Burns Night

Posted on 2009/01/25 20:07:05 (January 2009).

[Friday 23rd January]
I had determined to mark the occasion of Robert Burns' 250th birthday this evening in traditional style. So I'd invited a few people from work (and Chie had invited a couple of her friends) to come and join in. It wasn't a huge gathering - there were just 7 of us in total, but if nothing else it was a bit of a break from the norm!

Foodwise I went for a very traditional bill of fare - Scotch broth to start, haggis (a vegetarian one of course), neeps and tatties for main course, and Cranachan for dessert. I did add a couple of my own little touches - a large cheese crouton atop the Scotch Broth, a whisky and mushroom sauce to go with the haggis, and some home-made whisky soaked berries to top the Cranachan.

Naturally there was plenty of whisky on offer to accompany the food - I even roughly thought of malts to accompany each course - Clynelish for the starter, Talisker with the main course, and Lagavulin to go with dessert.

The poetry wasn't particularly abundant this time though. Given that it was mostly people from work I think I was a bit self concious, and none of the other attendees had ever been to a Burns Night before so they weren't exactly keen to get up and recite either. So it ended up being just the traditional Ode to a Haggis, which I gave my best shot. It was of course hard to get an honest opinion from the audience about how it went though!

So all in all it ended up a bit more like a dinner party than a full-on Burns Night, but it was a pleasant evening nonetheless.

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