hunting the wild haggis

[solipsistnation]

A third of US tourists who were quizzed about their trip to Scotland said they believed the haggis was a creature.

A Scottish woman has had a haggis thrown through her front window in a possible racist attack, police have confirmed.

I've never seen a real haggis. Those are sure nasty-looking things. The big ol' veins really make it extra-special.

Comments

[eccles.livejournal.com]

They are suprisingly tasty.

[eccles.livejournal.com]

Forgot to mention the veins are because it's a stomach that has been stuffed.

[solipsistnation.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, I know. That doesn't make it any less grody.

[pir.livejournal.com]

Doesn't look any worse to me than many cuts of meat with fat running through it...

Never tried it though. I'll stick to black pudding.

[laurens10.livejournal.com]

If you ask nicely, I can tell you where in Scotland you can go for vegetarian haggis.

Or share with you my vegetarian haggis recipe.

[quaintance.livejournal.com]

Oooh-- Not that you know me, but might I have it please? It will save us a lot of head scratching of "now, _how_ did we do this last year?"

[yehoshua.livejournal.com]

Yeah, don't hold out on us.

[laurens10.livejournal.com]

Okay, I posted it.

[laurens10.livejournal.com]

The base is this recipe.

I didn't have a couple of the ingredients -- specifically vegetarian suet and lime. The former I couldn't fine, the latter I forgot about. I also used high quality seitan. I chopped the seitan into tiny pieces, threw it in with the vegetables for cooking. I think I may have also used fancy mushrooms and not exactly measure the whisky. Also, given that my kitchen is a standard American kitchen, I made my best guess as to quantities. But yeah, the seitan helped with making the dish more savory, and I'd do that part over again most certainly.

I don't know how close to haggis it got, given that I have never eaten *real* haggis, and won't since I don't eat red meat, but uhh, I was told the seasoning was at least authentic -- lots of salt and pepper. It did taste something like the vegetarian haggis I had in Scotland though.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Drink plenty of whisky with this. :)

I think that any Scotsman forced to eat vegetarian haggis would definitely want plenty of whisky, either to wash out the taste or to bury his shame.

[yehoshua.livejournal.com]

[T]he haggis had been removed for examination

How does one dust a haggis for prints? I'm absolutely fascinated by this concept.

[quaintance.livejournal.com]

For the past 7 years or so I've made an Americanized version each January for my Robert Burns' Supper (think “Liver meatloaf”). It's Americanized since it's rather difficult to get the innards I'd need for the real thing without knowing an actual sheep butcher extremely well, and I just don't. I don’t think haggis exactly passes American meat standards, anyway... Last year I delighted to find a haggis in a British foods shop, but since a teaspoon of the stuff is enough for me, and I could barely convince anyone else to try some, it pretty much went to waste. I think next year I’ll just stick to making a version of the veggie haggis that showed up one year.

[yehoshua.livejournal.com]

it's rather difficult to get the innards I'd need for the real thing without knowing an actual sheep butcher extremely well

This is where keeping kosher comes in handy. I can simply go over to Moshe at Beacon Kosher and tell him I'm making kishke (a Jewish dish which makes haggis look like chocolate chip cookies for inoffensiveness), and he'll hand me a kilo of whatever innards I want so I can render out the fats. No, seriously. It's gross, but to some people, it's very heimish.

Address to A Haggis (abridged)

[quaintance.livejournal.com]

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great cheiftain o' the pudding-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o' a grace
As lang's my arm.

...

Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o' fare,
auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer
Gie her a haggis!

[ksta.livejournal.com]

taste delicious though.