I ate so I did the old move the food around the plate to one side and cover it with your napkin technique to give the illusion that I had eaten far more of the meal than I actually had. I had even put some on Rachel's plate, just to make mine look less full, I needed all the help I could get covering this up. Rachel loved her baked potato and was content, I on the other hand was still very hungry but happy I finally gave Haggis a shot! We left and I ended up going back to the dorm to make something to eat. That's another one to take off my bucket list.

Getting to know Glasgow

Having been here for a few weeks now I have had enough time to make some general observations on the people and city of Glasgow. The city of Glasgow has a slogan, “People make Glasgow,” which seems cheesy and sort of generic as for any city could say this. My experience is that people really do make Glasgow though, in the sense that since my time here I honestly have not had one negative experience with the locals. Everyone is incredibly kind and polite, often taking an interest in my studies at Uni and where I myself come from. People are very willing to go out of their way to befriend and help you upon being approached. Interestingly enough I have heard from Scottish friends I have made here in Glasgow that people in the highlands to the North are a bit raunchier and less delicate (for lack of better words) with how they interact with people. Perhaps this is just a regional difference between groups/communities within Scotland.

The city slogan can be seen everywhere, office buildings and all.

 Getting around Glasgow can be both adrenaline pumping and frustrating. Walking on the sidewalk can be challenging at times. Unlike in the US where there is a clear system of “sticking to the right” when going places, here there is no such thing. It’s normal for people to walk wherever and weave through each other rather than pass by in an organized fashion. To add, driving in Scotland is quite scary- if you’re the pedestrian. Unlike the US where the pedestrian has a lot of power and drivers are expected to respect the presence of those crossing the road, it’s quite the opposite here. It is upon you to look out and avoid cars because drivers don’t seem real fond of the idea of slowing down or letting you pass through first. This is something I have quickly learned my short time here. Most people use the subway to get around the city fast and cheap, but buses and taxis are also fairly common.

I think it can be easy (as I first did this when coming here) to think that surely that overall food variety must be completely different in Scotland than what we are accustomed to in America. Surprisingly it is not. Okay, sure you have your local favorites such as Haggis, Blood Sausage, Black Pudding, or even Fish n’ Chips. Beyond this everything else you would think of back home food wise, that being Chinese, Italian, Burgers joints, etc. are quite prevalent and common here. To expand on this Scotland has some of the same establishments as we do such as McDonalds, Subway, Burger King, Starbucks, and Krispy Crème Donuts. Also, in case you were wondering, yes the Big Mac and Whopper taste virtually the same out here as they would in the states (I had to try to compare). Despite these similarities there is a place called Greggs, which appears to have the same presence per capita as Starbucks in America but is unique to the UK. Greggs can literally be found around every corner, specializing in sandwiches, wraps, and pastries.

Here is the Greggs on Byres Road, I pass this one everyday on my walk to campus.

All around town you can find awe and amazement within the architecture of buildings. One thing that stood out to me was how most common neighborhoods you find are made up of old tenement buildings. Tenements are typically known for not being real nice (maybe this is the case on the interior) but as for the exterior the stonework on some of these structures gives a real unique vintage feel. Here is what I mean.