Scotland

Location:

United Kingdom (Great Britain)

Climate Description:

Mild, wet and cloudy predominantly.

Is it likely that residents in this country will speak English?

Yes, but accents can be sometimes difficult to understand!

What are the staple foods of the country?

Haggis, neeps and tatties (neeps = turnips, tatties = potatoes), otherwise much the same as Australia

What is a typical daily intake and timing for each meal in this country?

Breakfast is at the usual times, same with lunch. At home, many Scots will eat an early dinner (5.30ish), but restaurants are open at the usual times, 6pm onwards. Main meal is usually dinner, except on Sundays when it is often at lunch time.

If you stay in a Bed and Breakfast, you will generally have a limited choice of cereals for breakfast, as they pride themselves on their cooked breakfasts (with very little toast!).

What food items are readily available?

Breads and Cereals: Full range in supermarkets although more limited range of breads available at places where you might buy lunch (ie very rare to find foccacia, generally limited to white and brown bread or rolls).

Fruit: Full range but tropical fruits generally expensive and availability of some fruits is seasonal.

Vegetables: Usually a good range.

Dairy products: Full range - reduced fat equivalent is called semi-skimmed. Tend not to find skimmed milk available at coffee shops etc - often only full fat. Soy product range more limited.

Meat & Seafood: quite expensive, but generally a good range available. Seafood in Scotland is generally good, especially fresh salmon. Shellfish less available.

What food products are not readily available (E.g. meat, fresh fruit, vegetables etc)?

Vegetarian alternatives- they have quorn and legumes, but very little in the way of "nut meat" style products.
Foods which cater for those with allergies or intolerances (e.g. wheat free pasta, bread alternatives).
Milo, jaffas, Tim Tams, and a good alternative to Sustagen Sport (you'll occasionally see them in some supermarkets but they're expensive!).

What are typical methods of preparation of foods in this country?

They do like to fry a lot of foods - chip butties (chip rolls) are very popular for lunch or breakfast. At restaurants, you will often get a rich sauce with meals.
Indian foods are very popular here, but they're quite mild and the creamy sauces are favoured more.
Salads generally have mostly lettuce and not a lot else.
A lot of sandwich / baked potato fillings will automatically have mayonnaise in them (e.g. tuna mayonnaise is a favourite).

Is food reasonably priced in this country?

Compared to Australian prices, you'll find everything in the UK expensive! The cheapest way of purchasing food is through supermarkets - there are 5-6 big chain supermarkets, the cheapest being ASDA (yes, in Scotland it's a supermarket chain!!) and Tesco's. Meat and chicken are expensive, as are some fruits. Street markets are usually more for second hand goods than food, but sometimes you can pick up cheap bulk cereal bars.

Are there any food safety concerns?

No more so than in Australia.

Can you see any likely issues/concerns regarding nutrition for athletes traveling to this country?

Bring your own Sustagen Sport!
If you're not self-catering, you may get a little frustrated at times with the lack of suitable options, and the inflexibility of the system. Generally, you should be able to find something you'll like, especially in larger cities. Smaller places will be more limited in range, especially for vegetarians.
Don't expect to find plenty of good café's with their own flair - especially in places like shopping malls and tourist destinations.

Can you recommend any restaurants (please supply details) that prepare foods that are suitable for athletes?

Willawan Thai, Stirling
Corrieri's, Stirling
A chain of restaurants called The Filling Station which generally have a good enough range of foods to choose from (including pasta, pizzas, Thai dishes, Mexican, etc) and good serving sizes for athletes. Note that Mexican foods don't come as laden with cheese as they often do in Australia.
Pub meals often have a reasonable range as well, and at a good price.

What are the customs requirements for this country regarding food? That is, what food items can athletes safely and legally bring into the country?

Fresh fruit can sometimes be restricted but otherwise I've not seen any restrictions.

What sports supplements foods are available in this country?

Protein/Carbohydrate supplement powders(able to be mixed on water or milk): Build Up and Complan available in supermarkets and chemists (mix with milk).Health food stores will stock other products, or buy from specialist sports stores (see Sports Products).

Sports bars/Cereal bars: Cereal bars in a wide range available from supermarkets and most stores. Jaffa cakes are also great high carb, low fat snacks. Sports bars tend to be more limited to sports shops (Power Bar, High 5 bars) or health food stores.

Sports Drinks: Powerade, Lucozade Sport, Isostar all generally available at supermarkets, take-away stores, service stations. Also High 5 and a range of other products (see Sports Products).

Carbohydrate gels: Generally limited to specialist sports stores - High 5 gel, Power Gel, and others.

Other: Irn Bru is a particularly Scottish soft drink, which some people mistakenly believe is a sports drink. It's an orange-flavoured drink which contains caffeine.