He doesn't like to blow his own trumpet (he's more of a sax hoodlum) but yesterday was Trampy's birthday ...

Modest man that he is, Trampy celebrated not with a curry but with a small gathering of close friends, including Makhni Knife, Rumpole of the Balti and (the only provisionally named, and as yet to appear at an actual Curry Club night) Beef Curtis, with a slap-up dinner cooked magnificently by Aldo Gobi.

I'm sure all curry compadres will join me in wishing him a very Happy Birthday and many a top-notch curry throughout the next year. Since there wasn't a hint of curry the whole day I thought I'd post a picture of a birthday cake in the shape of a curry and a bottle of beer. Take note though – no matter what he'd have you believe Trampy is certainly not 19 so ignore the age in the corner of the cake (and his real name isn't Ben either ...)

Everyone in the Glasgow of Curry brotherhood loves curry – but wouldn't it be intriguing to discover more about the men behind the menu choices? In this occasional Q&A series, we'll be journeying into the curry-obsessed mindpans of prominent members, continuing with one of our revered co-founders, a man who will always be a legend in his own mind – and an uncannily gifted wordsmith for whom happiness is a warm pun (usually warmed-over, at that).

Name: Trampy

How did you decide upon your nickname? It's a long, picaresque story involving white chocolate cheesecake and Walt Disney. The whole sorry tale is recounted here.

Favourite Glasgow curry house: This is where people usually say the Shish Mahal but I'm going to go out on a limb and nominate The Wee Curry Shop, Cowcaddens branch. I've had countless cheap lunches in that tiny room in Buccleuch Street, and many fine evening meals too. It's a place filled with memories, mostly moaning about work.

Second favourite Glasgow curry house: Oh, go on then: the Shish Mahal. My maths teacher in secondary school – a Glasgow boy through and through – cried real tears when the original Gibson Street premises fell down due to subsidence.

Favourite Glasgow curry takeaway: When I lived on Gibson Street I used to enjoy the rather vague-sounding but delicious-tasting "chicken curry" from the Koh-I-Noor takeaway over the road. But the last great takeaway experience I had was actually TATTGOC's indoor adventure with the Banana Leaf.

All-time favourite curry dish: Chilli and garlic chicken at the Wee Curry Shop – mind the Doublemint.

All-time curry idol: Arthur Curry – also known as Aquaman. He wrote an awesome review of Mortal Kombat Vs DC Universe that I sometimes wish I'd written myself.

Rice or naan? I am particularly partial to a hot, parachute-sized naan – no raisins or sultanas in my peshwari, though. Hate the wee bastarts.

Favourite curry lager: Cobra, although I'd switch to Kingfisher or Lal Toofan in a heartbeat if they sent TATTGOC a case of lager, every month, for life.

What's the most exotic place you've had a curry? I went on a press trip to India once, seven or eight years ago, and while the experience was mindblowing, the food often wasn't that authentic: as a guest of the tourist board, I was often put up in faded five-star resorts that offered mostly westernised fare. But I did get to go on an overnight boat trip in Kerala where the captain and crew caught my dinner in front of me, then cooked up an incredible meal with uncommonly fat rice. Sitting on that boat, eating that fish curry, floating upriver into what was essentially a tropical jungle, I remember thinking "I never want to forget this moment". I tried to write something to that effect in the comments book, and discovered that Jeremy Irons and his family had been on the very same boat the week before. So I just wrote "Goan yersel Jezza!" even though it had nothing to do with Goa.

Can you actually make a decent curry yourself at home? Absolutely not. The Tramp will tell you about the one time all the magical curry-cooking stars aligned and I came up with a bizarre surf'n'turf style curry for a dinner party that was genuinely, headspinningly awesome. I haven't dared try and repeat it since.

If so, can we all come round for our tea? Only if you bring your own tea, and some for me too. And some Cobra. And a bottle of Bailie Nicol Jarvie. Call it an icebreaker ...

If you could enjoy a curry dinner-for-two with anyone, either alive or dead, who would it be? I kinda wish I'd tried to go for a curry with my bezzie showbiz mate Dominik Diamond before he emigrated to Nova Scotia without telling me. And I can't decide whether going for a curry with Marvel Comics godhead Stan Lee would be awesome or just tiresome. ("Exclesior! You know I've got a cameo in Iron Man 2?"; "Yeah, you already told me that, Stan.") So I'll say Joseph Conrad because ... well, I'm incredibly pretentious.

What is your favourite curry pun? I will happily take full credit for coining "bawsaag". In many ways, it's the perfect pun.

What creature or object would you say best symbolises your personality? For the picture, like? I'll go for the classic Spectrum 48k ... as I rarely go for 48 hours without being called "Speccy".

A revealing insight into the psyche of Trampy, there. Who will be next to bare their curry soul in Pilau Talk? And wasn't Ravi Peshwari supposed to send back his answers, like, two months ago? Stay tuned ...

It was the week the world went tikka masala krazy. The credulous, basilisk gaze of the international media zeroed in on Glasgow – Park Road, to be precise – to breathlessly report the gallus declarative actions of the Shish Mahal.

It started earlier this month, when the inimitable Mr Ali – who, as we sweatily reported in May, won the Lifetime Achievment Award at the Irn-Bru Scottish Curry Awards 2009 – voiced aloud his belief that the mighty Shish had originally created chicken tikka masala, regularly described as "Britain's favourite dish" (although this probably refers to the supermarket ready meal version, a scalding broth balanced precariously on one's lap in front of The One Show).

The Shish cause was taken up by local MP Mohammad Sarwar, who tabled an early day motion in the House of Commons calling for other politicians to back his ambitious campaign: for Glasgow to be given EU Protected Designation of Origin status for chicken tikka masala. Different media reported the story in different ways: here's the BBC's online coverage; compare it with this slightly more skeptical report in the Calcutta Telegraph.

The TATTGOC brotherhood has always had a curious relationship with the Shish – read any of our Pilau Talk interviews and it's often invoked by members as their very favourite curry restaurant in Glasgow. Our semi-regular Currypedia series is essentially cribbed wholesale from the Shish Mahal Cookbook, and The Tramp, in particular, is evangelical in his enthusiasm for the Shish's hasina lamb chops and lamb korma (our co-founder first visited the restaurant when he was just two years old – presumably beardless, if you can imagine that).

But since TATTGOC's stated mission is to seek out the hidden gems of the Glasgow curry scene rather than relying on its "eternals", we've never had an official meeting at Mr Ali's Park Road institution (although there was that memorable outing to a nominal rival Shish in Maryhill). If the restaurant is successful in its attempt to be officially declared the home of chicken tikka masala, that might be cause enough to re-examine the TATTGOC constitution and see if we could table our own history-making amendment.

One last, slightly surprising observation: there's no recipe for chicken tikka masala in the official Shish Mahal Cookbook (although there are instructions on how to make both chicken tikka and fish masala).

And finally, a joke: a man walks into the Shish Mahal and orders a chicken tarka. The confused waiter asks: what's that? And the patron replies, it's like a chicken tikka ... but otter.

UPDATED: For an excellent primer about Mr Ali and the legendary Shish, check out this piece by award-winning Scotland On Sunday scribbler Peter Ross. It even namechecks this very blog.

Do any of you bams have notable Shish stories? Let us know in the comments below

Because even curry-lovers need a holiday sometimes ...

Never ones to overlook a cross-media promotional opportunity, Trampy and The Tramp recently attempted to raise national awareness of the world's finest curry blog by writing a letter to their favourite videogames radio show One Life Left. It's broadcast down in London town on Resonance FM, but thanks to the wonder of the internet, podcasts and the like, anyone can listen to it.

If you've never tuned in to One Life Left before, it's a zany mix of videogame news, bangin' bit-tunes and ill-prepared but affable chat. It took Trampy a while to come round, but The Tramp's insistence of how awesome the show is eventually persuaded him to become a fan.

You can download full OLL episodes from the website and it really is worth a listen – as the hosts are always pointing out, you don't even have to be into videogames to enjoy it. The guys who make it are also pals with Rockstar Dave, a legendary friend of TATTGOC, which gave us a handy pretext for writing in. Anyhow, here's a short clip with the TATTGOC shoutout. Just try not to be too dazzled by Trampy's burgeoning video skillz – check out the Ken Burns reverse zoom!