Haggis death match!

Evening

A taste comparison for you tonight the culinary death match is vegetarian haggis based. The Halls variant versus the MacSween pudding.

We don't normally have two Haggis cooking for dinner but as we traversed the aisles of Tesco I went for one and n went for the other. With neither side wishing to concede. We decided a taste duel was the only proper resolution to the debate of what was tastiest.

So tonight into the pot went the two combatants and after the required time out they came to take their positions on the plates. The supporting cast was played by Kestrel potatoes fresh from the Castle Fegrig veg patch. The tatties were very tasty slightly waxy and thin skinned perhaps better as a salad tattie? But good nonetheless.

So onto the haggis in the picture the top variant is the Mac and the bottom the Halls. The MacSween is lighter in texture, nutty but with not much spice. The Halls haggis the darker in colour is better spiced, stickier with more pulses and beans to provide some bulk.

So onto the results

MacSween 1 vote

Halls           2 votes

So the winner is Halls with a clearer mandate than the present government a resounding victory!

Finally for your digestion is the Burns poem hailing the humble Haggis.

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,  Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!  Aboon them a' ye tak your place,  Painch, tripe, or thairm:  Weel are ye wordy of a grace  As lang's my arm. The groaning trencher there ye fill,  Your hurdies like a distant hill,  Your pin wad help to mend a mill  In time o need,  While thro your pores the dews distil  Like amber bead. His knife see rustic Labour dight,  An cut you up wi ready slight,  Trenching your gushing entrails bright,  Like onie ditch;  And then, O what a glorious sight,  Warm-reekin, rich! Then, horn for horn, they stretch an strive:  Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,  Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve  Are bent like drums;  The auld Guidman, maist like to rive,  'Bethankit' hums. Is there that owre his French ragout,  Or olio that wad staw a sow,  Or fricassee wad mak her spew  Wi perfect sconner,  Looks down wi sneering, scornfu view  On sic a dinner? Poor devil! see him owre his trash,  As feckless as a wither'd rash,  His spindle shank a guid whip-lash,  His nieve a nit:  Thro bloody flood or field to dash,  O how unfit! But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,  The trembling earth resounds his tread,  Clap in his walie nieve a blade,  He'll make it whissle;  An legs an arms, an heads will sned,  Like taps o thrissle. Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care,  And dish them out their bill o fare,  Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware  That jaups in luggies:  But, if ye wish her gratefu prayer,  Gie her a Haggis!

I'm out and about

Are you a soggy cornflake?

Hello

I was sitting this morning in the hotel breakfast room having forsaken my usual start to the day of shredded cardboard with nibbly bits. As the hotel didn't stock my usual start to the day the management here preferring a DIY approach to muesli, a spoon of that n this and a sprinkle of seedy things. Too much work when you are still struggling to wake, if I wanted a challenge I would have tried sudoku not seedoku.

So what to have for breakfast mmmm with the decision going to Tonys (the Tiger not the Blair) favourite Frosties.

However before too long the emotional trauma that accompanies eating corn flakey things. The breakfast depression that is never discussed at the breakfast tables of the land that of the soggy cornflake.

It sits drowning in the milk along with the other dregs hoping to be on the next spoon to flakey heaven. It looks so sad floating there.

I must have been in managment theory mode, much less of a challenge than picking muesli combinations. I sat ruminating wether the soggy cornflakes could be an analogy for those workers who just don't make the grade. Those workers who languish whilst fellow members of "Team Flake" reach for the spoon and take their place to mouth city.

So the question is are you a soggy or an eaten cornflake? I may well develop and indeed share my theory.

My book will be called "The Crunch Factor"

I'm out and about

Lies, lies, double and triple crossers!

Hello

Phew!!! another episode of the BBC thrill fest that runs under the title of Spooks all lies, lies, double and triple crosses you would think its a party political conference there is so much intrigue. All of this of course occurs under the steely gaze of Sir Harry head of the spooky department.

However I have a difficulty with our Sir Harry of Spooks and I'm sure it will eventually pan out in an end of series finale (whenever that comes) that he is a mole for transport for london.

I have the proof and I shall share it with you now!

http://www.youtube.com/v/G4C6Pe86YE4?fs=1&hl=en_US

I thought Rasputin died?

Hello
Winter is approaching! This morning we had to brush a light frost off the chickens. The crisp covering over the vegetation that masquerades as our lawn bringing home that wellies are much more preferable to wear rather than sandals that offer an ideal opportunity for Jacks frosty fingers to do their damage.

In the warmer months you can throw on a t shirt, a pair of shorts and out you go but now something thicker on your top half is required.

Now when I say something thicker I did not mean a mane of hair or a beard that Rasputin would be proud of.

Firstly I can no longer aspire to a hirsute cover and the unkempt beard may be fine if you live in a cave but in my job proper presentation of self is a pre requisite.

However I am obviously at odds in my views to the designer of a piece in a newspaper supplement this week end.

Stereotypes must live large in the designers mind when they formatted this small article on chunky knit jumpers. I suppose they only lifted the image from some knitting pattern but it still makes you think where the designing mind is.

My reading of it is
chunky knits = wild beardy hairy man.

Where is he looking? Perhaps he has seen a deer running across his garden and he is thinking "dinner" or perhaps he has seen "wo-man" or perhaps he has seen the Tsarina!

Sent from my iPhone

When did simple crisp flavours disappear?

Evening
It's that time of the night when despite what you ate for dinner the munchies make an appearance. People have their own munching fodder of choice.

It could be chocolate or cake but in this house savoury snacks work best. Crisps or potato chips go down well here but are seldom bought for that very reason they are very moreish especially when had between buttered bread a "crisp peece".

However flavours have progressed beyond the simple salt, cheese n onion or salt n vinegar of my youth. A walk along the crisp aisle in the supermarket will find flavours of all types.

Simple is out, grand is in. Sea salt from the Dead Sea flavour, organic hand reared and fed beef and horseradish flavour, matured blue cheese and penicillin flavour to name but a few.

What flavours have you eaten?

Sent from my iPhone

Ah, the bird song!

   (620 KB)
Listen on posterous

Sent from my iPhone

A new day begins

 Hello, hello, hello

Here I am in Posterous land after packing all my bits n' pieces and after a bout of de cluttering I've come across here and a relaunch. Unlike the newish ITV breakfast show there is no multi-million pound presenting team just the old faithfuls of me and the supporting cast.

http://www.youtube.com/v/oEpVfOVr-7k&hl=en&fs=1

The closest thing to the ITV team is that I have spent too much time lately criss crossing the Irish Sea due to work commitments and this has enabled me to perfect my Irish accent but not quite as good as their Christine Bleakely.

My Brum accent is not too bad either I just think of Pig from the 1970's childrens tv show Pipkins and I can do a passable rendition, Adrian Chiles I think can live unthreatened, his cultural cv intact.

http://www.youtube.com/v/lckgVE5QSWc&hl=en&fs=1

So hopefully unlike the ITV breakfast show there will be enough to keep people coming back to this blog and on a regular basis too!

Cheerio

Moved House

Hello again
I've decided to move house and I am now living here

www.fegrig.com

After 16,381 hits on here I've decided to move on and hopefully I can post with more regularity again and it should be easier to do this.

I think the feng shui is better at the new place, perhaps there is too much clutter here too many bits on the side to update and too many steps if I wanted to post an audio entry or a photo stream or even just a twitter style post.

So after a few trials I'm off to new pastures but hopefully you will pop in and say hello.

See you there I will have the kettle on and the chocolate hob nobs chilled.



Fegrig