Burns' Night Dinner

Last evening, Justin and I joined the Brittish Tot club for the Burns' Night Dinner out at Falmouth Harbour. Although the Tot club meets every night of the year at 6pm sharp to toast the Queen with readings from a book titled "This day in Royal Navy History," and a half gill of Pusser's rum...everyone always cheers when it was victory over the French, and there is a special cheer and Justin gets a lot of smiles when they discuss victories over the US. This particular evening is a tradition filled birthday celebration for Robert Burns. Robert Burns is Scotland's best-loved bard and Burn's Suppers have been held in his honour for over 200 years. Justin joined the Royal Naval Tot Club shortly after arriving in Antigua, most of the members are British (ex-pats as they call themselves), this was my first visit. I was quite unsure what to expect - I do know I was hungry and had saved my appetite for this fantastic meal that I was about to embark on!!

On The Menu:

Wine

Cock-a-leekie soup

Wine

Haggis with Tatties and Neeps (served with much pomp and circumstance)

Wine

The less traditional roast beef (I think they just added that for the few poor American's who were there as it is much more edible)

Wine

A bread Pudding with ice cream

Wine

Port wine with aged cheese and crackers (very yummy)

Oh yea...more wine

Don't worry, Justin and I didn't drink all the wine :)

So I could go on and on about all of my observations during the evening...about how strange it is to be one of the only Americans at a traditional English dinner...about how fun it is to observe how others conduct themselves while eating (they use both their fork and knife for everything...even mashed potatoes), drinking, and socializing...but that would probably bore you all!! However, I do have to talk about Haggis!!

I knew I was in for a strange treat when the room was buzzing about Haggis. The night seemed to revolve around it. Everyone just smiled and said to me "Don't ask what it is, just eat it!" This should set off many alarming red flags in any normal person. The Haggis, a large circular like sausage, was "piped" in...which means the waiter paraded around this very strange thing on a platter, and then delived it to the Master of Ceremonies who then recited Robert Burns' famous poem "To a Haggis," followed by stabbing the meat.

We were all then treated to a small plate of Haggis garnished with dollops of Tatties and Neeps (potatoes and a pureed vegetable). I was game to take a least a bite, although when I was served a dash of Whiskey to pour over this "meat" to improve the flavor I was a touch nervous!! I did have a few bites...small bites (without the Whiskey), it was strange with a very odd texture. After Justin finished his, I politely traded plates with him and he finished mine off. A gentleman that was seated at our table, informed us, as he was licking his plate clean, that Haggis was a peasant meal - the cheapest protein, starch, and carbohydrate meal around.

I will spare you the exact details about what we ate last night; However, I will tell you that after I googled it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haggis), my stomach made a quick flip and I was thankful that I only had a couple of bites!! Thank goodness they followed this appetizer with a nice beef dish, because I was starving!!

We had a wonderful time hanging out with mostly British folks, who all had some tie to sailing. We shared a table with 2 British couples and 1 Aussie couple (reminded us of Grahame) who all had spend the hurricane season in Trinidad. It was a great experience for both of us!