Glasgow Airport staff are well known for going above and beyond for their customers, but this tale is banoffee good.
Mark Scott, one of our team of airport duty managers, got chatting with a couple of Canadian visitors Andrew and Alex Miller when on a night shift back in September 2017.
Brothers Andrew and Alex, from Alberta, Canada, were staying in the Holiday Inn at the airport on the eve of their flight home following a 10-day holiday when they popped into the terminal to try and source a banoffee pie, which they’d never tried before.
Mark said: “I was nearing the end of my shift when I saw Andrew and Alex at our Information Desk and went over to check if they needed any help.
“They explained they were in our then Tesco store looking for a banoffee pie as they’d never tried one before. They’d asked if they could get one in our departure lounge and I took their contact details and said I’d investigate it. To be honest, I would’ve thought banoffee pie would’ve been readily available in Canada.
“We didn’t have any across the airport, so on my way home from work I stopped into my local supermarket and picked one up. I was in at 6am the next morning before their flight was due to depart, so I dropped Andrew an email to let him know there was something waiting for him at the information desk and got on with work. I don’t even know if the guys ate in in the airport or took it home.”
Glasgow’s duty managers are busy and deal with anything and everything you’d think of in a busy airport, so Mark completely forgot about the random act of kindness until he received a random email last month – three years on from the encounter.
“I’d completely forgotten about it until – out of the blue – I received an email from Andrew with a picture of him and Alex scoffing a banoffee pie. I couldn’t believe it, particularly three years later! Good to see my efforts weren’t in vein as the guys really do like their banoffee pies.”
In the email, Andrew said: “Many moons have passed since we had the pleasure of making your acquaintance. We are delighted to inform you that the deeds you performed for us on our legendary quest for banoffee pie have been told and retold across Canada.
“Quest update - we got a banoffee pie on our home turf. It was thick. Please see attached photos. Though it was mighty, it failed to live up to the glorious standard set forth by your forefathers. Thus, our quest continues. It may yet bring us back to your homeland. With hope and watering mouths. Yours truly, Alexander and Andrew Miller.”
Banoffee, or banoffi, pie is said to have been invented in England The Hungry Monk restaurant owner and chef Nigel Mackenzie and Ian Dowding in 1971. It is made from bananas, cream and toffee with a buttery biscuit base.
From its crumble beginnings in East Sussex, the banoffee pie became the big banana of desserts and is still a popular dish served in homes and restaurants across the world. It has been claimed that banoffee pie have been served in both Number 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace. Given its huge popularity, Banoffi was listed in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1997. You can read about its origins here.