If I recall, mead is made from honey.......yes, there is Scottish-Scandinavian history of the use of mead, since we share some of the same cutural roots, if not genetic...... I tried mead once and it hurt my teeth.....so sweet! Right now I stick to beer, which has gotten better over the years.....There is probably a book here somwwhere on the history of booze over the centuries and its cultural impact.......

Well, scotch and sake, too... So what about mead? Is there a big Scottish tradition on that? Just made some and thought about how mead compares to sake. Almost exactly the opposite.

...bon appetit....!

It really sounds weird, but Privates McPhee and McPhun seemed to love it. In Alabama we have a substance called Souse Meat, made from boiling down everything left over after a pig has been made into pork chops, sausage, chitterlings, pickled pig's feet, ears and snouts. That leaves tendon, cartilage and bits of fat. They boil it all down, form it, then slice it. My father really likes it. I can't stand it. Still, someday, I must try haggis to feel that I have fully lived as a human.

David: From my point of view there has been some revisionist thinking the past few years re haggis and its place in Scottish historical cuisine. When I was growing up in Scotland, haggis was a thing to be avoided. Now it is portrayed as a tasty Scottish delicacy.....Well, perhaps so, but I continue to avoid haggis....

James, it comes across as respectfully humorous. I enjoyed it. And I remembered that someone in Japan went into some detail on the common traits of old England and Japan, islands, sword tradition, knighthood as a class and so on. It's a valid topic and interesting. But where can I actually get some haggis? Read this not long ago and got a kick from it. Made me want to try some sae bad. http://www.worldburnsclub.com/newsletter/0107/haggis_mcphee.htm

I hope the tongue-in-cheek tone of this poem comes across. No direct comparisons were intended. I was sitting in a coffee shop one day and this came up...... Guess I was looking for something lighter in tone that day.....

Scotch is good. Sake is good. Mead is wonderful. Green tea mead is fantastic! I know the Japanese relate very strongly to the UK's traditions as islanders using the sword, though I didn't think about the hakama and the kilt.

Get your haggis here! Sheep stomach full of organ meat! Not as good as it sounds!!! Groundskeeper Willie