Scotland: In my defens God me defends

After an exciting trip to India, our 2nd country chosen was the culinary explosive Scotland. Although Scotland has a rich and long history, Culinary is not at the top of its list of priorities. Let's take a look at what makes Scotland unique:

• Geography: It is the northern part of Great Britan and comprises over 790 islands with a Population of 5.2 Million people
• Capital: Edinburgh, however the largest city is Glasgow
• Currency: Sterling banknotes are still issued, along with the British Pound
• Religion: All but 2% of the population practices Christianity
• Language: Mostly English and they still speak Gaelic
• Sports: Their national Sport is Curling, they are the creators of the Highland Games, and of course, the birthplace of Golf
• Items of Interest include the fact that Robbie Burns is the most famous Scotsman, a poet born January 25th, 1759 and whose birthday is celabrated the world over, traditionally with Scotlands other famous export, Whiskey. Sir William Wallace, a knight from the 13th century is known as the Guardian of Scotland having defeated the English in 1297 protecting Scotlands independance. The famous inventor James Watt in 1775, improved the steam engine and invented the concept of Horsepower and the unit of power, the Watt, is named after him. Finally, given our love for Golf, we would be remissed to fail to point out that St-Andrews is the oldest and greatest golf course in the world dating back to 1786.

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Ye Old Orchard Pub, 324 Lakeshore rd, Pointe-Claire, Qc

This was the closest we could find to a Scottish restaurant as their is an obvious lack of specialized Scottish cuisine.

For our meal, Emma had the fish and chip (too greasy), Sarah had the pork and apple pie (not sure if it was a meal or a dessert), Mommy had the beef and mushroom pie (probably the best meal of teh 4, by process of elimination) and Daddy had the beef and stout stew (thank goodness for the stout). Sarah liked the presentation as the plate was lined with mashed potatoes, or butter, wow that was one heavy meal.
The rugged Scottish weather encourages such hearty meals. Thankfully, not a single restaurant in Montreal served Haggies, the girls were not dissapointed to have to eat this traditional Scottish dish of Sheep heart, liver, and longs.

To fully appreciate Scottish cuisine, a trip accross the Atlantic Ocean will be required. Until then, please let's finally chose another country.

INDIA "Truth Alone Triumps"

Our First country was selected randomly by Emma-Rose and it took us all the way to India. Before commenting on this country's eclectic cuisine, let's share some of the most interesting Indian facts that Sarah and Emma researched:

• Geography: 7th largest country by area and 2nd most populated with 1.2 Billion people
• Capital: New Delhi and the largest city is Mumbai
• Currency: The Indian Rupee which is equivalent to about 2 CDN Cents
• Religion: Hinduism is practiced by over 80% of the population
• Language: India has 15 languages but the common ones are Hindi and English
• Sports: The national sport is field hockey but the most popular is Cricket
• Past Time: Indians love their movies, with Bollywood in Mumbai making over 500 movies every year. In Indian movies, the characters never Kiss, instead, they break out in Dance.
• Items of Interest include the fact that Gandhi led a non-violent resistance in 1947 helping India become an independant nation. The Taj Mahal was built in the 17th Century by the emperor Shah Mahal for his wife who past away while giving birth to their child. It is in Agra and is considered the 8th wonder of the world. The Ganges river is the largest and considered the holliest of waters. The largest mountain range in the world are the Himalayas that border the north with Bhutan and Nepal. Finally, Indians do not eat any Cow Meat as it is considered sacred for its nutritous milk.

RESTAURANT REVIEW : Tandoori Bellevue, 67 St-Anne, St-Anne de Bellevue, QC

On January14th we visited this well established restaurant and followed our waiters suggestions. First we had the Chicken Tikka (Sarah: "Spicy"), the Kebob chiken and chick Pea (Dad: "Tasted like a sausage"), the Samosa (Sarah & Mom: "Our Favorite"), and the Pakora (Emma: "My Tongue is Mad!" as it was very spicy).

For the main course we ordered the Tandori dry Chicken (Sarah: "Too spicy and dry"), the Butter Chicken (The family's favorite and the most fun to order with the proper accent!), the Balti Lamb with green peppers (Mom: "looked better than it tasted"), and the Baigan Bharta, an Eggplant puree which only Dad enjoyed. The Naan is their bread which was delicious (Sarah: "Just like a Pizza") while Mom and Dad enjoyed the Taj Mahal Blonde Beer in a supersize, perfect to cut the spicyness: "More Beer Please!"

All in all, it certainly debuted our adventure with a serious KICK! We would never have exposed ourselves to such a cuisine if it were not for this family project proposed by Mom. Researching these facts together as a family was certainly a lot of fun as we look forward to our next "trip", stay tuned...