Ever feel that your food just … well, doesn’t really do it for you? Feel like you need to change a little something? Have we got the food for you! Eat here for awhile, and perhaps your food will seem heavily spiced by way of comparison! Welcome to the UK, folks, where “the taste & flavour of Scotland” can be happily advertised as being “Blas!”
We looked this up in the Dictionary of Scottish Language and couldn’t find anything, so it’s not as if it’s a Scots word. So … any ideas? We’re at a loss as to 1) why someone would name a restaurant something which may fall victim to such easy mockery, and 2) what in the world Scottish Tapas are, and 3) why they come in a bowl!
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Blas in Irish means taste or flavour. The “a” is pronounced with an “aw” sound as in “law”. So it would be ‘blaws’, not ‘blahs’.
Funnily enough, Donal … an American wouldn’t hear the difference between those two pronunciations. At least, I don’t.
Do you know whether it’s a Gaelic word, or a Celtic / Irish word? I’m curious, as Chris says that it means the same thing in Welsh … so I’m wondering where it’s from.
To my knowledge Welsh and Gaelic have very few overlapping words, though I am no expert on either. I think Welsh has more overlaps with Breton which in turn shares many roots with Gaelic. Perhaps the etymology is from a Breton word which spread into usage in Welsh and Gaelic.
Still wondering what those Scottish tapas might be…in bowls.
Hey, David! I finally finished that blanket I was working on: http://yummysmells.blogspot.com/2008/12/drumroll-please.html. Have a good winter!
ha! a bad case of the blas. funny.