SC - Re: Rosquillas

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

Another item for Burns Day.
Christianna

- --------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "James Pratt" <cathal at mindspring.com>
To: meridian-ty at egroups.com
Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 09:11:06 -0500
Subject: [TY] Expatirate Scots Forced Into Haggis Smuggling (long)
Message-ID: <200101241411.JAA25331 at smtp10.atl.mindspring.net>

Cathal to All, Greetings:

	With the mention of haggis of late, I thought the following might 
be of interest.

Expatriate Scots Forced into Haggis Smuggling
Updated 9:18 AM  ET January 11, 2001
by Ed Cropley

EDINBURGH, Scotland (Reuters)-Expatriate Scots from the US
to Australia are being forced into the shadowy world of international
haggis smuggling to ensure the real McCoy arrives at the dinner 
table for the traditional Burns Night Supper.

The January 25 knnes-up in honour of Scotland's best loved Bard, 
Robert "Rabbie" Burns is celebrated across the globe by millions who
trace their roots back to the ancient Highland nation.

But the real centerpiece of the whiskey-fuelled supper--the haggis, 
lauded in Burn's earthy address to the 'great chieftain of the puddin
race'--is often left out in the cold because of import bans on its offal-
based ingredients.

Refusing to see a 200-year-old ceremony succumb to the 21st 
century's taste for food scares, many haggis lovers aching for the
authentic taste of their homeland are setting up their own clandestine
shipments.

"We tell all of our customers about the bans, but once they've bought
a haggis, it's up to them." said Edinburgh based haggis adiciando
Jo MacSween.  Her family run business, seen by many as being to
haggis what Haagen Dazs is to ice cream, has been working flat out 
since the beginning of December for the biggest night in the haggis
calendar.

But Scots in America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, 
China and Switzerland will never see a juicy Scottish haggis on
supermarket shelves due to import bans on the dish, traditionally
made from boiled up lamb, beef and oatmeal stuffed into a cow's
intestine.

There have even been requests to send food parcels to addresses in 
France near the border with Switzerland for the haggis-hungry 
Swiss to pick up in secret.

"There is a hughe demand in the US, but half of me is almost happy 
the ban is there---otherwise we wouldn't be able to cope," MacSween
said.

Haggis hybrids have started to emerge as a result of the authorities'
distaste for offal, including hugely popular vegetarian numbers and 
even a US "Hawaiian-style" made of deboned chicken stuffed with
pineapple and ham.

It has also opened up a lucrative market for local haggis makers.
Charles Lamb, an Oregon based butcher, is doing a roaring trade
in US Department Agriculture spproved dishes, but says it is a 
shame Americans can't tast the real thing.

"Everything that's ina haggis is in a hotdog," Lamb said.

And if public paranoia over what is and is not safe to eat
should ever threaten the haggis existence in its homeland?

"If they did anything to ban haggis, Scotland would rise again.
You can't tamper with our national dish," MacSween said.

*******************************************************************

Cathal.


Ingenita levitas et erudita vanitas.
M. Tullius Cicero



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