Food we should not think about too much before we eat!!

I was reading an article about jello that got me thinking. Yes, I remember hearing somewhere what jello was made of, but there must be a small part of our brain that bins some things we hear so we can eat certain things without feeling ill over the source! I started thinking about the wonderful black pudding here in Scotland. I could have started with haggis, but black pudding came to mind first. It tastes absolutely delicious. I have eaten it since I was a wee girl growing up, and it's one of the first things I crave for when I return here to my homeland. It is made from pig's blood. Sounds gross, the thought of vats of blood being made into a sausage like food. My mother gave me a little more information about this yesterday. The fact that if you are lucky enough to get the finest gourmet black pudding, it has little white pieces in it. So I am thinking she is going to tell me the white pieces are barley or some such foodstuff. No, how foolish I am! The white stuff is actually sweet bread, which is a strange name because it is neither sweet nor bread. It is more innards of the animal.

I was once here with my soon to be husband, and he was excited to see all the sights of Scotland, taste the foods. We were on a day trip with my parents, and we stopped at a little village cafe for a snack. They had the wonderous black pudding, this time in a sandwich or as it is sometimes called here, a piece or a buttie. So a black pudding buttie was ordered for my American fiance. At this point he had no idea what it was made of. He took a bite, and found out it was very tasty. That was until my mother, with her pearls of wisdom, decided to tell him just what he was eating and that it was nice but a bit dry. This statement has scarred him for life, unless he was able to bin it, as he told me later that all he could think of was a side of blood to dip it in!!It is still delicious, and I will bin this information in that small part of my brain just as soon as I have finished writing this article!

I will touch briefly on the wonders of the haggis. It has been known that people in other countries are lead to believe the haggis is a little furry creature who runs around the Highlands. In fact, I believe somewhere in storage I have a little furry haggis bought as a souvenir. Haggis has evolved very nicely indeed. When I was a youngster, and eating good old school meals, haggis was part of our weekly diet. It was dreaded. Very bland, but we were told good for us. I have since eaten in nicer restaurants and it is prepared in a wonderful way, sometimes with a whisky sauce. It is delicious, but quite honestly, in this preparation you don't even taste the haggis, or care, as the whisky sauce is so wonderful!

Perhaps we could have fun listing different foods that we should not think about too much before we eat. I look forward to seeing if you can beat the black pudding!