Burns Night - The Immortal Memory

[culinary bear]

Adam, tell me you didn't use Ardbeg single malt in your cranachan? :)

[Mabelline]

Adam, as you always do, the pictures are great! Are you going to do any ancient food again in the near future? I'd love to see another of those...

[Adam Balic]

Adam, tell me you didn't use Ardbeg single malt in your cranachan? :)

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Sure did, but it is only a six year old.

[culinary bear]

That's interesting - for the domestic market the youngest Ardbeg available is a ten year old. I've seen younger versions of malts available for export before, notably Glen Grant (available as a five year old for the Italian market), but I didn't know the practise was so widespread, and in the US too.

Out of sheer curiosity, how much does it retail for?

[Adam Balic]

A very new release. Retails (Oddbins) for £28. Which is more expensive then the 10 yo (all this young version is at barrel strength). Bought it out of interest to see what a young Islay would be like (very sweet) and when you think about it, it is proberly closer to the old 'illegal' whisky that Burns et al. most likely drunk. Maybe.

[culinary bear]

A very new release. Retails (Oddbins) for £28. Which is more expensive then the 10 yo (all this young version is at barrel strength). Bought it out of interest to see what a young Islay would be like (very sweet) and when you think about it, it is proberly closer to the old 'illegal' whisky that Burns et al. most likely drunk. Maybe.

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I got a sample bottle (200ml) of 21 year old 50% Port Ellen for christmas. Happy happy joy joy.

Burns probably enjoyed lowland or Campbletown whiskies, probaby rough as a bear's arse, and probably flavoured with all sorts. Prior to legalisation of stills in 1823 and the legal minimum maturation of three years (1900s, I think) most 'standard' whisky would have been similar to poteen, only rougher. :)

Edited January 26, 2005 by culinary bear (log)

[Adam Balic]

A very new release. Retails (Oddbins) for £28. Which is more expensive then the 10 yo (all this young version is at barrel strength). Bought it out of interest to see what a young Islay would be like (very sweet) and when you think about it, it is proberly closer to the old 'illegal' whisky that Burns et al. most likely drunk. Maybe.

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I got a sample bottle (200ml) of 21 year old 50% Port Ellen for christmas. Happy happy joy joy.

Burns probably enjoyed lowland or Campbletown whiskies, probaby rough as a bear's arse, and probably flavoured with all sorts. Prior to legalisation of stills in 1823 and the legal minimum maturation of three years (1900s, I think) most 'standard' whisky would have been similar to poteen, only rougher. :)

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Yikes, my family makes home stilled grappa, so I can imagine the effect.....

[Tapenade]

Is a dram of Aberlour 15 acceptable?

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Personally, I'm not crazy about Aberlour. My favorite everyday single malt, if one can talk about such a thing, is Bunnahabhain, which is a very mild Islay, although right now I'm about to sip a Macallan 12.

[Tapenade]

A very new release. Retails (Oddbins) for £28. Which is more expensive then the 10 yo (all this young version is at barrel strength). Bought it out of interest to see what a young Islay would be like (very sweet) and when you think about it, it is proberly closer to the old 'illegal' whisky that Burns et al. most likely drunk. Maybe.

←

I got a sample bottle (200ml) of 21 year old 50% Port Ellen for christmas. Happy happy joy joy.

Burns probably enjoyed lowland or Campbletown whiskies, probaby rough as a bear's arse, and probably flavoured with all sorts. Prior to legalisation of stills in 1823 and the legal minimum maturation of three years (1900s, I think) most 'standard' whisky would have been similar to poteen, only rougher. :)

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I wouldn't know (apart from the spelling of Campbelltown), but I can ask an old girlfriend of mine, who is a descendent of Burns and has his whisky glasses as an heirloom.

[Tapenade]

Adam, tell me you didn't use Ardbeg single malt in your cranachan? :)

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I wouldn't even put Ardbeg in my glass. I've had a pretty wide variety of single malts, and greatly enjoy Islay malts, even Laphroaig (OK, I have to be in the right mood for it); but I just can't stand the taste of Ardbeg. If I were going to use an Islay at all in cranachan, it would probably be a mild one like Bunnahabhain, but I'd be more inclined to go do a milder taste, or alternatively the very rich taste of Glendronach that comes from the maturing in sherry casks.

[culinary bear]

I wouldn't know (apart from the spelling of Campbelltown), but I can ask an old girlfriend of mine, who is a descendent of Burns and has his whisky glasses as an heirloom.

I wouldn't know (apart from the spelling of descendant).

Descendent is an adjective, descendant the noun.

We were both wrong, it's actually Campbeltown, with one 'l'. My error was typographical. Yours?

Glendronach is actually fairly hard to get hold of, certainly in England, though it's one of my favourites too. Ardbeg is extremely peaty, around 50ppm of phenols, which may account for it being too much for even hardened Islay enthusiasts. I recall reading somewhere that it used to be far more peaty than it is today.

Have you tried Brora?

Edited January 30, 2005 by culinary bear (log)

[chefzadi]

That's the first time I've ever seen green onions used in clapshot, though the Irish use scallions for colcannon, which is a related dish.

Can you really not use heart or lung in the US?  If true, it's heartbreaking; the lungs are needed for their textural contribuition, much more so than the heart.  If the casing needs to be synthetic, how does that affect sausage casings and the like?  must they be synthetic too?

I missed being in Edinburgh last night.

edited to add :

Scottish rasps truly are amazing; I think it's the one item of fresh produce we can justifiably claim to produce better than anywhere else.  I used to go berry picking as a child and it would take days to get the last vestiges of red from my hands and clothes.

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The rules are for tinned or packaged haggis. At home or in a restaurant if you can get your hands on the proper ingredients I don't see why it can't be prepared using the traditional. stuff.

Even though I worked in Scotland and loved the country I never quite embraced the local cuisine. I don't recall trying haggis. But I was there working in a French restaurant. You know it goes if you work at a restaurant you don't really go out to eat so much. Mostly go out after work to party.

[culinary bear]

Which French restaurant?

[Adam Balic]

Adam, tell me you didn't use Ardbeg single malt in your cranachan? :)

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I wouldn't even put Ardbeg in my glass. I've had a pretty wide variety of single malts, and greatly enjoy Islay malts, even Laphroaig (OK, I have to be in the right mood for it); but I just can't stand the taste of Ardbeg. If I were going to use an Islay at all in cranachan, it would probably be a mild one like Bunnahabhain, but I'd be more inclined to go do a milder taste, or alternatively the very rich taste of Glendronach that comes from the maturing in sherry casks.

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Different things for different people. I like the Ardbeg more for its sweetness then for its smoke/peat, but to be honest I prefer to drink single malts for the variation they offer, rather then any particular style over another.

[jackal10]

POP!

Just a reminder tonight is Burns Night

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burns_supper

The Immortal Memory!

[Peter the eater]

POP!

Just a reminder tonight is Burns Night

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burns_supper

The Immortal Memory!

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Pop again!

Its that time of year and I for one am going to celebrate the easy way:

The label reads: water, lamb hearts, oats, pork fat, lamb liver, pork, salt, flavours, dehydrated onion. No artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.

Yum! Sounds like offal spam. For a product of the US there are a lot of "u's" in those ingredient words.

The label also suggests "this dish should be washed down with a glass of Scotch whiskey". I can do that. It also says it can be "used as a stuffing for poultry or game" and "makes an interesting base for canapes". The latter sounds like an understatement to me.

Anyone else celebrating?

[CaliPoutine]

My spouse is going out tonight to a pub in Bayfield. They all gather to pipe in the Haggis!!

I'm going to take a pass.

[Dave Parrott]

Here's an article about what to drink with your haggis.

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Scotch & lots of it. Otherwise how can you stand to eat it?

[racheld]

I craved Scotland all my life, and traveled there in 2003. I ate haggis (It's the LAW), but might have thought better of it had I read the words "gushing entrails" and "warm-reekin'" in time.

The one I tasted was served WAY after a lovely roast beef/salmon dinner. More entertainment, then the Royal Dish was piped in, and we were all served a tiny saucer, with a three-layer what-would-have-been-rainbow, had not one of them been BROWN, little circle about the size of a sugar-cookie.

The aroma alone served to quell any remaining appetites at table (actually, I did recognize the scent, having been guest at several chitlin suppers ---didn't partake THEN either). I carved off a bit the size of a BB, cutting right down through white tatties, goldy-orange neeps and the brown meaty crust, and ate it. I'd also had a nice bowl of porridge that morning, as well, and enjoyed it thoroughly.

I did love all the pomp and fluster, and it was a lovely evening, but I daresay the poet need not seek work writing menus.

[Adam Balic]

The vast majority of haggis made now are quite different to the haggis that Burns described, not so much in the contents as in the casing. The haggis from Burns' period was made using a sheep rumen (1st stomach), these are not commonly used now. Part of the reason for this is that a total volume ofa sheep rumen is 5-7 litres, which mades a huge pudding (Macsweens, the famous haggis makers only use sheep gut casings for haggis of six pounds or more). If natural casings are used these are most often beef caecum (the sausage skins) which are pretty much flavour and odourless. Even more a put in artifical casings.

So essentially what you have is a warm, crumbly pate. But such is the fearsome reputation of the haggis that even when confronted with a portion, many people can only think of entrails and guts.