Robbie Burns Day

I struggled with what to write in my blog today, mostly because the Scottish are not particularly renowned for gourmet cuisine. I remember for a school project we all had to bring in food from our heritage, and I was so jealous of my Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, and French classmates. While they prepared curries, noodles soups, sushi, latkes and crepes, I went to my grandmother's house and agonized over what recipe from a Scottish cookbook would be most appealing to my 12 year old classmates. And I remember every recipe started with melting a pound of butter, and ended with a garnish of pickles. I made Scotch eggs, which in retrospect would probably be more popular since the advent of thisiswhyyourefat.com.

Despite their failure to impress gourmets, the Scottish mastered the art and science of whiskey. Since it's winter, I am sharing a hot toddy recipe to keep you warm!

Ingredients:
- scotch (or another type of whiskey)
- hot water
- lemon juice
- honey
- gingerale (optional)

1. Pour desired amount of scotch into a glass.
2. Add hot water and gingerale (if desired) to 3/4 fill the glass.
3. Squeeze in about a tablespoon of lemon juice.
4. Stir in a spoonful of honey.

Enjoy! And if you are bold enough to enjoy a haggis today (and hopefully give it a proper address, as Robbie Burns would have intended), Beppi Crosarial (the Globe and Mail's wine writer) wrote an interesting article on suggested wine and haggis pairings:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/wine-with-haggis-its-far-better-than-offal/article1436901/