The Haven, Visit No. 2

No, it hasn't happened yet. But I've already decided what I'm going to order. It's Cullen Skink, a potato-thickened chowdery soup. In this incarnation, it will feature sunchokes and finnan haddie. What is finnan haddie, you ask?

Finnan Haddie is "smooked fesh," or cold-smoked Haddock fillets from the town of Findown. It's lightly salted, and soaking can remove even more salt. To watch a Scottish shaafe demonstrate a chitterin ressepeh fur Finnan Haddie, cleck heeyer.

And then I'll have a Belhaven stout, which is my new lover. And then I'll have an Alba Scots Pine ale for dessert. That's right. You heard me.

Slàinte mhath, to your health!

Dinner and drinks at the only Scottish bar in JP - possibly in Boston - The Haven. They've reconfigured a bit since the first time I was there. I <3 The Haven, and their giant thistle logo, and those stag-antler light fixtures, and the brogue-y kilted bartender! Maybe he's even the owner?

Beers:

- Belhaven draft - Okay, very plain jane.

- Belhaven stout - Chocolatey and smooth, thick creamy head, super sexy. I drank two!

- Alba Scots Pine ale - almost like a fruity wheat beer, but neither cloying in a pine way, nor in a fruity sweet way. Very refreshing, easy to drink, unique. Love!

- Fraoch Gruit beer - Refreshing and fascinating, floral-honey taste. I'm basically Scottish now.

I want to live in this bar. It's making me love Scotland, which is one place in Europe I've never been! Obviously I must go on a beer and scotch tour, with plenty of hiking and running and birding in between hangover breakfasts.

Speaking of Scottish meals! We ordered some tasty appetizers.

- Cheese on Toast = Stilton and melted leeks on country bread with Gala apples. A pleasure.

- Scotch Broth = a shallow bowl of barley and tender lamb chunks with parsley and a rich broth. In the middle of the bowl stood a white shank bone into which a bendable plastic drinking straw had been stuck. Yes, hot marrow for sipping in between soup bites. Strangely pleasurable. (I would also like to add that most lamb is pasture-raised by default, with small amounts of grain here and there in emergencies.)

So that hot liquid marrow I sipped had some omega-3's for me after all. Yes!

By dessert, I was quite tipsy and joking with the enormous kilted Scotsman next to me at the bar. The bartender so thoughtfully kept carafes of cold water and tumblers at arm's reach at all times. We served ourselves. It was delightful. We ordered a butterscotch trifle and it was fluffy, cold, and butterscotchy, with some crunchy sweet topping - maybe oats? And I was so, so giddy with drink and Scottish everything and OMG, CAKE?!

Fucking awesome bar. Crisp-chewy oatcakes and pickled fennel and carrots with your beers. I want to drink there all the time and listen to the bartender talk to other Scottish people and then have him give me more oatcakes along with some joke in heavily-accented English that I can barely understand. SO FRIENDLY. SUCH good beers, and pleasing food. Here's the current menu: "chitterins" are Scottish comfort foods, and of course they have their separate menu.

Next on my list to try? Cabbage salad, Cullen skink. Pheasant and squash curry? Cherry and sage "sassitch and mash"? Maybe, on that last one - so salty, I'm sure, but tasty. I'd get the lamb broth again, great comfort food in a just-right portion for drinking.

And obviously I need more Scots Pine ale and Belhaven Stout. YES.

Cupcakes are Dead, Long Live the Pie!

"And vegetables are the new meat." An NPR article by Bonny Wolf.

This is great because I've seen and tasted way too many disgusting takes on Red Velvet cupcakes. Everybody, time to get over it. Pie sounds great. Savory, sweet, experimental. Let's do it.

For instance, a new take on "blackbird" pie could be blackberries and bird - or cayenne - pepper, eh? Plus lots of chocolate, who am I even kidding. And probably whipped cream, too. With bourbon in it.