"AlleyGator" > wrote
>
May I comment please? I will anyway.

> Oh, Jill, that is so very sad. I don't know why I have such an
> affinity for Ireland and Scotland (particularly Scotland)

Scotland = Land of the Scotti. Scotti = Irish

>- maybe it's
> becaue I devoued a trilogy of novels about ancient Scotland (it
> started centuries ago with the Picts and ran forward to the great
> battle with England) or what.

The Picts. Very fierce and an interesting people. They were defeated by the
Irish Gaels long before there was such a thing as England. What we know as
the Scotts, came from Ulster and alternately ruled both Ireland (not
unapposed) and Scotland alternately from Ulster and Scotland for a long
time. (The Picts and a couple of others are still around mind) (They
probably evolved into the turn-coat McDonnalds <wink>). Remember that
Ireland and Scotland are not very far apart and each can be seen on good
days from the other!

> I just watched a "Cook's Tour" episode

"Cook's Tour" was once a well known term. It refered to the company Thomas
Cook and Sons which began organized touring. I used to work for Thomas Cook
as a travel agent. It used to be a great company. They also developed the
traveler's check which, as I could never fill them out right, was the
eventual reason I left the company. <sheepish grin>

> where Antony Boudain

A Frenchman; note that. I mean nothing disparaging about him, but it should
be noted. I am definitely a Tony fan.

> went to a couple of cities and sampled eerythin
> from the deep-fried garbage they're famous

Now, now. Remember you are watching Tony. He also et puffer fish in Japan.
This is not the normal food nor especially the food that Japan is known for.
Scotland is known for oats which is not necessarily accurate. As in Ireland,
to understand local cuisine, one has to draw a line of difference between
the food eaten by the natives and by the English invaders. Now-a-days,
there are other differences, but they are still results of outside
influences. Scotland did not invent the Mars Bar. Don't forget that Tony
actually liked the deep fried candy bar. Garbage is in the mind of the
receptor is it not? Ok, garbage= Scotland: I'll suggest that nasty sweet
Scottish ale. <grin>

> for to rabbit stew

Hmmm. No comment I suppose. I like rabbit, but not rabbit stew....to
intensely rabbit for me.

> and salmon with a whiskey sauce,

Scottish and Irish salmon is the same and is the best that there is IMHO. I
would not put a whisky (Scottish spelling) or whiskey (the spelling
elsewhere) sauce on salmon. However whiskey (I don't like the peaty-ness of
Scotch) sauce is good elsewhere. If one is going to eat the best of all
salmon, I don't think one should do anything to disguise it's flavor.

> nettle stew,

Nettle soup is excellent stuff, but not something I want to eat often!

>kale kenny

Killkenny in Ireland is one of those "heritage dishes" that is still eaten.
There are many dishes in both Scotland and Ireland that are based on, or use
as a major ingredient, kale. As it happens, I don't much like kale. Don't
know why. Just don't. Fortunately other veggies, such as various cabbages,
can be substituted. It's like parsnips. I really, really dislike the taste
of parsnips. However I always use them when making my special English Bread
Soup or veggie stock.

> and whatever.

Many, many whatevers. It is a wonderful area for speculation and
understanding. One of the least understood, much less accepted, is the
influence of the Irish (and to a lesser extent Scottish) influence on the
general European diet through the spread of Irish Holy men.

> My
> favorite movie of all time is Brigadoon. I gues I'm just an old
> fantasy-driven softee. Lord, that's scary.

Brigadoon is not to be slighted! It is magical, loving, sweet, life
changing, and idylic. I think it represents the best of mankind. If you are
a softee by this criterion, I am liquid.

Charlie
> --
> The Doc says my brain waves closely match those of a crazed ferret.
> At least now I have an excuse.

"Charles Gifford" > wrote:

>"Cook's Tour" was once a well known term. It refered to the company Thomas
>Cook and Sons which began organized touring. I used to work for Thomas Cook
>as a travel agent. It used to be a great company. They also developed the
>traveler's check which, as I could never fill them out right, was the
>eventual reason I left the company. <sheepish grin>
>

THAT, my friend is extremely interesting. Is there anything else you
can tell us about that experience? Who knows, maybe I'm the only one
interested, but I'd love to hear more.

--
The Doc says my brain waves closely match those of a crazed ferret.
At least now I have an excuse.

"AlleyGator" > wrote >
> THAT, my friend is extremely interesting. Is there anything else you
> can tell us about that experience? Who knows, maybe I'm the only one
> interested, but I'd love to hear more.
>

What, quitting my job before I got fired because I could not fill out a
traveler's cheque properly? ;-) I have trouble with numbers (I always get
them backwards and turned around) and in those days the t-cheques were
filled out by hand. I ruined scores of cheques and each had to be
laboriously accounted for in a ledger. I did better with filling out (by
hand again) airline and ship tickets, but had difficulty with the money part
of it. The ticket forms cost money too and also had to be carefully
accounted for. This was the time I felt it would be good to go back to
University and study Archaeology. Which I did. Texas Instruments came out
with a great hand held calculator which did wonderful things.

As far as Thos. Cook and Sons, there are several good biographies available
for the history of the company. When I worked there Cook's also owned Wagon
Lits too (great train trips). If you wish any other info email me and I'll
try my creaking memory.

Charlie

"Charles Gifford" > wrote:

>Many, many whatevers. It is a wonderful area for speculation and
>understanding. One of the least understood, much less accepted, is the
>influence of the Irish (and to a lesser extent Scottish) influence on the
>general European diet through the spread of Irish Holy men.
>
>> My
>> favorite movie of all time is Brigadoon. I gues I'm just an old
>> fantasy-driven softee. Lord, that's scary.
>
>Brigadoon is not to be slighted! It is magical, loving, sweet, life
>changing, and idylic. I think it represents the best of mankind. If you are
>a softee by this criterion, I am liquid.
>
>Charlie
>> --
>> The Doc says my brain waves closely match those of a crazed ferret.
>> At least now I have an excuse.
>
>
OK Charlie, you're obviously from the region so I have to ask. One
common thread throughout the trilogy of novels I read was first, of
course, the smell of a peat fire. Secondly, was the constant plate of
oatcakes. I searched and found about a hundred recipes for them, some
the soft pancake-style which these didn't seem to refer to and a bunch
of the "scone" style oatcakes. Not having any oat flour avaiable, I
pulsed some plain old "rolled oats" style american oatmeal in the
blender and used that. I put sugar in mine, but it just didn't seem
authentic. Do ya have a typical oatcake recipe that a stodgy old
Scottish man of about 90 years old would be cookin?

--
The Doc says my brain waves closely match those of a crazed ferret.
At least now I have an excuse.

"AlleyGator" > wrote in message
...
> "Charles Gifford" > wrote:
>
>>Many, many whatevers. It is a wonderful area for speculation and
>>understanding. One of the least understood, much less accepted, is
>>the
>>influence of the Irish (and to a lesser extent Scottish) influence on
>>the
>>general European diet through the spread of Irish Holy men.
>>
>>> My
>>> favorite movie of all time is Brigadoon. I gues I'm just an old
>>> fantasy-driven softee. Lord, that's scary.
>>
>>Brigadoon is not to be slighted! It is magical, loving, sweet, life
>>changing, and idylic. I think it represents the best of mankind. If
>>you are
>>a softee by this criterion, I am liquid.
>>
>>Charlie
>>> --
>>> The Doc says my brain waves closely match those of a crazed ferret.
>>> At least now I have an excuse.
>>
>>
> OK Charlie, you're obviously from the region so I have to ask. One
> common thread throughout the trilogy of novels I read was first, of
> course, the smell of a peat fire. Secondly, was the constant plate of
> oatcakes. I searched and found about a hundred recipes for them, some
> the soft pancake-style which these didn't seem to refer to and a bunch
> of the "scone" style oatcakes. Not having any oat flour avaiable, I
> pulsed some plain old "rolled oats" style american oatmeal in the
> blender and used that. I put sugar in mine, but it just didn't seem
> authentic. Do ya have a typical oatcake recipe that a stodgy old
> Scottish man of about 90 years old would be cookin?

http://www.scottish-and-irish-recipe...k/oatcakes.htm

You might even enjoy the other recipes on this site

Ophelia
Scotland

"Ophelia" > wrote:

>http://www.scottish-and-irish-recipe...k/oatcakes.htm
>
>You might even enjoy the other recipes on this site
>
>Ophelia
>Scotland
>
>
Thank you, Ophelia.

--
The Doc says my brain waves closely match those of a crazed ferret.
At least now I have an excuse.

Interesting about the peat fires, the Irish still use this fuel type,
particularly in the west of the country. It was quite fascinating to
see the peat bogs by the roadside and evidence of the cuts made to dig
it up into square log shapes. In the pubs, peat was being burnt in
quite a few places we stopped. It was not really cold weather, but
they put out a fair amount of heat.
The oat cakes we ate, made by Walkers and Baxters of Scotland are
delicious but I would love to try to make them. They are dry flat thin
discs rather than pancake or scone style.
I'll check out Ophelia's link.
Cheers
Bronwyn

Here's my Oatcake recipe:

Ingredients for approx 3 dozen 3" oatcakes:

21/2 cups medium oatmeal, plus extra for sprinkling.
1 cup wholemeal (whole wheat) flour.
1/2 cup rolled oats zipped in the blender to a flour.
A good pinch of bicarbonate of soda.
A good pinch of salt.
1/2 cup of lard or butter.
About 1 1/2 cups of boiling water.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
2. Grease a baking tray and line with greaseproof paper.
3. Melt the lard over a medium heat until it has completely melted.
4. Place all the dry ingredients into a bowl and add the melted lard and
boiling water to make a sticky dough.
5. Mix together using a round bladed knife until a dough forms.
6. Sprinkle a piece of waxed paper surface with oatmeal and place the dough
on it.
7. Cut the dough in two and place one piece aside.
8. Shape the half into a round and roll it out using a rolling pin until it
is about 3/16" (3-4 mm) thick
9. Cut as many oatcakes as the shape allows and place them on the baking
tray. Use a tumbler or make pie shaped pieces.
10. Place the offcuts aside and repeat steps 8 and 9 with the other half
until all the dough is used.
11. Place the oatcakes into the hot oven for 13 minutes or until the edges
are golden brown. The oatcakes should not be golden all over - just the
edges should show golden.
13. Remove the oatcakes from the oven and place them on a cooling rack.




"Bronwyn" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Interesting about the peat fires, the Irish still use this fuel type,
> particularly in the west of the country. It was quite fascinating to
> see the peat bogs by the roadside and evidence of the cuts made to dig
> it up into square log shapes. In the pubs, peat was being burnt in
> quite a few places we stopped. It was not really cold weather, but
> they put out a fair amount of heat.
> The oat cakes we ate, made by Walkers and Baxters of Scotland are
> delicious but I would love to try to make them. They are dry flat thin
> discs rather than pancake or scone style.
> I'll check out Ophelia's link.
> Cheers
> Bronwyn
>

Thanks Pete, now I'll try three versions!

"AlleyGator" > wrote
>
> I put sugar in mine, but it just didn't seem
> authentic. Do ya have a typical oatcake recipe that a stodgy old
> Scottish man of about 90 years old would be cookin?
>

Actually I'm not a big fan of oatcakes. Here is a modernized one from the
Irish Times that is pretty good. Ms FitzGibbon is reliable. So is the Irish
Times as they once published my letter to the editor.

Charlie

OATCAKES

Source: Theodora FitzGibbon, Irish Times, date unknown (ca. late 1980s)

150g (5 oz.) rolled oats
100g (4 oz.) plain flour
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 level tsp. Bextartar
50g (2 oz.) butter
30ml (1 tsp.) plain yoghurt
50ml (2 fl. oz.) milk

Preheat the oven to 200C (400F or gas 6). Combine all the dry ingredients
evenly together in a mixing bowl and rub in the butter, making sure it is
evenly incorporated. Add the yoghurt and the milk and beat well in until
you have a firm but moist dough. Put on a floured slab and knead out to a
thickness of an inch with the knuckles, taking care that cracks do not
occur. Scatter a little flour over and roll out with a floured rolling-pin
until all is 4mm thick. Cut into rounds, place on a greased baking sheet and
bake for around 35 minutes until lightly and evenly browned. Cool on wire
rack and store in an airtight tin.


Note: Makes about 18-20. Good served with cheese.

Thanks Charlie. I'll try both recipes.

Bronwyn