One of my goals on my first visit to the UK was to taste “authentic” haggis. I found it to be so vile-tasting that I literally had to force myself to swallow one bite. Then I tried *vegetarian *haggis, which proved to be every bit as retched as the real thing. Haggis is at the top of a very short list of foods I don’t care for (followed closely by Limburger cheese).
No such thing as vegetarian haggis. I’ve tasted some horrible crap called that but its not vegetarian haggis…
I’ve been looking for a chance to try freshly made haggis for years.
I’ve had canned haggis and it takes mostly like a type of liver pate or chopped liver. Goes fine on bread or crackers but it needs a little something.
For the most part, except for a few exotic outliers like blood pudding and haggis, Scottish and Irish good is not too different from traditional Anglo-American food.
What do you get at an Irish pub in America? Shepherds pie, lamb or beef stew, boiled vegetables, roast beef sandwiches, savory pies, roasted or grilled meats or fish, sausages, mashed or baked or fried potatoes, batter-fried fish, cheese, bread, salads, beer, etc.
Few people say “let’s go out for Irish food” because for the most part it’s the same as traditional American food.
Yeah, as a half-Scot I’m quite aware of them. Hell I’ve even made them here in Sweden because I missed the buggers. Brain fart, but still my experience the poster I was replying to vastly underestimated the variety of things available in a chippie in England.
I’d say you are wrong. Back when I was working in a chippie (1990-1992ish), off the top of my head we sold:
Cod
Haddock
Plaice
Fish cakes
Cod Roe
Saveloy
Jumbo sausage
Battered sausage
Chicken
Steak pie
Chicken pie
Microwave (!) burger
Curry Sauce
Mushy Peas
Scallop (basically a big wedge of friend potato, which bizarrely some people would order with chips)
No doubt I am forgetting something. What was also very typical is that if the owner was a foreign descent something from his/her ethnicity would appear. IIRC one chip shop in my home town was run by a Greek guy and sold moussaka. No doubt others would have kebabs.
One interesting fish regional variation (as someone else mentioned it) is that in London they sell something called “Rock Salmon”, which is actually a type of dogfish. I’d never seen that before I moved down there. It was the only fish I’d had in a chippie that was not filleted and thus required the removing of the spine.
I’ve come across a fair few Swedes in my time here that like to mock British food (because that Swedish food has really taken the world by storm). I simply point out that we’re really sneaky and have snuck it under the radar by not opening restaurants but instead pubs that sell “traditional” food. For all people say that there are no “British Restaurants”, I can find British food in just about every major western city. You just go to the nearest British (or Irish, due to the similarity) pub. And they are everywhere.
I for one, having lived for a time in Great Britain, love British food of all sorts and cannot understand why so many people put it down.
I was once heavily into things mediaeval, and had the chance to sample some traditional (historic) dishes as well. Talk about exotic! Tudor recipes put to shame just about anything that’s trendy today.
You just don’t see roast peacock on the table very much anymore.
I’ve had it from a Scottish bakery. It seemed quite authentic, but I can not confirm if it had lung in it or not.
I wasn’t a huge fan, but it did not taste bad. I’ve had better things and I’ve had worse.