Scottish Food

My cheese post got me thinking about Scottish food, so I thought I'd share some of the things I love about it! First, while I take issue with their view of our cheese, I've heard many Scots say that our chocolate is "crap", and after tasting theirs, I can see why. I am completely and totally addicted to their Cadbury chocolate. This is the same Cadbury of Cadbury Cream Eggs that we enjoy in the States around Easter time, but in Scotland, they sell a whole line of incredibly delicious chocolate. I don't know what it is about it, though I've heard it's something to do with a lack of preservatives, but it's absolutely incredible. "Dairy Milk" is the classic Cadbury chocolate and it's so delicious, you'll need to sit down and minimize distractions to enjoy it. It also comes with caramel and, my favorite...Dairy Milk Whole Nut. Wowsa. Unfortunately, they sell variety boxes with miniatures of these candy bars, "Heroes", and now, I simply can't live life without them.
Aside from the chocolate, Scottish folks really know how to do comfort food. As a vegetarian, I don't partake of the classic "meat and two veg" meal, but there are other things I thoroughly enjoy. I think Scots know how to do potatoes better than anyone else. My favorite are the roast potatoes, but any kind are fine. Fun fact here...baked potatoes are called "jacket potatoes" and stuffed with such unlikely toppings as coleslaw and baked beans. Huh. They also eat a lot of things in "pie" form, which is just meat, potatoes, etc. stuffed into pastry. I've found several vegetarian alternatives which I like, especially the macaroni pie that Isobel served me. Yummy! Many Scottish meals are accompanied by "brown sauce", which sounds gross, but is barbecuesque and delicious! (Tonight at McDonald's I heard a request for "red sauce", which was ketchup!). Perhaps my real Scottish food fave, however, is soup. I don't know if it's the soup quality, the cool weather, or the short days, but I could live on Scottish soup and "crusty bread". Even the canned (or "tinned") soup is good. At home I hated tomato soup, but here I could eat it every day.
Finally, I will say that unlike some of my more health conscious friends, I love, love, love the Scottish obsession with crisps and chips. Crisps (chips for us) come in a variety of odd flavors, such as steak and onion and prawn. They also come in flavors we consider to be edible, such as salt and vinegar. Chips (french fries) come with everything from fish to chinese takeout and are topped with everything from baked beans to curry sauce. So far, I've never met a British chip I didn't like.
And PS...I even like the mushy peas. :)