On Haggis - Tartan Day Gathering Of The Blogs

Posted By Blackfive

One often yearns
For the land of Burns.
The only snag is
The haggis.

What the hell is that?!

Traditional Haggis consists of sheep heart, liver and lungs (and sometimes tongue or whatever is left over), and it's cooked with oatmeal and onions inside its stomach bag.  The Scottish way is to use sheep lungs, but that's illegal in the US and is usually the reason the US FDA declares imported Haggis "unfit for human consumption".

Haggis ingredients are as hotly contested and debated as the Chicago Cubs-White Sox Crosstown Classic so I'm bound to insult somebody out there.

Haggis is not always inside the stomach casing anymore.  Purists look for Haggis in a "natural" casing.  It gives the meal that pasty, bloated, thin-skinned, veiny and undesirable look to it....kind of like a fattened caterpillar just before it builds it's cocoon.

I've had Haggis and it's pretty good despite it's reputation.  I'd post a picture of Haggis, but then you'd all think I was crazy.  Then again, I had more than a few drams (nothing "wee" about them) at the time.

The US version (because of US FDA restrictions and availability of the traditional meats) commonly uses beef liver, heart, and lamb meat - sort of like the US version of a lot of things - nothing like the original and much more tame.  Anything but traditional haggis is called "mock" haggis.  You never want to mock haggis because that's just mean...

Finally, if you are really important, you get venison haggis - something the big shots have eaten for going on two centuries.  Haven't tried that one, yet, but probably will someday.

Have you ever eaten Haggis? 

I'm sure that there are bloggers who have...

Haggis Fun

You can go here and try your hand at Haggis Hurling...no, it's not what you do after eating it.  It's a contest in throwing the Haggis.  Or you can Bash the Haggis (no, Harv, that ain't a euphemism for something else).

Then, there's this common Haggis joke:

Maitre d': "Are you here for a special occasion?"

MacDonald: "Aye, we won the third prize in the annual Robert Burns Contest - a haggis dinner for two."

Maitre d': "What were the other prizes?"

MacDonald: "The second prize was a single haggis dinner, and, if you won the first prize, you didn't have to eat the haggis."

**Disclaimer:  I'm not an expert on Haggis.  Don't everyone go "Hey, Haggis sucks, dude!" if you haven't even tried it (sober or not).  The info here is from memory and various conversations and web sites.  Enjoy it at your own risk.

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On Haggis - Tartan Day Gathering Of The Blogs

One often yearns
For the land of Burns.
The only snag is
The haggis.

What the hell is that?!

Traditional Haggis consists of sheep heart, liver and lungs (and sometimes tongue or whatever is left over), and it's cooked with oatmeal and onions inside its stomach bag.  The Scottish way is to use sheep lungs, but that's illegal in the US and is usually the reason the US FDA declares imported Haggis "unfit for human consumption".

Haggis ingredients are as hotly contested and debated as the Chicago Cubs-White Sox Crosstown Classic so I'm bound to insult somebody out there.

Haggis is not always inside the stomach casing anymore.  Purists look for Haggis in a "natural" casing.  It gives the meal that pasty, bloated, thin-skinned, veiny and undesirable look to it....kind of like a fattened caterpillar just before it builds it's cocoon.

I've had Haggis and it's pretty good despite it's reputation.  I'd post a picture of Haggis, but then you'd all think I was crazy.  Then again, I had more than a few drams (nothing "wee" about them) at the time.

The US version (because of US FDA restrictions and availability of the traditional meats) commonly uses beef liver, heart, and lamb meat - sort of like the US version of a lot of things - nothing like the original and much more tame.  Anything but traditional haggis is called "mock" haggis.  You never want to mock haggis because that's just mean...

Finally, if you are really important, you get venison haggis - something the big shots have eaten for going on two centuries.  Haven't tried that one, yet, but probably will someday.

Have you ever eaten Haggis? 

I'm sure that there are bloggers who have...

Haggis Fun

You can go here and try your hand at Haggis Hurling...no, it's not what you do after eating it.  It's a contest in throwing the Haggis.  Or you can Bash the Haggis (no, Harv, that ain't a euphemism for something else).

Then, there's this common Haggis joke:

Maitre d': "Are you here for a special occasion?"

MacDonald: "Aye, we won the third prize in the annual Robert Burns Contest - a haggis dinner for two."

Maitre d': "What were the other prizes?"

MacDonald: "The second prize was a single haggis dinner, and, if you won the first prize, you didn't have to eat the haggis."

**Disclaimer:  I'm not an expert on Haggis.  Don't everyone go "Hey, Haggis sucks, dude!" if you haven't even tried it (sober or not).  The info here is from memory and various conversations and web sites.  Enjoy it at your own risk.

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