Orkney Food

I'm in the Bangladeshi restaurant Dil Se having a nice chicken achari. I tried to get Orkney mutton, but it was only available on advance order. Seems fitting to have a curry even in this storm-swept outpost of the British Empire. I started my dinner with a cold steak & gravy pie (from Hawthorn Bakery, Shotts, Scotland) on the cliffs above Scapa bay, whither I had taken a lovely sunny walk after the day's sessions. But there was still room for a curry.

My surname means "round twig". One of the conventioneers was of the opinion that this name fits me. I guess all the cycling and walking and marital bliss tends to cancel out the stuff I eat. Boom shaka laka.

My B&B, Eastbank House, serves remarkable breakfasts. This morning I had smoked haddock with poached eggs, grated cheese and toast. The remaining dish on the breakfast menu, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, is too familiar (if not at that time of day), so tomorrow I'll ask for the full English again.

Oh, the paper sessions? Better overall than yesterday, more meaty and empirical. Orkney, Shetland, Faeroes, Iceland -- and cool new sites from the Finnish archipelago. Birka veteran Mary MacLeod practiced her Swedish on me! She's currently doing contract archaeology in the Hebrides.

Tomorrow night I must have haggis.

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Haggis is fine, I just don't want to think about what's in it while I'm eating it.

The only problem that I had when I tried haggis was that I found it rather dull. Anyone who has eaten the full range of French, Chinese, and Japanese food should have no difficulty with haggis.