The French have half a dozen names for a 50cl beer and yet none of them work

Baxters do a pretty fair Cullen skink, but it would certainly pay to make your own in France. Amazon.fr have the Baxters version for 7.59 euros a tin. It's often under £2 in the UK. Perhaps a business opportunity for some keen cook. On the outskirts of Aberdeen, we have Peterculter, pronounced Petercooter. A couple of miles away is Cults. Tourists who have been caught out with Peterculter proudly show their new local knowledge by talking about Coots. Sadly for them, it's pronounced Cults. We also have Strachan (Strawn) and Stonehaven is Steenhive.

"And of course there are the famous Arbroath Smokies ..."

A homemade Cullen Skink takes some beating too ! My late wifes auntie still makes her CS and it has everything in it, including the kitchen sink !

Gt Yarmouth used to be the largest herring port in Europe George and it's 'speciality' is bloaters and you can still get kippers sent from Yarmouth as well as nearby Lowestoft. Not many distilleries down there tho' but plenty of local breweries !

Aye, Sansy wiz a wee fushin toon, mostly siller darlins wi a few kabbilows an haddies, lapsters an buckies. Women wid pit theys sillers in salt and then smoke theys wie oak frae the oud barrels, the quines wide pit the crates on the lorries. Sansy is jis' a few hooses the noo, but aye they hae a kipper festival but nae sae grand as yon big ane at Portsoy.

And of course there are the famous Arbroath Smokies ...

Plenty of different pronunciations in Scotland!

Gourdon, next to Johnshaven, is Gurdun; Drumlithie = drumskite; Ravenstruther= renstrie (similar to the Anstruther pronunciation)

Portsoy has one of the best known kipper producers/smokers - sending fish literally around the world even although it is a small "artisan" outfit. It featured on BBC this week with Nick Nairn

There's a fish festival every year in Johnshaven, south of Aberdeen. I went there a couple of years ago at about noon and they'd run out of fish. Probably all sent to London. I don't know of any "kipper" festivals up here but there surely must be.

The places with the kipper festival? My family originate from Dallas, just below Elgin that is, not Texarse... There were lots of Milnes and Rosses in those days. Now just a dozen and a half houses, school and kirk but a couple of distilleries and small breweries within easy reach.

This could be the first time Sandend has been mentioned outside of north-east Scotland. I believe the locals favour a rather eccentric pronunciation that must have visitors scratching their heads. Incidentally, a pal said there was a beer festival in Inverurie (again in the north-east) this weekend. Looks like real ale has a strong foothold up here. Across the channel, I find grande pression always works. Never had any call for a smaller measure but I'm following this thread closely in case I downsize to enjoy the benefits of "pacing, temperature, and economy" when I finally move over to the Charente.

It is a general French trait. Ask for une grande crème and the waiter will repeat, un café au lait, but if you ask for un café au lait he will say une grande crème; un pichet de vin… oui, une carafe de vin, ask for une carafe and … voici le pichet. And then there is that indeterminate time zone when Bon après-midi can be Bonne soirée, unless you say Bonne soirée when it will be Bon après-midi… except when it is bonne fin de jour.

I have learned not to fight it.

My wife's family are Reids and are all fisherfolk almost without exception. Old habits die hard and it (fishing) still pays the bills despite the EU regs !

My daughter now lives in Sandend, next to Portsoy - her fiance is a cop at Fraserburgh, having been transferred by Police Scotland from Maryhill, that famous "there's been a murder" Glasgow station. My father was from Banff

I've been moving south for years, Stonehaven, Lanark, Gretna, then Charente Maritime. Better climate, way of life etc - we have long standing French friends near Libourne; I'd a French aunt & my mother's ancestors were Huguenots (moving up the east coast and becoming Ritchie)

Blimey George sounds great, why on earth did you come to France ?

My late wife was from the Buckie/Fraserburgh area and the Baxters site is well worth a visit too ! It's just a pity about that flippin'' climate !!!

You should also try Stonehaven's Beer Festival (NE Scotland) and the Marine at the harbour (it has its own micro brewery plus one of the UK's largest selections of real ale and whisky

Biggar's nice - and also used to have the best fish & chip shop in the UK; Scotland's top curry shop and one of the best ice cream shops in the UK

Our local started serving Grimbergen a while back and supplied the glasses. The demi is a standard 25cl and costs 3€ but the galopin is actually 15 cl (rather than 12.5 )and costs 1.6€ so is better value if you do the maths but the bar owner hasn't twigged yet.

The local "yoof" actually order a 3L dispenser (Giraffe ?) in order to save some money but the beer must warm up a bit in that.

I think my favourite is the 'galopin' or wine glass full of beer. Seems a total waste of time to me but it remains popular with the older generation and certain ladies. I suppose an aperitif is an aperitif ?

Agree about the small glasses in NL, (where I brought up my three eldest children) It was a real nuisance if a group of co-workers of friends would go for a drink after work, as someone was constantly at the bar. However, as the then drinking age for beer was 12 (in the 1980s)12, many Lyceum "children" would stop on the way home from school for a single beer (10cl) (Amsterdam/Hilversum areas). - As my children soon fell within this group, (and joined their pals), I was initially horrified, but I soon realised with a solid grounding in Dutch economics in play, it would only be ONE glass, the novelty wore off and they were soon back to water and cola. However, it did teach them to respect alcohol if only in relation to its cost. They are now in their 40s and despite travelling around the world themselves with work, I have never known them to abuse alcohol.

Ku'damm measure ;-)

Mian problem in my local bar is the pronunciation of "pinte". Some say "pint" [paint] façon anglais, others say "peent". But you end up with a large galss, either way. But it's no cheaper than 2 x 25cl, so unless I'm reallt thirsty, I do the latter so that the second 25cl remains nice and cold until I want it!