British Cuisine - Haggis

We haven't had a British Cuisine entry for almost a year, so I thought it was about time I brought it back. Don't forget that to look back at old entries you can click on the tag 'British Cuisine' at the end of this post or type it into the search bar above.

Today I'm going to talk about Scotland's national dish - haggis. Looking at the picture on the right, or any picture of haggis for that matter, you will probably think 'Ugh, that looks awful!'. And yes, it does. But then again so do 'callos' and pigs' ears, and the Spanish swear by them!

Haggis is basically made from offal, such as the sheep's heart, liver and lungs mixed together with herbs, spices and oatmeal. This mixture is then stuffed into the casing of the sheep's stomach and boiled. The thought of this leaves most people a bit squeamish, it does me too, but my Spanish husband and I were brave enough to try it when we were in Edinburgh and we were pleasantly surprised! We had it as part of our Scottish breakfast, but it is more commonly served with 'neeps and tatties' (mashed turnip and potato)

The dish is often eaten to celebrate Burn's night - a commemoration of the Scottish poet Robert Burns. You can read more about it on wikipedia.