Haggis
Categories: Scottish cuisine | Sausages | Puddings | Peasant foods | Offal | British cultural icons | Scottish cultural icons
Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish. It is basically a weighty sausage. Although there are many recipes, some of which use deer offal, it is normally made with the following ingredients: sheep's heart, liver, and lungs (or "lights"), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for several hours. In this it somewhat resembles other stuffed intestines, otherwise known as sausages, of which it is among the largest types. There are also meat-free recipes specifically for vegetarians which taste very similar to the meat-based recipes.
Haggis is traditionally served with "neeps and tatties" which is mashed swede (rutabaga) and mashed potatoes - Scots generally refer to Swedish turnips as 'turnips' rather than 'swedes', hence "neeps". This said, the etymology is confusing: the large yellow-orange root vegetable Scots refer to as a turnip is called a swede in those parts of Britain where the small white-purple root vegetable is called a turnip.
In some ways, the northeastern U.S. dish scrapple resembles haggis, however haggis differs in the following ways: it uses sheep offal instead of pig offal and oatmeal instead of cornmeal (maize); it is a sausage rather than a meat loaf; and it is boiled instead of being baked. As a result, the appearance and the flavour vary significantly. Another similar dish is the Dutch balkenbrij.
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History and popularity
Haggis is traditionally served with the Burns supper on January 25th, when Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns, is commemorated. He wrote the poem Address to a Haggis, which starts "Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!" During Burns' lifetime haggis was a popular dish for the poor, since it made use of parts of a sheep that would otherwise have been wasted.
Haggis is widely available in supermarkets in Scotland all the year round, and the cheaper brands are normally packed in artificial casings, rather than stomachs, just as the cheaper brands of sausages are no longer stuffed into animal intestines. Sometimes it is sold in tins and you can simply microwave it or oven-bake it. Some supermarket haggis is largely made from pig's, rather than sheep's, offal. In addition, practically all Scottish fish and chips shops will sell their customers a haggis supper. This consists of a small single portion haggis dipped in batter and deep fried with chips; it provides a hot, filling, high-energy meal for a cold winter's day. There are also fast-food shops that sell haggis burgers, with a patty of fried haggis on a bun.
Odd Facts and pop culture
Since many countries' food safety laws outlaw some of the ingredients in haggis (for example, United States law forbids the sale of any animal's lungs for human consumption), expatriate Scots and Scots descendants overseas have been known to engage in haggis smuggling to obtain true Scottish haggis. At least one American company produces haggis for the U.S. market. The Caledonian Kitchen, a Dallas, Texas based gourmet business, began producing a both a Highland beef and vegetarian haggis commercially in 1999. Its haggis is in wide distribution throughout the US.Haggis is an amusing subject for many people. Those who ask a Scotsman for information about it will rarely get a straight answer. A common "answer" to the question "What is a haggis?" often goes along the following lines. "A haggis is a small four-legged Scottish Highland creature, which has the limbs on one side shorter than the other side. This means that it is well adapted to run around the hills at a steady altitude, without either ascending or descending. However a haggis can easily be caught by running around the hill in the opposite direction." (see Wild Haggis) Surprisingly the humorous myth is believed by many tourists, thus they are shocked - and possibly disappointed - to hear the truth. (See also sidehill gouger.)
Haggis is also used in a sport called haggis hurling, involving throwing a haggis as far as possible. The present World Record for Haggis Hurling has been held by Alan Pettigrew for over 18 years. He threw a 1lb 8 oz Haggis, an astonishing 180 feet, 10 inches on the island of Inchmurrin on Loch Lomond in August 1984.
'Haggis' is sometimes used as an unusual surname, such as for the animator/games programmer Mata Haggis, creator of the Matazone website known as The Other Side, or the screen writer Paul Haggis, known for his work on Million Dollar Baby, Due South, Thirtysomething, and other film and television series. In names it is alleged to come from Anglo-Saxon meaning 'a woodsman's hut', and a Lord Haggis rode on the third crusade with Richard the lionheart.
Haggis recipe
Major Ingredients
- 1 pound beef heart, cut into 2-inch-wide strips.
- 1 pound beef liver.
- 1/2 pound lamb stew meat, cut in 1-inch cubes.
- 1 1/2 cups peeled and finely chopped yellow onion.
- 4 tablespoons Scots whisky.
- 2 cups oatmeal, toasted on a cookie sheet in a 375F oven for 10 minutes).
Seasonings
- 2 teaspoons salt.
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme, whole.
- 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary.
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg.
Casing
- 3 beef CAPS (Talk to a sausage shop about these).
- 1 cup distilled white vinegar.
- 1/2 tablespoon salt for soaking.
Place the beef heart in a 4-quart covered pot and just cover with cold water. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Add the beef liver and lamb stew meat, and cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the contents of the pot and cool. Reserve 1 cup of the liquid. Grind everything coarsely.
In a large bowl mix all of the ingredients, except for the beef caps, vinegar, and salt for soaking. Mix well and set aside.
Rinse the beef caps in cold water. Turn them inside out and soak them in 2 quarts of cold water with the salt and vinegar for 1/2 hour. Drain them and rinse very well, inside and out.
Divide the meat mixture into three parts. Fill the beef caps with the meat mixture and tie the ends off with string. Two will have to be tied on just one end, but the third piece will be tied on both ends. Prick the Haggis all over with corn holders or a sharp fork. Place in a steamer and steam for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Serve the Haggis, sliced, with beef or lamb gravy.
See also
External links
- Robert Burns' "Address to a Haggis"
- Belief in the Wild Haggis
- Hunting for haggis
- Highland Beef Haggisde:Haggis
es:Haggis nl:Haggis nn:Haggis pl:Haggis sco:Haggis sl:Haggis sv:Haggis