Ode to a Haggis

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,

Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!

Aboon them a' ye tak your place,

Painch, tripe, or thairm:

Weel are ye wordy o’ a grace

As lang's my arm.

This is not a recent dish but it is a frequent one at our house.  Like I said earlier, we are adventurous eaters and eat things outside the usual American diet.

We first tasted Haggis during our first trip to Scotland.  A kilt shop and tartan museum just outside Edinburgh castle had a snack bar that offered Haggis samples for 50p.  Being as we are always willing to try new things we quickly took advantage.  It was very tasty and we were hooked. 

In case you don't know, Haggis is a way to utilize offal to make a tasty filling meal and to use as much of the animal as possible.  Traditionally, the pluck (heart and lungs) of the sheep and the liver were boiled then minced and mixed with other ingredients then stuffed in the sheep's stomach.  The stomach was sewn shut then boiled to cook the rest of the ingredients.  Haggis is the national dish of Scotland and is the center piece of every Burns Night supper.  You can see a Burns Night Address to the Haggis here, https://youtu.be/qfYFAA4drG4.  This is a very well done version.

Stuffed and sewn up ready to boil

Unfortunately, you can't get proper Haggis in the US thanks to the USDA.  The USDA lists the lungs as not suitable for consumption.  There is an ongoing effort by many groups as well as the British government to get the ban on the importation of Scottish Haggis lifted.  Until that time, the only choice is to eat incomplete Haggis or make it yourself.

This Haggis is the result of a sheep slaughter last year.  In standard Uncle T fashion as much of the offal was utilized as possible.  In this case, we kept the pluck, liver, kidneys, testicles, and the stomach.  The kidneys went into a nice steak and kidney pie.  We called this Rainbow Haggis since the ram we slaughtered was named Rainbow. 

This is why you don't want to over fill

Our typical use for Haggis is for breakfast on a Saturday morning with a nice bowl of porridge.  Definitely a breakfast to keep you going all day.

So, in case you are feeling adventurous and want to make your own, here is how I do it.

Haggis

1 cup heart, cooked and minced
1 cup lung, cooked and minced
1 cup liver, cooked and minced
1 cup steel cut oats
1/2 - 1 cup suet, minced
1 medium onion minced
salt, black pepper to taste
1 stomach, cleaned
cooking liquid from boiling the heart, lung, and liver
Optional
cayenne pepper to taste
1 dram Single Malt Scotch Whisky

After the heart, lung, liver, and suet are minced put them in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Add some salt and black pepper and mix.  Taste the mix and adjust the salt and black pepper as desired.  This is where I add a bit of cayenne pepper.  Add enough of the cooking liquid to moisten the mix without making it soupy.  Start stuffing the mix into the stomach being sure not to over fill.  The stomach will shrink while it cooks.  Sew up the stomach with butcher's twine.  Bring a pot of water to a boil and put the Haggis in.  Bring it back to a low boil and simmer for about 30 minutes.  Remove from the water and be prepared for culinary bliss.

The first cut

Warm, reeking, rich

Some variations I've used are venison and feral hog Haggis.  When we were in Texas my keeping the offal impressed the ranch owner and his hunting guide/game manager.  Even better, the ranch owner told a friend about it and the friend asked him to have the guides keep all the offal that the hunters didn't want. 

You can find everything but the lungs at the grocery store if you want to try an American style Haggis. Pig stomachs can be used to stuff as an alternative. If your store does carry pig stomach try an international market or Hispanic store.  If you don't want to go this route, these folks http://www.caledoniankitchen.com/ make a decent canned Haggis.  We used canned Haggis while we were in Germany.  The way to do this is to cut both ends off the can and push the contents out whole.  Slice it into rounds of your desired thickness and pan fry with a little butter to keep it from sticking.  Serve with eggs or porridge.  Either way, I hope you give Haggis a try.

Uncle T