The Haggis
David M. and Susie M. Arnold
Contents
What is a Haggis? [ Top ]
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The centerpiece of a Burns Supper is the Haggis, the Scots National
Dish. It is traditionally served accompanied by
Chappit Tatties (mashed potatoes) and
Bashed Neeps (mashed turnip or rutabaga).
The Haggis has been called a testament to the Scots' ability
to make almost anything out of practically nothing. The traditional
Haggis is a sort of paleolithic sausage suffed with a mixture of
minced sheep offal, suet, oats and water, heavy on the spices.
Sheep farming was important to the Scots (it still is). After the
slaughter, the finer cuts of meat went to market and the Scots made
Haggis with what was left over. The traditional Haggis recipe calls
for the sheep's pluck (heart, lungs and liver) to be boiled,
minced, and mixed with chopped onion, toasted oatmeal, and spices.
This mixture was steamed in the sheep's paunch (stomach) as a casing.
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Robert Burns immortalized the Haggis with his mock heroic
Address To A Haggis. To Burns, the
Haggis represented the character of the Scots overcoming
adversity. But, even without this poetic
tribute, Haggis would have been an important element of Scottish
culture. Today, the
Haggis is still very much a part of the Scottish tradition and diet.
During our stay in Scotland we had Haggis every
morning as part of the hotel's breakfast buffet. Haggis, fresh,
frozen, and canned is available in every grocery there.
We wished we could bring it all home with us.
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Where Do I Get One? [ Top ]
A true, traditional Haggis cannot legally be sold in the United States
because the Food and Drug Administration has declared that products
made with
lung
tissue are unfit for human consumption. This ruling
probably derives from earlier in this century when tuberculosis was
rampant on farms, and the fear was that TB would be contracted as a
result of consuming improperly prepared, infected lung tissue.
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We have recently seen imported
Haggis in a can at our
local British import shop [sadly, now out of business.]
The cans contain approx. 14oz of Haggis, enough for an intimate,
private Burns Supper. We were a little surprised to see this item,
and asked the shop's landlady
how it came in past Customs. "Well," she said, "as long as it doesn't
contain any beef..." Their shop does fulfill
mail orders.
For our January, 2000 home Burns Supper,
we decided to forgo making the haggis and opened a tin of
the imported stuff.
Inside the can was a softball sized haggis formed in a clear
plastic casing. We boiled the haggis and served it with
our Burns Supper. We found the haggis to be quite tasty,
with good consistency and a little mild on the spices.
We would recommend it to someone looking for an easy
way to serve this traditional Scots dish at a private or
family Burns Supper.
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Haggis made in the United States today is usually prepared from choicer
lamb or mutton cuts. If you are lucky enough to be near one of the
larger cities, you may be able to find a source for commercially prepared
Haggis. I have heard second-hand that a company in Chicago prepares
a limited amount of Haggis during the second half of the month of
January to satisfy the demand for use in Burns Suppers.
For most of the country, Haggis must be prepared at home.
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OK, Then, How Do I Make One? [ Top ]
Our Club
relies on a Club member to prepare the Haggis for our Burns suppers.
We have held Haggis making seminars (If you have the guts for it,
we have the stomach for it) in the past. Haggis is not difficult
to prepare, but obtaining the proper ingredients can be a problem.
A mixture of lamb or mutton with other variety meats will produce
a Haggis that is very close to the Real Thing.
By far, the biggest difficulty is in obtaining a sheep's stomach for
use as the casing. You will probably have to locate a sheep farmer
or a butcher specializing in lamb and mutton in order to obtain one.
An alternative that may be satisfactory for a less formal, or private
Burns Supper would be to make a Bowl Haggis: This is Haggis prepared
without the traditional casing and steamed in a bowl.
We make bowl Haggis for our private, home Burns Suppers. It tastes the
same. Other alternatives worth trying are to ask a butcher or sausage
maker for some of the largest sausage casing available -- the size used
for salami or bologna might be suitable. Some British import shops have
or can obtain pudding skins, which also might work.
But, for a formal, public Burns supper only the Genuine Article will
suffice, and the traditional stomach casing must be hunted down and
obtained.
Haggis has an undeserved reputation, probably because of all the scary
things people have heard about it. Properly made Haggis is delightful,
with a flavor reminiscent of liver and onions but with more
spices. A good Haggis has a loose but dry consistency. The proper
way to enjoy Haggis is to put a heap on your plate, then douse it with
a dram of your favorite Whisky. Ours is Laphroaig.
The Haggis in History
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