The Food of Scotland

I'm going to start out with the most negative thing about Scottish food and that is It is very expensive! That being said, we can move on to how good everything was! Did I say good? I meant GREAT! The "haggis" was wonderful. I had it four different ways, each with a unique sauce, and I loved it. The traditional way is to serve it with "neeps"(mashed turnips) and "tatties"(mashed potatoes) and all covered with a whiskey sauce, Yum! The traditional Scottish breakfast or "Fry UP" is something to be experienced before you die, but then eating it is consuming enough cholesterol to kill you anyway, but it is so good.

As you might guess, Scotland does seafood really well. to try and stay with in our budget, we feasted on fish and chips frequently. It was never a hardship! Most of the time it was battered haddock (about a 10 inch slab) or cod. We did eat venison (It's farmed in Scotland) and some mutton as well, but there were several evenings that we dressed up and had just elegant dinners. We had a wonderful banquet in Borthwick Castle, but by far, the most memorable Meal was in Oban. We were staying at the Manor House Hotel (Amazing place) and we asked the owner about seafood restaurants close by. She told us about a small one, just two minutes walk away, but she wasn't certain we could get in since they only have two seatings a night (one at 6:30 and one at 8:30). This didn't make a lot of since to us but it was only two minutes to find out so we walked up the lane and into history!

This little restaurant is called "The Seafood Temple" but locals just call it the "Temple". It only has 6 tables (Mom says that they had 8 tables) and the menu is hand written to reflect what they are serving that night, and it all looked wonderful. They fill up the tables twice each night and when we got there about 8:00 pm, the waitress said they were just finishing the first seating and wouldn't be ready for the second seating for half an hour , but we could come in and sit at a vacant table and wait.

We came in and set down but we didn't wait. They started bring food to our table with the drinks. (Keep in mind, we haven't ordered anything yet) Suddenly there is a plate of calamari and and smoked salmon to keep us occupied. Then, the Chef/owner, sent us giant scallop shells full of scallop chowder because he said it was cold and blustery outside and he wanted to warm us up. Finally we looked at the menu and at the bottom was the item labeled "Seafood Platter Magnifique for two" It sounded really good, so Margie and Terrill ordered one and so did we.

Terrill was heartbroken that we couldn't eat it all, but no two people could! four people would have had trouble finishing it. First they brought the oysters, then the platter with every kind of seafood you could imagine. Mussels, giant crab claws, smoked salmon, and steamed salmon, clams, scallops, calamari, herring, langastinos (some with roe), and on top of it all, a giant whole lobster with roe. then came the mashed potatoes with a scallop sauce for gravy. The owner came out of the kitchen and visited each table but he spent the most time with us. ( he really likes Americans, but thinks we try to eat to fast!)