Hmmm, go fishing in freezing waters, drop bait 1,600 feet, wait for hours for one bite, haul up for hours, a fish you can't eat, prep for weeks, dry for months... and only consume a quarter inch block!?! Leave the damned fish alone. Or use it for lawn fertilizer, if you're unlucky enough to land one by accident. Haggis, on the other hand was a poorper's feed. Made from the scraps you couldn't sell, or your portion from the Land-lord. And by golly, you wouldn't leave a scrap in yer plate. Now the "poorpers" have fat wallets and empty heads. Culture is just another thing to be consumed, and obviously harked back to in complete ignorance of context and reality.
Thanks again, Hank. Your insights are a precious refreshment amid our consumer driven world.
P. S: I enjoy making my own gravlax, and "haggis" (Shepherd's pie style), thanks to the influence of chefs like yourself. Shalom from NZ!
Frankenmuth, Michigan. Everybody goes there for Zender's or the Bavarian Inn. Mostly, they eat the fried chicken. It's good, but that's not what the locals eat. I had enough friends in Frankenmuth that I dined fairly regularly at the farmhouses around there. Some of my friends grandparents never learned English. It's a whole different world from the tourist traps. It's been over 50 years since then, but I'm sure you can still find "tiger meat" (steak tartar) on the buffet table. Pickled suckers and homemade rye crackers abounded. Fried smelt and any number of sausages, both homemade and bought from Kern's Sausage shop in town. It's so hot I was skipping supper and now I've made myself hungry. I learned a long time ago to ask the locals where to eat, and sometimes what.
I'm curious about the beaver tail. It was Lewis and Clark's favorite. IIRC it was just laid on coals and then peeled. A friend has promised me a tail for a number years, but the nuisance beavers have disappeared.
I always avoid touristy areas like the plague or the times of the year they are more prevalent at an area with want to visit. The best places are usually off the beaten path, and I love to explore. People will meet you, usually, in the way you present yourself, kindness returns kindness, respect gets respect. There’s nothing more special than listening and talking to the locals, they love to share their world if you let them.
Well, at least they went to the country and tried new food and maybe learned a little. Beats sitting on the couch with Taco Bell take out and yelling at a player on the TV whose name you can’t pronounce…
I mean, yes. I guess I am just hoping to help a person like that overcome fear of stepping outside the main tourist section. I found this especially true in Mexico, where the fear Americans have of that country FAR outweighs the actual danger.
When I mention haggis to people, the reaction is typically “Ew, stomach!” Then I patiently explain that the stomach is the cooking vessel and you eat the meatloaf inside. And it is good.
When I was in Edinburgh, I stayed with friends. We had haggis (locally produced) and neeps-and-tatties. And it was good.
Hank is right. The idea also applies to what you see as a tourist: see more than the tourist traps.
I'm with you Hank on all of this. The flip side was at a little restaurant I visited around the Dockyards in Bermuda a decade or more ago. There on the menu, among the fish chowder and fish sandwich, was Shark Hash. No fanfare, not on special, no Shark Hash dare, and I have no idea if any of the other tourists like me (and there were only tourists like me) ordered it. But without hesitation I ordered it and it was delicious. Sort of like a fishy tasting couscous in the best of ways, served as an appetizer with crackers I believe. I was so intrigued that I researched it later, and my recollection was it involved a little shark (the whole enchilada, not just the fins!), but far more boiling, mashing, straining, draining, more boiling, simmering, reducing, melding cartilage into flesh, and 10 hours or so later - shark hash. I've contemplated making it on the occasion that I catch a shark while fishing not for sharks (dogfish from Rehobeth Bay while flounder fishing?) with due consideration of US laws and culinary acceptances. But Shark Hash sticks out in my mind as one of those little gems one finds in life. Looking forward to the next edition of Buck, Buck, Moose.
Oh, I'm not opposed to eating sharks, when the species is plentiful. I love a good dogfish or leopard shark fish and chips. It's that the Greenland shark grows so slowly, it can't reallt sustain too much fishing pressure. I don't think the Icelanders are hunting it to extinction, but still...
Don’t mistake the icons for the cuisine. This should be on a card handed to tourists in every country. I do my best to avoid the cliches when traveling.
OMG yes! I was at the Anchor Bar, the home of the Buffalo wing, and I wanted it hot. The server was like, um... do you want it nice and hot, like to eat? I said yeah, of course. She suggested level 3 of 5. She said Level 5 was what they serve arrogant assholes to ruin their innards. :-)
Ah yes! Lutefisk! It was a Christmas Dinner side staple that accompanied the turkey the same way Lefse accompanied the pumpkin pie ever since I can remember. Although the fondness of the lefse far outweighed the joy of the Lutefisk, or as we kids called it, “Clear fish jello with milk gravy”. Nasty stuff, but we ate it. My Minnesota born and raised parents would have the meat market special order a frozen brick of the stuff every December where I grew up in California. Somehow my desire over the years to master Lefse has shadowed any desire at all to attempt preparing Lutefisk! Maybe someday….
I never could see the weirdness of haggis. It's a mild sausage, possibly in a sheep stomach, and how is that different from a homemade sausage in a natural casing? Frankly, a sheep stomach is far more appealing than a pig's small intestine. As for the fermented shark- if Andrew Zimmern won't eat it, I won't either. I want to make a trip to Iceland, so thank you for the information!
Where I live, homemade sausage is whatever is left, “everything but the squeal”. Offal doesn’t bother me, and the haggis I had tasted like a sausage- it wasn’t the canned stuff or bought from a grocery store. As to its authenticity, I can’t speak. But I liked it.
Fair enough - I live in Scotland and get my haggis from an organic farm + butchery place so it does taste quite strong. Was just aiming to provide some cultural context. I like haggis esp with mash
Hmmm, go fishing in freezing waters, drop bait 1,600 feet, wait for hours for one bite, haul up for hours, a fish you can't eat, prep for weeks, dry for months... and only consume a quarter inch block!?! Leave the damned fish alone. Or use it for lawn fertilizer, if you're unlucky enough to land one by accident. Haggis, on the other hand was a poorper's feed. Made from the scraps you couldn't sell, or your portion from the Land-lord. And by golly, you wouldn't leave a scrap in yer plate. Now the "poorpers" have fat wallets and empty heads. Culture is just another thing to be consumed, and obviously harked back to in complete ignorance of context and reality.
Thanks again, Hank. Your insights are a precious refreshment amid our consumer driven world.
P. S: I enjoy making my own gravlax, and "haggis" (Shepherd's pie style), thanks to the influence of chefs like yourself. Shalom from NZ!
Frankenmuth, Michigan. Everybody goes there for Zender's or the Bavarian Inn. Mostly, they eat the fried chicken. It's good, but that's not what the locals eat. I had enough friends in Frankenmuth that I dined fairly regularly at the farmhouses around there. Some of my friends grandparents never learned English. It's a whole different world from the tourist traps. It's been over 50 years since then, but I'm sure you can still find "tiger meat" (steak tartar) on the buffet table. Pickled suckers and homemade rye crackers abounded. Fried smelt and any number of sausages, both homemade and bought from Kern's Sausage shop in town. It's so hot I was skipping supper and now I've made myself hungry. I learned a long time ago to ask the locals where to eat, and sometimes what.
Agree 💯.
I'm curious about the beaver tail. It was Lewis and Clark's favorite. IIRC it was just laid on coals and then peeled. A friend has promised me a tail for a number years, but the nuisance beavers have disappeared.
I always avoid touristy areas like the plague or the times of the year they are more prevalent at an area with want to visit. The best places are usually off the beaten path, and I love to explore. People will meet you, usually, in the way you present yourself, kindness returns kindness, respect gets respect. There’s nothing more special than listening and talking to the locals, they love to share their world if you let them.
“Gastronaut”. Love it!
Well, at least they went to the country and tried new food and maybe learned a little. Beats sitting on the couch with Taco Bell take out and yelling at a player on the TV whose name you can’t pronounce…
I mean, yes. I guess I am just hoping to help a person like that overcome fear of stepping outside the main tourist section. I found this especially true in Mexico, where the fear Americans have of that country FAR outweighs the actual danger.
Oh, yes…as a former travel agent I cringed when ANYthing happened in Mexico and suddenly THE WHOLE COUNTRY was dangerous and off limits.
Like Chicago deep dish pizza....locals don't eat it. Just for the tourists.
As usual, well thought out and written Hank. Thanks!
I had no idea locals didn't eat deep dish! I like Chicago more now... ;-)
When I mention haggis to people, the reaction is typically “Ew, stomach!” Then I patiently explain that the stomach is the cooking vessel and you eat the meatloaf inside. And it is good.
When I was in Edinburgh, I stayed with friends. We had haggis (locally produced) and neeps-and-tatties. And it was good.
Hank is right. The idea also applies to what you see as a tourist: see more than the tourist traps.
I'm with you Hank on all of this. The flip side was at a little restaurant I visited around the Dockyards in Bermuda a decade or more ago. There on the menu, among the fish chowder and fish sandwich, was Shark Hash. No fanfare, not on special, no Shark Hash dare, and I have no idea if any of the other tourists like me (and there were only tourists like me) ordered it. But without hesitation I ordered it and it was delicious. Sort of like a fishy tasting couscous in the best of ways, served as an appetizer with crackers I believe. I was so intrigued that I researched it later, and my recollection was it involved a little shark (the whole enchilada, not just the fins!), but far more boiling, mashing, straining, draining, more boiling, simmering, reducing, melding cartilage into flesh, and 10 hours or so later - shark hash. I've contemplated making it on the occasion that I catch a shark while fishing not for sharks (dogfish from Rehobeth Bay while flounder fishing?) with due consideration of US laws and culinary acceptances. But Shark Hash sticks out in my mind as one of those little gems one finds in life. Looking forward to the next edition of Buck, Buck, Moose.
Oh, I'm not opposed to eating sharks, when the species is plentiful. I love a good dogfish or leopard shark fish and chips. It's that the Greenland shark grows so slowly, it can't reallt sustain too much fishing pressure. I don't think the Icelanders are hunting it to extinction, but still...
Don’t mistake the icons for the cuisine. This should be on a card handed to tourists in every country. I do my best to avoid the cliches when traveling.
it's a lot like the "nuclear" wings out there, all scorching heat with no real flavor, just there for the dare
OMG yes! I was at the Anchor Bar, the home of the Buffalo wing, and I wanted it hot. The server was like, um... do you want it nice and hot, like to eat? I said yeah, of course. She suggested level 3 of 5. She said Level 5 was what they serve arrogant assholes to ruin their innards. :-)
I hope they were good and you left her a nice tip.
You hit the nail on the head in the last line...."understanding what people eat when nobody's watching."
Ah yes! Lutefisk! It was a Christmas Dinner side staple that accompanied the turkey the same way Lefse accompanied the pumpkin pie ever since I can remember. Although the fondness of the lefse far outweighed the joy of the Lutefisk, or as we kids called it, “Clear fish jello with milk gravy”. Nasty stuff, but we ate it. My Minnesota born and raised parents would have the meat market special order a frozen brick of the stuff every December where I grew up in California. Somehow my desire over the years to master Lefse has shadowed any desire at all to attempt preparing Lutefisk! Maybe someday….
Lefse is amazing. Lutefisk very much not so...
I never could see the weirdness of haggis. It's a mild sausage, possibly in a sheep stomach, and how is that different from a homemade sausage in a natural casing? Frankly, a sheep stomach is far more appealing than a pig's small intestine. As for the fermented shark- if Andrew Zimmern won't eat it, I won't either. I want to make a trip to Iceland, so thank you for the information!
Haggis is made with sheep offal (lungs, liver etc) and oats - in most British sausages there is no offal, no sheep and they use flour as binder.
A non-commercial haggis is much stronger tasting than the commercially available sausages. Also good Scottish marketing.
Where I live, homemade sausage is whatever is left, “everything but the squeal”. Offal doesn’t bother me, and the haggis I had tasted like a sausage- it wasn’t the canned stuff or bought from a grocery store. As to its authenticity, I can’t speak. But I liked it.
Fair enough - I live in Scotland and get my haggis from an organic farm + butchery place so it does taste quite strong. Was just aiming to provide some cultural context. I like haggis esp with mash
What are the herbs flavoring it where you live? They vary from place to place. I like summer savory.