Going for the Messages

I overheard a young Scottish woman saying that she was “going for the messages” and had to go look up what in the world she was talking about. It sounded very James Bond-ish and I was imagining her picking up an encoded message while winking and saying the code word to her informant.

It was a little bit of a disappointment to learn that “going for the messages” or “getting the messages” are Scottish expressions for going grocery shopping. Doesn’t it sound so deceivingly exotic and covert?

Grocery shopping is actually one of my more favored chores. When growing up, I would often accompany my dad to the store on his weekly shop. I would be in charge of the list and he had (and still has) a mastery of just where everything we needed would be located. On my recent visit home, we had the chance to reprise our grocery outings and it was as fun as ever.

Checking out grocery stores is always a must-do when I’m traveling, particularly when abroad. You really get an insight into what’s important in peoples’ daily home lives and how they live.

Here are a few random observations from my recent shop:

Oats grow very well in this climate (more so than wheat or rye) and so one of the Scots’ foundational breakfast foods is porridge. Oats are also used in a kind of griddle pancake (not sweet) called bannocks and in oat cakes – a kind of savory oat cracker.

This whole section above is devoted to peas which seem to be a key vegetable. (Sorry, Mom.) If you’re able to zoom into the picture a bit, you’ll see a lot of the canned peas are labeled “mushy peas”. Mushy peas are made from a certain type of pea called the marrowfat pea which are bigger, starchier and apparently give the consistency you want. They are just what they sound like – sort of a pea porridge with a little salt and fat and are a quintessential side to the omnipresent fish and chips.

Another key food seems to be baked beans in tomato sauce. Look how much space is devoted the the blue Heinz ones below.

From my understanding, they’re commonly eaten on toast, on a baked potato (here called a “jacket potato”), as a side to sausages and mashed potatoes and as part of a traditional Scottish breakfast.

Seeing the word “Baps” on a menu had me scratching my head. What the heck is a Bap? It’s a soft roll, kind of like a kaiser roll without the design on top and Bap refers to both the roll and also the finished sandwich, popular for breakfast, but eaten anytime. There are sausage baps or “bacon batties”, sometimes with inclusions of eggs, tattie scones or cheese.

Hope you enjoyed this foray into Scottish food ways. I, for one, plan to say “I’m going for messages” next time I’m going out for to the store (even if only to myself). It will bring a a little intrigue to a mundane task. Maybe you’ll consider doing the same?

A couple of postscripts:

• A few people have asked how to know when I’ve written a new blog. If you scroll down to the bottom left of your screen, there is a place where you can type in your email address. You’ll then get an email asking you to confirm and once you’ve done that, you’ll receive an email each time I make a post.

• It’s hard to believe that soon I will have been here a year. Often I’m writing these posts not really sure whether they are at all interesting to those reading. I’m happy for any feedback on what you’d like to hear about – whether new topics or deeper in depth on things I’ve covered – or “just stick to the photos” or whatever. Feel free to put in a comment below or you can email me privately at aweeislelife@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest and support!