On the culinary map of the world, Scotland is a blank spot for many people. The first thing that comes to mind when mentioning the country is Scotch whiskey. It’s about time we corrected that injustice.
How the beast became a dish
Those in the know will recall Robert Burns’ poem “Ode to Haggis.” The poet’s birthday is a national holiday in the country, and one of the traditional Scottish dishes, haggis, is a required part of his menu. This national food is especially delightful on a frosty January evening with excellent local whiskey.
There are two versions of the origin of the name of the dish. The first, scientific, says that it comes from the word haggen – to chop. The second one is more romantic and sad, but in fact it is humorous and refers to wild animals (Haggis scoticus) which once lived in mountains of Scotland.
According to the legend, they were small creatures with the muzzle of a hedgehog and short wings, covered with birds feathers mixed with wool. Nature ensured that they could move nimbly on mountain slopes by giving them right and left legs of different lengths. Unfortunately, this peculiarity prevented the animals to breed, and they became extinct long ago, but stylized “stuffed” incredible creatures can still be seen in the decoration of some Scottish pubs.
There is another version made up specially for tourists. They say that the animals can still be seen on the Scottish hills. The spread of the tale led some interviewed American tourists to seriously believe and claim that the haggis is a real animal that exists!
The Scottish dish haggis is made from by-products, more specifically, from the giblets (lungs, liver, heart) of ram/calf boiled in a lamb’s stomach.
Despite the democratic nature of the ingredients, the dish is very nutritious and really tasty. Don’t be intimidated by the time required to cook haggis at home (as stated in our step-by-step recipe with photos) because most of the time (up to 10 hours) is spent on the preliminary soaking of the lamb’s stomach in salted water. You will cook haggis for three hours at most.
To make the dish more interesting and nourishing, in addition to chopped giblets with spices and onions (as in the classic recipe) we will add sweet peppers and boiled rice to the filling (in the traditional haggis the Scots put ¾ cup of lightly fried oats). This will give the haggis a more appetizing appearance. And for juiciness we’ll add some kidney fat to the mince. The result will be something like homemade cooked sausage, flavorful, hearty and very appetizing.
