THE WAKKER WEEKLY – Issue #1773
Issue #1773 – Posted on: 17 – Jan – 2025
BUSHWAKKER SEASONAL SUDS STATUS. Bushwakker head brewer, Michael Gaetz, reports our seasonally available MORK’S MEAD, JUST CHERRY ALE, POWERHOUSE PORTER, TREPHINATION IMPERIAL IPA, CYCLONE BARLEYWINE and BREW & GOLD DORTMUNTER EXPORT LAGER are currently available. There are also batches of ENIGMA PALE ALE, PICKARD’S OATMEAL CREAM STOUT, KAI’S MUNICH HELLES and DOUBLE HONEY RED ALE currently working their way through the brewery.
This WEEKEND’S SPECIAL DINING FEATURE for Jan. 16th & 17th is a STUFFED PRIME RIB YORKIE DINNER. Our Saturday CLASSIC STEAK & A PINT SPECIAL as well as our Monday and Wednesday WINGS & A PINT SPECIAL and Tuesday PIZZA & A PINT SPECIAL are also great value deals.
JANUARY PREMIUM WINE FEATURES: This month’s wine features are the MIRAFLORES wines from Chile. The red is a CABERNET SAUVIGNON and the white is a SAUVIGNON BLANC. Both are post-holiday season priced at only $7.95 for a glass and $21.95 for a half litre.
As the January temperatures settle in we see increased demand for our house-made HOT APPLE CIDER as well as our GERMAN GLUHWEIN. We just made fresh batches of both so be sure to imbibe in some bone-defrosting goodness!
The Regina FROST CIRCUIT is coming your way at the end of this month! Enjoy free shuttle service between six fine craft breweries, receive a free commemorative beer koozie after visiting all breweries plus enter for a chance to win a $1000 brewery gift card package! Three days of cool Frost fun to heat up your Saskatchewan mid-winter weekend!
Many claim there is nothing like a wee dram of Scottish Single Malt Whisky to help accentuate the bold flavours associated with a finely prepared haggis. Others claim it serves as a necessary catalyst to help choke down the organ meat which we will soon be serving free of charge. Whatever your position, there will indeed be some Robert Burns Whisky Single Malt Scotch infused into our firkin of Laphroaig and toasted oak Powerhouse Porter. It will be piped-in and tapped at 5:30 on January 25th to kick off our annual Bushwakker & Robbie Burns Combined Birthday Bash. $5 cover charge in effect.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Jan. 20: Monday Night Jazz & Blues. THE JAZZ BAND-ITS. The largest band to grace the Bushwakker stage plays big band, jazz and swing. 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Jan. 22: Wednesday Folk Night. DAD ROCK INCORPORATED. Power trio covers classics never found on corporate radio along with a smattering of originals for good measure. 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM.
Jan. 25: BUSHWAKKER 34TH & ROBBIE BURNS 266th COMBINED BIRTHDAY BASH! Get ready for FREE HAGGIS, NEEPS and BIRTHDAY CAKE, the Address to The Haggis, Highland dancing, a performance from The Regina Police Services Pipes & Drums and live Celtic music with huge acoustic Celtic band, Billarney! The event kicks off at 5:30 with the piping-in and tapping of a firkin of ISLE OF ARRAN ROBERT BURNS SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKEY AND TOASTED OAK-INFUSED PICKARD’S OATMEAL CREAM STOUT at 5:30 PM. Plan to arrive early in order to get a seat. $5 cover charge in effect.
Haggis, National Dish of Scotland
Piping in the haggis! Although an integral part of every Burns Night supper on January 25th, why is it that haggis, Scotland’s national dish, is often the butt of the national joke? Perhaps it is because the truth is a little more frightening than fiction.
By Ben Johnson
Why is it that when Scotland’s national drink is enjoyed and revered the world over, its national dish is often the butt of the national joke?
Ask any Scotsman the age old question “What is a haggis?” and his typical response would be something like…“It’s a small four legged creature that lives in the Highlands and has two legs shorter than the others so it can run around the mountains without toppling over. It can easily be caught by running around the hill in the opposite direction.”
Well it appears that the national joke is now beginning to backfire a little, as according to a recent on-line survey, one-third of American tourists visiting Scotland thought that a haggis was a wild animal and almost a quarter arrived in Scotland thinking they could catch one!
So, if you wish to preserve your belief in little furry creatures, or if you have just purchased tickets for a “Wild Haggis Hunt”, please do not read any further!
Perhaps it is because the truth is a little more frightening than fiction, and too much for a Scotsman to admit that his national dish consists of a sheep’s stomach stuffed with diced innards. Haggis is typically served with root vegetables; otherwise known as haggis with mashed tatties (potatoes) and neeps (turnips).
To be a little more precise, a haggis is normally made up of the following ingredients: a sheep’s ‘pluck’ (its heart, liver and lungs), minced with onions, oatmeal, suet, salt and spices, all mixed with a stock and traditionally boiled in the animal’s stomach for around an hour. As unpleasant as this may sound, the end result is a culinary masterpiece which should of course be washed down with a ‘dram’ of the national drink.
The exact historical origins of this great national dish appear to have been lost in the mists of time. Some claim that the dish originates from the days of the old Scottish cattle drovers, when the men would leave the Highlands to drive their cattle to market in Edinburgh and the women would prepare a ‘ready meal’ for them to eat on the long journey through the glens. Others have speculated that the first haggis was carried to Scotland aboard a Viking longboat.
Yet another theory ties the dish to pre-historic origins, as a way of cooking and preserving offal that would otherwise quickly spoil following a hunt. This was done by dicing the ‘pluck’ and then stuffing this and whatever other ingredients were available into the stomach, immersing the bundle in the water contained within the skin of the beast and then boiling for an hour or two. Nice and tidy, no washing-up required!
Traditionally a Clan Chieftain or Laird may have had an animal or two killed for a particular feast, the offal being passed to the slaughterman as his payment. Haggis was always a popular dish for the poor, cheap cuts of nourishing meat that would otherwise have been thrown away.
Whatever its historic origins, the haggis is now as firmly established as a Scottish national icon as the much revered whisky, and much of this fame can be directly attributed to Scotland’s national poet.
Haggis forms an integral part of the Burns supper celebrations that take place around the world each year on 25 January, when Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns is commemorated. Burns immortalised the haggis in his poem Address to a Haggis, which starts “Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o’ the pudding race!”
TIME OUT – The Hospital Visit
The British Prime Minister is being shown around a hospital in Scotland. Towards the end of his visit, he is shown into a ward with a number of people with no obvious signs of injury.
He goes to greet the first patient and the chap replies:
“Fair fa’ your honest sonsie face
Great chieftain o’ the puddin’ race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place
Painch, tripe, or thairm
Weel are ye wordy o’ a grace
As lang’s my arm.”
The Prime Minister, being somewhat confused grins and moves on to the next patient and greets him. He replies:
“Some hae meat, and canna eat
And some wad eat that want it
But we hae meat and we can eat
And sae the Lord be thankit.
The third patient he visits starts rattling off as follows:
“Wee sleekit, cow’rin, tim’rous beastie
O, what a panic’s in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty
Wi bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an chase thee
Wi murdering pattle!”
The Prime Minister turns to the doctor accompanying him and asks what sort of ward this is. A mental ward?
“No,” replies the doctor, “It’s the Burns unit.”
It is generally accepted that only a properly developed adult palate can appreciate the many complex and subtle flavours found in a well-prepared haggis. It is nice to see the youth are being groomed to develop a high regard for delicately seasoned organ meat! Get your free plate of haggis, neeps and chocolate porter Birthday cake with buttercream icing at our Bushwakker & Robbie Burns Combined Birthday Bash on Saturday, January 25th!
