][1]It always amazes me that there is often such a huge difference between the food which people who live in Scotland would regard as Scottish and the Scottish food produced by people who don’t live here.
Ilan Hall, a Scottish-German-Jewish chef, is a great example. I’ve been following his story since he won an American reality TV show called Top Chef in 2007.
On the back of his win, he moved from his native New York State home to Los Angeles where he opened his own restaurant called The Gorbals.
Named after the Glasgow district where his German father settled, the food is, according to Hall, a combination of his Dad’s Scottish heritage and his Israeli mother’s roots.
It has led to some unusual dishes, not least the matzo balls wrapped in bacon which upset many Jewish commentators.
Hall, presumably with his tongue firmly in his cheek, calls his inventions ‘sacrilicious’.
Some of the dishes on his menu, like the fish and chips or the chicken Balmoral, would seem perfectly at home on a menu in Scotland.
Others, like the octopus with gizzards and lemon, might get a more frosty reception whether they were served in the Gorbals or in Portree.
If you were living in a foreign country, what dish would you cook to remind you of home?
On an almost related note, click through here for The Onion’s taste test on Buckfast, a drink synonymous with Scotland even if it is made elsewhere.