Proud Scotsman Ian Hind spoke with The Royal Gazette in the lead in to the Island’s first ever Highland Games next Friday. The event, held by the Caledonian Society of Bermuda, will bring the unique tastes of the Northern UK region to locals. The Scottish cuisine may be different from what a lot of people have tasted before, but Mr Hind encourages people to dig in.If the thought of eating sheep’s stomach stuffed with a mix of liver, lungs and heart isn’t appealing to you well then join the club.But Scotland born Ian Hind assures us haggis-virgins we may be missing out on some of the most delectable dishes the Northern part of the United Kingdom has to offer.The traditional Scottish dish haggis, is mixed with oatmeal, onion, suet and seasonings and then paired with root vegetables swedes and turnips, also refered to as ‘neeps’ and ‘tatties’.He said the dish had a meaty taste and texture, similar to a sausage, but when combined with spices like coriander and salt and pepper was uniquely “fantastic”. It is almost always prepared by the butcher and can be bought from speciality stores like Miles Market in Hamilton, ready to be heated and served.It is just one of the traditional dishes Mr Hind occasionally prepares for his wife Jennifer, in their Hamilton Parish home.He talked with The Royal Gazette about some of his all-time favourite Scottish meals in anticipation of the first ever Bermuda Highland Games next Friday.Haggis may not be available at the Caledonian Society of Bermuda event however local caterers Flying Chef will be there selling Scottish meat pastries known as Forfar Bridies, a poached salmon dish called tweed kettle, and desserts like cranachan and Dundee cake with ingredients provided by the SuperMart in Hamilton.Cranachan is made with toasted oats, raspberries, malt whisky, Scottish honey and lots of double cream. “The amount of whisky is minimal so if you don’t drink whisky it’s not a problem,” Mr Hind said.He described Dundee cake as a heavy, dark sponge cake containing fruit and nuts sort of like a wedding cake, but not quite as rich.“Some of these [dishes] I am sure people have never heard of, nevermind ever tasted them. These will be to a lot of people new, but we are hoping they will thoroughly enjoy the experience.”The Highland Games takes place from 3.30pm until 9.30pm at Sandys 360. On offer is family-fun entertainment including tug of war, food stalls and a 5K walk/run.In honour of Scottish heritage, there will also be an activity called tossing the caber, marching pipers and band performances and a highland dance competition.Mr Hind said: “I think what will strike anyone coming who hasn’t been to a Highland Games before is it will be visually stunning.“Because of the colours of different activities happening all at one time on the field, the kilts and the flags, both Bermuda’s and Scotland’s, the dancers and the people participating in tug of war and so on, it’s going to be stunning and very different from what a lot of people have seen in Bermuda before.”Born in a council housing estate in the East End of Glasgow, Mr Hind was the oldest of seven children. He has cooked at home for the past 20 years, but remembers helping his mum in the kitchen as a boy in Scotland.“We all had chores and that would be one I remember from my early days, making cheese sauce. As the eldest I could get in the kitchen and others could be setting the table and things like that.”He left Scotland in his early 20s and got his first job in England, before moving to the Island in the early 1990s. These days Mr Hind enjoys cooking and hosting dinner parties with his wife.He said he didn’t eat traditional Scottish meals all the time many are loaded with cholesterol but had meals like porridge oats with salt regularly in the winter months.From time to time he also enjoys a full English breakfast with Scottish Lorne sausages, Ayrshire bacon, potato scones, fried eggs and mushrooms and tomatoes. He also loves Scotch pies, filled with minced mutton or beef and spices, with a side helping of Heinz baked beans.“The pies are absolute cholesterol city, but taste wonderful and there is nothing like going to a game, football or rugby, and having a Scotch pie.”Another treat said to have originated in Scotland is the fried Mars chocolate bar. Mr Hind has never tried it, but said: “The myth as I heard it, [it was created] in Dundee in a fish and chip shop when a boy asked if he could take a Mars bar and asked for it to be dipped in the batter and deep fried.“We have this thing where people for a laugh go and ask for it. That’s modern though. It didn’t exist when I was young, it’s maybe 20 or 30 years old.”If he is to have anything fried, he prefers for it to be his haggis along with chips, known in this part of the world as fries. “It’s fantastic. That’s the type of thing you have when you’ve been out for a couple of beers and after you have the munchies.”Mr Hind said he would be quite happy to eat more haggis, but admitted that it may not be to everyone’s taste.When this reporter frowned at the thought of eating anything containing liver, lungs, heart and stomach, he said, “The best thing I can recommend is trying it.“You can buy a simple haggis in town, just warm it up in hot water for half an hour and cut it open and there you go.“I mean if people saw the things that go into many of the other things they commonly eat, the chicken products like chicken nuggets, and sausages and pies, if they ever heard how those were prepared, haggis wouldn’t seem so bad.”Useful website: www.caledoniansocietyofbermuda.com.