England, Part IV: Not many outlets in London specialize in Scottish food. So saints be praised for Albannach, which scores with a lively crowd at Trafalgar Square.
Haggis with neeps & tatties (turnips & potatoes). The haggis (sheep's heart, liver & lungs, minced with onions & oatmeal, then simmered in sheep's stomach) is produced by Macsween, an Edinburgh-based, third-generation family business that has been dubbed "the guardians of Scotland's national dish." Tender meat, flavor-packed without being gamy (kinda like a cross between beef and lamb).
Cullen Skink soup _ traditional smoked haddock broth. Creamy comfort food.
Inverawe smoked salmon with sweet pickled cucumber & beetroot. Smoked salmon that somehow tastes ferociously fresh _ why can't we have that in KL?
Steak & ale pie, featuring hearty beef cooked with organic Caledonian ale. Might be the perfect body-warming platter for a wintry night out on a Scottish highland cliff.
Il Banchetto Bianco, Italy ('09) & Il Banchetto Rosso.
Albannach,
London.
Smoked salmon that tastes fresh? I know what you mean, bro. I find most of KL's stock of smoked salmon desperately wanting. :(
ReplyDeleteWah, so interesting... I don't think we have anything of this kind in KL.....
ReplyDelete(neeps and tatties? lol. Is that Scottish or just some kind of slang, I wonder...)
i don't think i can pronounce the name of the restaurant and the dishes! Guess I will never appreciate scottish cuisine..
ReplyDeleteHAGGIS! AWESOME!
ReplyDeleteCullen Skink reminds me of Twilight's Edward Cullen. HAHAHAHHAA.
ReplyDelete"Smoked salmon that somehow tastes ferociously fresh _ why can't we have that in KL?"
ReplyDeletebecause salmon has to be flown in to Malaysia which will take a longer time compared to the European countries :P
sheep's heart, liver & lungs, minced with onions & oatmeal ... hmm... as much as i luv oatmeal.. Eeeeukkk... ;p
ReplyDeletelfb: hmmm, i wonder where most of our smoked salmon in kl comes from. i assume a number of outlets smoke it themselves, but the salmon itself originates from ...? and not everyone would be using norwegian salmon...
ReplyDeletej: ya, i don't think there's haggis available at any restaurant in kl. for that matter, we rarely get turnips here as a side dish too, right. and i wouldn't have guessed what 'neeps and tatties' meant without looking it up either!
eiling: maybe u'll get a chance to sample some of it on your upcoming trip! i think u might enjoy it with some whiskey :D
ciki: yep, was very glad i managed to have it without having to visit scotland :P
michelle: haha, wonder whether edward is supposed to have any scottish blood :D
leo: heh, wonder how many days the journey takes. but i guess the freshness also deteriorates when the salmon is left for hours in packaged sandwiches and at restaurant buffets...
tng: oh, don't worry, it doesn't taste foul at all! it actually tastes like a great minced meat ... would even work for a pasta topping! :D
Somedays I wonder if it's even salmon... :P
ReplyDeleteurgh now lets not even try to pronounce those names!
ReplyDeleteLfb: I wanna watch salmon swimming upstream someday :D
ReplyDeleteAugustdiners: ya, I already have problem pronouncing the names of Chinese food!
Got National Geographic Channel what. :P
ReplyDeleteLfb: I wanna watch them salmon in person lah! Nat geo? That's like, ermmm, watching an adult movie instead of doing the deed with someone real :D
ReplyDeleteHaha, pretty much like what a certain eating, drinking KL-lite we know does (er, does not), eh? :P
ReplyDeletelfb: to do or not to do ... ermm, is that the question? :P
ReplyDeleteDo lah.... :P
ReplyDeletelfb: do or die! the die is cast then! ... ermm, though now i've forgotten what i'm supposed to do :P
ReplyDeleteHahaha. That's the beauty of our comment-conversations - they run so long that we go off topic so many times... :P
ReplyDeletelfb: but beauty lies in the eye of the beholder :D
ReplyDeleteThis beholder finds the beauty; do you?
ReplyDeletelfb: maybe not quite as beautiful as the sight of salmon swimming upstream :D
ReplyDeleteHmm, salmon's not the only thing that tries to swim upstream. :P
ReplyDeleteLfb: unless u interrupt them midstream :p
ReplyDelete