Tags: Moldova, theatre, Scottish, pie, food
Date: 01 May 2006 20:31:13
Regular readers (I was going to put "my army of adoring fans", but modesty forbids) will know that I try to do a monthly bit of culture. April missed out, for various (mainly work-related) reasons, but I've started May off with a cracker (more of which in a minute). You may also remember a more sporadic occasional feature on Scottish cuisine, which hasn't featured for a while. Today, in pursuit of culture, I also managed another Scottish culinary experience, so here you are: two features for the price of one.
Firstly, food. Here's Scottish cuisine #3 (or is it #4, I forget): A Pie.
Now I realise that "A Pie" doesn't immediately sound Scottish. I think this might be a bit hard to explain, but I'll try. In England, when we talk about pies, we tend to do so in terms of its contents. Meat, veg, apple, whatever. The only exception probably being "pie and chips". If I were to go for a meal which consisted of a pie, I would talk about "going for a meal", not "having a pie". I might go on to elaborate that during the meal I ate a delicious vegetable pie, but it would definitely be in more detail including some mention of the ingredients therein. In Scotland, I've noticed the humble pie talked about differently, and I must say I do think it's quite amusing. It's not talked about in terms of what it's made of, but if people say they had "a pie" people nod and have that look on their face like they know *exactly* what you mean, even though no other descriptors have been used, the kind of knowing look that I'd have if you said to me that you'd had a vegetable biriyani (for example). It's really hard to explain, I don't know if it's making sense, maybe the Scottish readers (or English readers who know what I mean) can back me up here and explain better. I remember the two guys I have Russian classes with once discussing pies - to this day I've no idea what type of pie, but it ended up being quite involved and ending with agreement that Pies are a Good Thing.
In terms of culture (you'll see the pie connection in a minute), today I went to the theatre (dahling). I know I'm meant to be finishing my assignment for tomorrow, but in my defence it was only a very short play, and it was about Moldova, so I can claim some relevance to my PhD. It was at a lovely theatre in Glasgow's West End (near the university) called Oran Mor which is based in a former church building and now features two theatre spaces, a couple of restaurants and bars and such like, and is a really imaginative use of the space. This is the second year when they have done a spring series of 15 short plays, one a week, under the general title of A Play, A Pie and A Pint. For a tenner, you get, well, a play, a pie and a pint. In fact, if I'm being pedantic, I'm not entirely convinced that my pie was A Pie if you see what I mean - as I went for the vegetarian option, it turned out to not be entirely encased in pastry like the meat pie was - but I suppose A Play, A Quiche and A Pint doesn't have quite the same ring to it (although now I come to think of it, including quiche in the series title could produce a nice link to the building's past life as a church). And besides, it's not like it'll be the first time I've reviewed pseudo/pretend-Scottish food - vegetarian haggis anyone? :D
I really enjoyed the play. It was called "Moldova", by Sean Hardie (who used to produce/edit/write for such programmes as Not the Nine O'Clock News, Spitting Image, etc etc) and was both funny and poignant, particularly as of course I have my own connections with the country. Definitely worth a visit if you're in Glasgow before Saturday (the plays are all only on for 6 days each). I'm not normally that fussed about theatre (I just can't suspend belief that these aren't just people on a stage pretending to be someone else, even though I can totally lose myself in the world being portrayed if I'm watching a film or reading a good book), but there was enough that I recognised that I could appreciate it. I'll definitely try to check out some more of their stuff some time.
Oh, and the pie wasn't at all bad. Though it could have done with being a bit bigger.