... for Haggis. That's right, everybody loves diced intestines boiled in a goat stomach with barley and spices, prefaced with a steamed mussel appetizer and a washed down with a glass of cool merlot. The night before leaving Scotland I realized that I had completely overlooked this fine regional delicacy and, despite a lurking fear that it would be absolutely disgusting, I sought to conquer my culinary fears in the belly of the beast. So to speak. So I commanded an incomprehensible Scottish taxi driver to lead me to authentic Scottish fare, and I was dropped off at... some place with a fancy name I cannot recall. Anyway, I must admit, the haggis was really fantastic. A bit spicy, with an earthy texture (from the barley, presumably). The meat had a gamy taste and a composition like ground beef. Though boiled in the stomach, it was removed from the lining and served over whipped potatoes, covered with a rich gravy. All in all, it was excellent, and I look forward to having it again.

Incidentally, on Highway 9 between San Jose and Santa Cruz there is a nice Scottish pub set back in the Santa Cruz Mountains that I hear serves a mean haggis. When I was last there, warming my feet by the well-fed fire, I was told by the cook that he had some friends in once that had the misfortune of asking him what vegetarian food was on the menu. The cook, fresh off the boat from Scotland, replied in jest "Aye, haggis, that's good vegetarian fare." Not knowing that it is perhaps the least vegetarian fare on the planet, they took his advice at face value and ordered it. The cook fixed it up and served it, thinking it was a joke, but saw his friends wolf it down with gusto. When asked what vegetables were in it, the cook was a bit ashamed of his deception and refused to say.
Hopefully they learned somewhere down the road, but I wouldn't want to be the one to tell them.