Burns Night

‘Some hae meat, and canna eat
And some wad eat that want it.
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit!’

For those of you unfamiliar with this tradition, every year on the 25th of January, Scotland celebrates the birthday of our Bard – Rabbie Burns. This year was my 5th such night, and as always, it was filled with haggis, poetry and good friends! Food was aplenty, and we even stayed quite true to the traditional running order of the proceedings, although we didn’t have a bagpiper, high table or official ‘entertainment’. We did it a week early so that all could attend – if you are planning a Burns Night for the 25th, then feel free to garner some inspiration. And if you’re not planning one, maybe you should start!

Starter: Cullen skink, a beautiful Scottish fish and potato soup that is as creamy as they come

Main course: Haggis, neeps and tatties smothered in whisky cream sauce (that’s turnips and potatoes, for those of you unfamiliar with the Scots language). The neeps are a secret recipe that was not divulged…

Dessert: Cranacake – the traditional Scottish dessert is cranachan, but my friend decided this wasn’t good enough and so invented the beauty we now know as cranacake.