The Taste of Independence: Scotland and the Politics of the Plate

Y ese trauma colectivo tiene consecuencias alimentarias muy concretas.

And that collective trauma has very concrete dietary consequences.

Cuando desconectas a un pueblo de su tierra y de sus tradiciones culinarias durante generaciones, lo que queda es a veces una relación muy complicada con la comida.

When you disconnect a people from their land and culinary traditions for generations, what remains is sometimes a very complicated relationship with food.

La industrialización y la pobreza urbana del siglo veinte en Glasgow y Dundee hicieron el resto.

The industrialization and urban poverty of the twentieth century in Glasgow and Dundee did the rest.

Which brings us to haggis.

Because haggis is, in a way, the clearest symbol of that whole story.

It's a dish born out of necessity, out of using every single part of the animal, and it became the national dish.

Burns Night, January 25th, the whole ceremony.

Para los oyentes que no lo conocen: el haggis es básicamente las vísceras de oveja, corazón, hígado y pulmones, mezcladas con avena tostada, cebolla y especias, y cocidas dentro del estómago del animal.

For listeners who don't know it: haggis is basically sheep offal, heart, liver, and lungs, mixed with toasted oatmeal, onion, and spices, and cooked inside the animal's stomach.

Es una descripción que suena terrible en abstracto, pero que sabe, según me han dicho personas en las que confío, bastante bien.

It's a description that sounds terrible in the abstract, but which tastes, according to people I trust, quite good.

I've had it.

Twice.

Once in Edinburgh at a very traditional pub and once, inexplicably, at a food stall in Kabul that was run by a Scottish NGO worker.

Both times, honestly, better than expected.

Haggis en Kabul.

Haggis in Kabul.

Eso es lo más escocés que he oído en mucho tiempo.

That's the most Scottish thing I've heard in a long time.

Pero lo que me interesa del haggis no es solo su sabor sino lo que representa culturalmente.

But what interests me about haggis is not just its flavor but what it represents culturally.

Robert Burns escribió en 1787 un poema entero dedicado a él, "Address to a Haggis", en el que básicamente insultaba la comida francesa y celebraba la honestidad del plato escocés.

Robert Burns wrote a whole poem dedicated to it in 1787, 'Address to a Haggis,' in which he basically insulted French food and celebrated the honesty of the Scottish dish.

Era un acto político disfrazado de poema gastronómico.

It was a political act disguised as a gastronomic poem.

Burns was doing something very deliberate there.

Scotland in 1787 was forty years into the Act of Union, there was real tension about what Scottish identity even meant anymore, and he plants a flag in a sheep's stomach.

Exacto.

Exactly.

Y eso es algo que se repite en muchas culturas: cuando una nación siente que su identidad está amenazada, la comida se convierte en un símbolo de resistencia.

And that's something that repeats across many cultures: when a nation feels its identity is under threat, food becomes a symbol of resistance.

Es más fácil defender un plato que defender un parlamento.

It's easier to defend a dish than to defend a parliament.

O al menos es más delicioso.

Or at least it's more delicious.

That pattern, food as national resistance, I've seen it everywhere I've reported.

Beirut in the nineties, the way food markets stayed open during shelling because closing them felt like surrender.

Buenos Aires after the 2001 crash, the asado as a kind of ritual insistence that normal life would continue.

There's something very human about it.

Completamente de acuerdo.

Completely agree.

Y volviendo a Escocia: el whisky es quizá el ejemplo más claro de ese fenómeno.

And returning to Scotland: whisky is perhaps the clearest example of that phenomenon.

El whisky de malta escocés no es solo una bebida.

Scottish single malt is not just a drink.

Es una industria que genera más de cinco mil millones de libras anuales en exportaciones, y es también una declaración de identidad geográfica muy precisa.

It's an industry that generates more than five billion pounds annually in exports, and it's also a very precise declaration of geographical identity.

No puedes hacer Scotch fuera de Escocia.

You can't make Scotch outside Scotland.

La ley lo define así.

The law defines it that way.

And the terroir argument for whisky is as serious as any you'd hear about wine in Burgundy.

The water source, the peat in the soil, the maritime air on Islay versus the Highland interior.

Distillers talk about it with the same vocabulary as French winemakers.

Sí, y eso es fascinante porque el whisky escocés pasó durante el siglo diecinueve por un período de industrialización masiva, con las blended whiskies de Johnnie Walker y Dewar's, que básicamente conquistaron el mercado mundial.

Yes, and that's fascinating because Scottish whisky went through a period of massive industrialization in the nineteenth century, with the blended whiskies of Johnnie Walker and Dewar's, which basically conquered the world market.

Pero en las últimas décadas ha habido un movimiento fuerte de vuelta al single malt artesanal, a la destilería pequeña, a la identidad local.

But in recent decades there's been a strong movement back to artisan single malt, the small distillery, local identity.

Es exactamente el mismo movimiento que ves en el vino, en el queso, en el pan.

It's exactly the same movement you see in wine, cheese, and bread.

That globalization and then re-localization arc, it's everywhere in food right now.

And Scotland is interesting because it's happening alongside a very specific political project.

The SNP has been in government in Holyrood for nearly twenty years, and they've used food policy as part of how they build the case for what Scotland is and could be.

Es verdad.

It's true.

Hay algunas políticas concretas que son muy reveladoras.

There are some concrete policies that are very revealing.

Escocia fue el primer país del mundo en introducir una ley de precio mínimo por unidad de alcohol, en 2018, con el objetivo de reducir el consumo dañino de bebidas baratas.

Scotland was the first country in the world to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol, in 2018, with the aim of reducing harmful consumption of cheap drinks.

Es una intervención de salud pública que el gobierno de Westminster en Londres nunca habría hecho.

It's a public health intervention that the Westminster government in London would never have made.

Y funcionó, según los datos: el consumo de alcohol bajó.

And it worked, according to the data: alcohol consumption fell.

Which is counterintuitive given that Scotland's most famous export is alcohol.

There's a kind of political courage in that, taxing your own national symbol in the name of public health.

Pero quizá el tema más importante en cuanto a comida y política escocesa es el de la pesca.

But perhaps the most important issue when it comes to Scottish food and politics is fishing.

Después del Brexit, los derechos de pesca en las aguas escocesas se convirtieron en un punto de conflicto enorme entre el Reino Unido y la Unión Europea.

After Brexit, fishing rights in Scottish waters became a huge point of conflict between the UK and the European Union.

Y los pescadores escoceses, que mayoritariamente habían votado a favor del Brexit esperando recuperar sus aguas, descubrieron que el acuerdo final los dejaba en una posición muy complicada.

And Scottish fishermen, who had mostly voted for Brexit expecting to reclaim their waters, discovered that the final deal left them in a very complicated position.

That's one of the genuinely painful ironies of Brexit.

Scottish fishing communities had voted Leave partly on the promise of regaining control of their waters.

And then the deal that Boris Johnson signed still gave EU boats access, and suddenly the paperwork required to export fresh Scottish fish to France, their biggest market, became so complex that some of it was rotting before it cleared customs.

Y eso es algo que el SNP ha señalado constantemente: que la independencia de Escocia permitiría al país volver a la Unión Europea como miembro propio, y recuperar así el acceso fluido a los mercados continentales para el salmón, el bacalao, el langostino escocés.

And that's something the SNP has pointed to constantly: that Scottish independence would allow the country to rejoin the European Union as its own member, and thus recover smooth access to continental markets for Scottish salmon, cod, and prawns.

Es un argumento económico basado en la comida.

It's an economic argument based on food.

The salmon question is worth sitting with for a moment.

Scottish farmed salmon is the UK's biggest food export by value.

Bigger than whisky, bigger than beef.

And the farming of salmon in the sea lochs of the west coast is itself a deeply complicated story, environmentally.

Sí, hay una tensión real.

Yes, there's a real tension.

Las piscifactorías de salmón escocesas han sido criticadas por contaminar las aguas locales, por el uso de antibióticos, y por el impacto sobre el salmón salvaje, que es precisamente el producto más valorado.

Scottish salmon farms have been criticized for polluting local waters, for antibiotic use, and for the impact on wild salmon, which is precisely the most valued product.

Es una paradoja dentro de la paradoja: el intento de industrializar lo que era artesanal acaba dañando al artesano original.

It's a paradox within the paradox: the attempt to industrialize what was artisanal ends up harming the original artisan.

Let me ask you something about Wales while we're here, because Plaid Cymru had a big night too, and Welsh food doesn't get nearly as much international attention as Scottish food.

What's the Welsh culinary story?

Gales tiene algunas cosas realmente notables.

Wales has some really remarkable things.

El cordero galés tiene denominación de origen protegida en la Unión Europea, igual que el jamón ibérico o el queso parmesano.

Welsh lamb has protected designation of origin in the European Union, just like Iberian ham or Parmesan cheese.

Es una certificación que reconoce que ese sabor específico viene de esa tierra específica.

It's a certification that recognizes that specific flavor comes from that specific land.

También tiene el cawl, que es un guiso de cordero y puerros que es básicamente el alma en un cuenco.

It also has cawl, which is a lamb and leek stew that is basically the soul in a bowl.

Y tiene el laverbread, que es un pan de alga marina, una cosa que suena muy moderna y resulta que los galeses llevan siglos comiéndolo.

And it has laverbread, which is a seaweed bread, something that sounds very modern and it turns out the Welsh have been eating for centuries.

Laverbread.

I ate that in Cardiff once and had no idea what I was putting in my mouth.

Which, now that I think about it, describes most of my culinary experiences in the British Isles.

Fletcher, si en el Reino Unido te sirven algo de color verde oscuro y consistencia extraña, el consejo general es comerlo sin preguntar.

Fletcher, if in the UK they serve you something dark green with a strange consistency, the general advice is to eat it without asking.

Probablemente es bueno.

It's probably good.

Lo que me interesa de Gales es que el puerro, su símbolo nacional, aparece en la bandera, en los uniformes militares, en las canciones.

What interests me about Wales is that the leek, its national symbol, appears on the flag, on military uniforms, in songs.

Es un vegetal, y es un símbolo de identidad nacional.

It's a vegetable, and it's a symbol of national identity.

Eso me parece muy admirable.

I find that very admirable.

Spain has a bull.

Wales has a leek.

I think Wales might be winning on honesty.

El toro al menos es impresionante.

The bull is at least impressive.

Aunque es verdad que nadie se lo come.

Though it's true that nobody eats it.

Pero lo que me parece más relevante para el contexto político de esta semana es lo siguiente: tanto Escocia como Gales han elegido partidos que defienden una identidad diferenciada del resto del Reino Unido, y ambas identidades se expresan en parte a través de la comida.

But what seems most relevant to this week's political context is this: both Scotland and Wales have elected parties that defend an identity distinct from the rest of the UK, and both identities are expressed in part through food.

No es una coincidencia.

That's not a coincidence.

That point lands for me.

Because what you're describing is food as the most democratic form of national expression.

You don't need to understand constitutional law to eat cawl.

You don't need to read political theory to feel what haggis on Burns Night means to the person next to you at the table.

Exactamente.

Exactly.

Y hay algo más que quiero añadir: los movimientos independentistas del siglo veintiuno son diferentes a los del siglo veinte en un aspecto clave.

And there's something more I want to add: independence movements of the twenty-first century are different from those of the twentieth in one key respect.

Ya no se basan solo en la etnia o en la religión.

They're no longer based solely on ethnicity or religion.

Se basan en la cultura, y la gastronomía es parte de esa cultura.

They're based on culture, and gastronomy is part of that culture.

El SNP habla de salmón y whisky como argumentos económicos para la independencia.

The SNP talks about salmon and whisky as economic arguments for independence.

Plaid Cymru habla de cordero galés y de proteger los mercados europeos.

Plaid Cymru talks about Welsh lamb and protecting European markets.

La mesa política y la mesa del comedor están más conectadas que nunca.

The political table and the dining table are more connected than ever.

And the irony is that the very things that make Scotland's food argument for independence most compelling, the salmon, the whisky, the Aberdeen Angus, those are also the things most intertwined with the global market that independence would require navigating very carefully.

Completamente.

Completely.

Es que la identidad culinaria de un país siempre es una mezcla de lo propio y lo ajeno, aunque no lo reconozcamos.

A country's culinary identity is always a mixture of what's native and what's foreign, even if we don't acknowledge it.

El haggis usa especias que llegaron del comercio con Asia.

Haggis uses spices that arrived through trade with Asia.

El whisky escocés se exporta principalmente a la India y a los Estados Unidos.

Scottish whisky is exported mainly to India and the United States.

El salmón escocés se come en Tokio.

Scottish salmon is eaten in Tokyo.

La pureza culinaria es un mito;

Culinary purity is a myth;

lo que importa es quién controla la historia que se cuenta sobre el plato.

what matters is who controls the story told about the dish.

That's the sentence I want to end on, actually.

Culinary purity is a myth;

what matters is who controls the story told about the dish.

That applies to every nationalist food argument I've ever heard, including the ones I find most convincing.

Y también a la paella.

And also to paella.

Pero eso lo dejamos para otro día.

But we'll leave that for another day.

Oye, hay una cosa que dijiste antes que quiero retomar, porque creo que es útil para los oyentes que están aprendiendo español.

Hey, there's something you said earlier that I want to come back to, because I think it's useful for listeners who are learning Spanish.

Go ahead.

I'm bracing myself.

Usaste antes la expresión "eso me llega" para decir que algo te convencía, que te impactaba.

You used earlier the expression 'that lands for me,' and in Spanish I said 'eso me llega,' which literally means 'that arrives to me.' In Spanish, that verb llegar, to arrive, works in a very particular way when we talk about emotions.

En español, ese verbo llegar, que literalmente significa to arrive, funciona de una manera muy particular cuando hablamos de emociones.

We say 'me llega' to mean that something touches us deeply, that it affects us.

Decimos "me llega" para decir que algo nos toca profundamente, que nos afecta.

It's a use that sometimes confuses learners because they expect the subject to be a person, not a thing.

Es un uso que a veces confunde a los estudiantes porque esperan que el sujeto sea una persona, no una cosa.

So the subject is the thing doing the arriving, not the person receiving it.

Like, "the music arrives to me" rather than "I receive the music." That's the same structure as gustar, right?

Me gusta, where the thing you like is actually the grammatical subject.

Exacto.

Exactly.

Es la misma lógica.

It's the same logic.

"Me llega esa historia" significa que esa historia te toca, te emociona.

'Me llega esa historia' means that story touches you, moves you.

"Me gusta esa historia" significa que te agrada.

'Me gusta esa historia' means you enjoy it.

Son matices diferentes pero la gramática funciona igual.

They're different nuances but the grammar works the same way.

El español tiene muchos verbos así: importar, molestar, encantar, sorprender.

Spanish has many verbs like this: importar, molestar, encantar, sorprender.

Todos funcionan con esa inversión de sujeto.

They all work with that subject inversion.

English does have echoes of this.

"It strikes me," "it moves me," "it gets to me." The thing is acting on the person, not the other way around.

But in English we can also say "I find it moving," and suddenly the subject is back to being the human.

Spanish is more committed to the inversion.

Bien observado.

Well observed.

Y es que esa estructura, la cosa como sujeto activo que actúa sobre una persona pasiva, dice algo sobre cómo el español concibe la experiencia emocional.

And that structure, the thing as active subject acting on a passive person, says something about how Spanish conceives of emotional experience.

Como si las emociones nos llegaran desde fuera, en vez de ser algo que generamos nosotros.

As if emotions arrive to us from outside, rather than being something we generate ourselves.

Me parece una diferencia filosófica interesante, aunque probablemente estoy pensando demasiado en esto.

I find that an interesting philosophical difference, though I'm probably overthinking this.

No, I think you're onto something.

In any case, "me llega" is going into my vocabulary immediately.

I can already think of twelve situations where I've been reaching for exactly that phrase and settling for something less precise.

Whether I'll use it correctly is, of course, a separate question.

La historia de tu vida, Fletcher.

The story of your life, Fletcher.

Pero al menos esta vez no vas a decirle a nadie que estás embarazado.

But at least this time you're not going to tell anyone you're pregnant.