Friday, November 21, 2008

Glasgow - international Capital of Cross-Cooking

Ask anybody what they think of Scottish food and most people will not feel very hungry, or think of dishes such as haggis (which is hugely under-appreciated by the way), deep fried pizza or even the lunatic dessert deep-fried Mars bar, which you can get in some of the chip shops here. During my short visit, however, I have realised that Glasgow should, in fact, be recognised as the Capital of Cross-Cooking. Not only is this the only place in the world where you can order Haggis Pakora in Indian restaurants; When ordering an archetypically British Fish & Chips yesterday, I was asked if I wanted curry sauce with it. My Glaswegian friend Jim confirmed that this is completely normal. He also pointed out that "Scottish cooking doesn't recieve as much recognition as it deserves". I am prepared to agree, although I was not brave enough to try the fish & chips with curry sauce just yet. But I will..

Another interesting thing about Glasgow is its subway, with possibly the smallest train cars in the world. Being of average Scandinavian height, I can barely stand upright in it. The general design is simplistic and good with a circle line where trains go in both directions around. But, they don't just call the only line the "the Line" or the "Circle line". No, instead one of the directions is called the "Inner Circle" and the other the "Outer Circle". Does this make sense? Of course, one direction will always be on the inside of the other, but to me it seemed like a bad joke. At first. Just like haggis pakora. But perhaps it is, just like that dish, or like kilts, or curry sauce with fish & chips, actually quite sensible, and not so stupid after all.

Goodnight from Scotland!

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