Haggis
Encyclopedia
Haggis is a dish containing sheep's 'pluck'
(heart
, liver
and lung
s), minced with onion
, oatmeal
, suet
, spice
s, and salt
, mixed with stock
, and traditionally simmered in the animal's stomach
for approximately three hours. Most modern commercial haggis is prepared in a casing
rather than an actual stomach.
Haggis is a kind of savoury pudding
cooked in a casing of sheep's intestine. As the 2001 English edition of the Larousse Gastronomique
puts it, "Although its description is not immediately appealing, haggis has an excellent nutty texture and delicious savoury flavour".
The haggis is a traditional Scottish dish memorialised as the national dish of Scotland
by Robert Burns'
poem Address to a Haggis in 1787. Haggis is traditionally served with "neeps and tatties" ' onMouseout='HidePop("17072")' href="/topics/Mashed_potato">mashed
separately) and a "dram" (i.e. a glass of Scotch whisky
), especially as the main course of a Burns supper
. However it is also often eaten with other accompaniments.
The first known written recipe for a dish of the name (as 'hagese'), made with offal
and herbs, is in the verse cookbook Liber Cure Cocorum
dating from around 1430 in Lancashire
, North West England
.
The Scottish poem Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy, which is dated before 1520 (the generally accepted date prior to the death of William Dunbar
, one of the composers), refers to 'haggeis'.
An early printed recipe for haggis appears in 1615 in “The English Huswife” by Gervase Markham
. It contains a section entitled “Skill in Oate meale”.
Although there is no precise date for the first preparation of haggis, the earliest recorded consumption of the related French dish Andouillette
can be traced back to an actual date in the ninth century - it was served at the coronation of King Louis II in Troyes on 7 September 878.
Food writer Alan Davidson
goes back further, stating that the Ancient Romans
were the first people known to have made products of the haggis type. Even earlier, a kind of primitive haggis is referred to in Homer
's Odyssey
, in book 20, (towards the end of the eighth century BC) when Odysseus
is compared to "a man before a great blazing fire turning swiftly this way and that a stomach full of fat and blood, very eager to have it roasted quickly". Haggis was "born of necessity, as a way to utilize the least expensive cuts of meat and the innards as well" (Andrew Zimmern
). Since the internal organs rapidly perish, it is likely that haggis-like preparations have been around since pre-history.
Clarissa Dickson Wright claims that it "came to Scotland in a longship
[ie. from Scandinavia
] even before Scotland was a single nation." Dickson-Wright further cites etymologist Walter William Skeat
as further suggestion of possible Scandinavian origins: Skeat claimed that the hag– part of the word is derived from the Old Norse
haggw or the Old Icelandic
hoggva (höggva in modern Icelandic), meaning 'to hew' or strike with a sharp weapon, relating to the chopped-up contents of the dish. One theory claims that the name "haggis" is derived from Norman French. Norman French was more guttural than modern French so that the "ch" of "hachis", i.e. "chopped", was pronounced as the "ch" in "loch", giving "haggis". This conjecture, however, is discredited by the Oxford English Dictionary
.
Dickson Wright suggests that haggis was invented as a way of cooking quick-spoiling offal
near the site of a hunt, without the need to carry along an additional cooking vessel. The liver and kidneys could be grill
ed directly over a fire, but this treatment was unsuitable for the stomach, intestines, or lungs. Chopping up the lungs and stuffing the stomach with them and whatever fillers might have been on hand, then boiling the assembly — likely in a vessel made from the animal's hide — was one way to make sure these parts did not go to waste.
One is that the dish originates from the days of the old Scottish cattle drovers. When the men left the highlands
to drive their cattle to market
in Edinburgh
the women would prepare rations for them to eat during the long journey down through the glen
s. They used the ingredients that were most readily available in their homes and conveniently packaged them in a sheep's stomach allowing for easy transportation during the journey. Other speculations have been based on Scottish slaughtering practices. When a Chieftain
or Laird
required an animal to be slaughtered for meat (whether sheep or cattle) the workmen were allowed to keep the offal
as their share.
A frequent tale is that a "Haggis" is a small Scottish animal
with one set of legs longer than the other so that it can stand on the steep Scottish Highlands without falling over. According to one poll, 33% of American visitors to Scotland believe haggis to be an animal.
Haggis is traditionally served with the Burns supper
on the week of January 25, when Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns
, is commemorated. He wrote the poem Address to a Haggis, which starts "Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!" During Burns's lifetime haggis was a popular dish for the poor
, as it was very cheap, being made from leftover, otherwise thrown away, parts of a sheep (the most common livestock in Scotland), yet nourishing.
Haggis is widely available in supermarkets in Scotland and other parts of the world all the year round, with cheaper brands normally packed in artificial casings, rather than stomachs, just as cheaper brands of sausages are no longer stuffed into animal intestines. Sometimes haggis is sold in tins or a container which can simply be microwaved or oven-baked. Some supermarket haggis is largely made from pig, rather than sheep, offal.
Haggis can be served in Scottish fast-food establishments deep fried in batter. Together with chips, this comprises a "haggis supper". A "haggis burger" is a patty of fried haggis served on a bun, and a "haggis pakora" is another deep fried variant, available in some Indian restaurants in Scotland.
A modern haggis variant often served in higher class restaurants is the "Flying Scotsman", which is chicken breast stuffed with haggis. This can in turn be wrapped in bacon to create a dish known as "Chicken Balmoral". Haggis can also be used as a substitute for minced beef in various recipes.
Since the 1960s various Scottish shops and manufacturers have created vegetarian haggis for those who do not eat meat. These substitute various pulses
and vegetables for the meat in the dish.
is often asserted to be the traditional accompaniment for haggis, though this may simply be because both are traditionally served at a Burns supper
. Warren Edwardes of Wine for Spice notes that haggis is spicy and therefore recommends refreshing semi-sparkling wines to drink with haggis with increasing level of sweetness depending in the spiciness of the haggis: whisky
, with its high alcohol
level, can exaggerate peppery spice
(unlike the capsaicin
in chili
, which it dissolves) rather than complement it. Haggis-maker MacSween conducted a taste-test which confirmed that whisky is a proper accompaniment, and adds that lighter-bodied, tannic red wines, such as those made from the Barbera
grape, are also suitable, as are strong, powerfully flavoured Belgian beer
s, such as Duvel and Chimay Blue.
Scots in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, owing to the strong influence of Scottish culture, especially for Burns Supper
s. It can easily be made in any country, but is sometimes imported from Scotland.
Since 1971 it has been illegal to import haggis into the US from the UK due to a ban on food containing sheep lung, which constitutes 10 to 15% of the traditional recipe. The situation was further complicated in 1989 when all UK beef and lamb was banned from importation to the US due to the BSE
crisis. In 2010 a spokeswoman for the US Department of Agriculture stated that they were reviewing the ban on beef and lamb products, but the ban on food containing sheep lung will remain in force.
Haggis is used in a sport called haggis hurling
, which involves throwing a haggis as far as possible. The present Guinness World Record for Haggis Hurling has been held by Alan Pettigrew for over 25 years. He threw a 1.5 pound (0.680388555 kg) haggis 180 in 10 in (55.12 m) on the island of Inchmurrin
, Loch Lomond
, in August 1984.
On October 8, 2008, competitive eater Eric "Steakbellie" Livingston set a world record by consuming 3 pounds (1.4 kg) of haggis in 8 minutes on WMMR radio in Philadelphia.
Following his victory in The Masters golf tournament in 1988, Scottish golfer Sandy Lyle
chose to serve haggis at the annual Champions Dinner before the 1989 Masters.
Offal
Offal , also called, especially in the United States, variety meats or organ meats, refers to the internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but includes most internal organs other than...
(heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
, liver
Liver
The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...
and lung
Lung
The lung is the essential respiration organ in many air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart...
s), minced with onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
, oatmeal
Oatmeal
Oatmeal is ground oat groats , or a porridge made from oats . Oatmeal can also be ground oat, steel-cut oats, crushed oats, or rolled oats....
, suet
Suet
Suet is raw beef or mutton fat, especially the hard fat found around the loins and kidneys.Suet has a melting point of between 45° and 50°C and congelation between 37° and 40°C....
, spice
Spice
A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...
s, and salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
, mixed with stock
Stock (food)
Stock is a flavoured water preparation. It forms the basis of many dishes, particularly soups and sauces.- Preparation :Stock is made by simmering various ingredients in water, including some or all of the following...
, and traditionally simmered in the animal's stomach
Stomach
The stomach is a muscular, hollow, dilated part of the alimentary canal which functions as an important organ of the digestive tract in some animals, including vertebrates, echinoderms, insects , and molluscs. It is involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication .The stomach is...
for approximately three hours. Most modern commercial haggis is prepared in a casing
Casing (sausage)
Casing, sausage casing, or sausage skin is the material that encloses the filling of a sausage. Casings are divided into two categories, natural and artificial...
rather than an actual stomach.
Haggis is a kind of savoury pudding
Pudding
Pudding most often refers to a dessert, but it can also be a savory dish.In the United States, pudding characteristically denotes a sweet milk-based dessert similar in consistency to egg-based custards, though it may also refer to other types such as bread and rice pudding.In the United Kingdom and...
cooked in a casing of sheep's intestine. As the 2001 English edition of the Larousse Gastronomique
Larousse Gastronomique
Larousse Gastronomique is an encyclopedia of gastronomy. The majority of the book is about French cuisine, and contains recipes for French dishes and cooking techniques...
puts it, "Although its description is not immediately appealing, haggis has an excellent nutty texture and delicious savoury flavour".
The haggis is a traditional Scottish dish memorialised as the national dish of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
by Robert Burns'
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
poem Address to a Haggis in 1787. Haggis is traditionally served with "neeps and tatties" ' onMouseout='HidePop("17072")' href="/topics/Mashed_potato">mashed
Mashed potato
Mashed potato is made by mashing freshly boiled potatoes with a ricer, fork, potato masher, food mill, or whipping them with a hand beater. Dehydrated and frozen mashed potatoes are available in many places...
separately) and a "dram" (i.e. a glass of Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland.Scotch whisky is divided into five distinct categories: Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky , Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky.All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three...
), especially as the main course of a Burns supper
Burns supper
A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, author of many Scots poems. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January, sometimes also known as Robert Burns Day or Burns Night , although they may in principle be held at any time of the...
. However it is also often eaten with other accompaniments.
History
Haggis is popularly assumed to be of Scottish origin, but there is a lack of historical evidence that could conclusively attribute its origins to any one place.The first known written recipe for a dish of the name (as 'hagese'), made with offal
Offal
Offal , also called, especially in the United States, variety meats or organ meats, refers to the internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but includes most internal organs other than...
and herbs, is in the verse cookbook Liber Cure Cocorum
Liber Cure Cocorum
Liber Cure Cocorum is a cookery book in verse dating from around the year 1430 in the North West of the County of Lancashire in North-West England....
dating from around 1430 in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, North West England
North West England
North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...
.
- For hagese.
- Þe hert of schepe, þe nere þou take,
- Þo bowel noght þou shalle forsake,
- On þe turbilen made, and boyled wele,
- Hacke alle togeder with gode persole,
The Scottish poem Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy, which is dated before 1520 (the generally accepted date prior to the death of William Dunbar
William Dunbar
William Dunbar was a Scottish poet. He was probably a native of East Lothian, as assumed from a satirical reference in the Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie , where, too, it is hinted that he was a member of the noble house of Dunbar....
, one of the composers), refers to 'haggeis'.
An early printed recipe for haggis appears in 1615 in “The English Huswife” by Gervase Markham
Gervase Markham
Gervase Markham was an English poet and writer, best known for his work The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman first published in London in 1615.-Life:Markham was the third son of Sir Robert Markham of Cotham, Nottinghamshire, and was...
. It contains a section entitled “Skill in Oate meale”.
Although there is no precise date for the first preparation of haggis, the earliest recorded consumption of the related French dish Andouillette
Andouillette
Andouillette is a coarse-grained tripe sausage made with pork , chitterlings, pepper, wine, onions, and seasonings. Andouillette sausage is a smaller version of the andouille sausage, generally smaller than 25 mm in diameter...
can be traced back to an actual date in the ninth century - it was served at the coronation of King Louis II in Troyes on 7 September 878.
Food writer Alan Davidson
Alan Davidson (food writer)
Alan Eaton Davidson was a British diplomat and historian best known for his writing and editing on food and gastronomy. He was the author of the 900-page, encyclopedic The Oxford Companion to Food .The son of a Scottish tax inspector, Davidson was born in Londonderry, Northern Ireland...
goes back further, stating that the Ancient Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
were the first people known to have made products of the haggis type. Even earlier, a kind of primitive haggis is referred to in Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
's Odyssey
Odyssey
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
, in book 20, (towards the end of the eighth century BC) when Odysseus
Odysseus
Odysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
is compared to "a man before a great blazing fire turning swiftly this way and that a stomach full of fat and blood, very eager to have it roasted quickly". Haggis was "born of necessity, as a way to utilize the least expensive cuts of meat and the innards as well" (Andrew Zimmern
Andrew Zimmern
Andrew Zimmern is a James Beard Award-winning TV personality, chef, food writer, and teacher. As the co-creator, host, and consulting producer of Travel Channel's series Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern and Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre World, he travels the world exploring food in its own native...
). Since the internal organs rapidly perish, it is likely that haggis-like preparations have been around since pre-history.
Clarissa Dickson Wright claims that it "came to Scotland in a longship
Longship
Longships were sea vessels made and used by the Vikings from the Nordic countries for trade, commerce, exploration, and warfare during the Viking Age. The longship’s design evolved over many years, beginning in the Stone Age with the invention of the umiak and continuing up to the 9th century with...
[ie. from Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
] even before Scotland was a single nation." Dickson-Wright further cites etymologist Walter William Skeat
Walter William Skeat
Walter William Skeat , English philologist, was born in London on the 21st of November 1835, and educated at King's College School , Highgate School, and Christ's College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow in July 1860. His grandsons include the noted palaeographer T. C...
as further suggestion of possible Scandinavian origins: Skeat claimed that the hag– part of the word is derived from the Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
haggw or the Old Icelandic
Icelandic language
Icelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the...
hoggva (höggva in modern Icelandic), meaning 'to hew' or strike with a sharp weapon, relating to the chopped-up contents of the dish. One theory claims that the name "haggis" is derived from Norman French. Norman French was more guttural than modern French so that the "ch" of "hachis", i.e. "chopped", was pronounced as the "ch" in "loch", giving "haggis". This conjecture, however, is discredited by the Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
.
Dickson Wright suggests that haggis was invented as a way of cooking quick-spoiling offal
Offal
Offal , also called, especially in the United States, variety meats or organ meats, refers to the internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but includes most internal organs other than...
near the site of a hunt, without the need to carry along an additional cooking vessel. The liver and kidneys could be grill
Grilling
Grilling is a form of cooking that involves dry heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above or below.Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat quickly and meat that has already been cut into slices...
ed directly over a fire, but this treatment was unsuitable for the stomach, intestines, or lungs. Chopping up the lungs and stuffing the stomach with them and whatever fillers might have been on hand, then boiling the assembly — likely in a vessel made from the animal's hide — was one way to make sure these parts did not go to waste.
Folklore
In the absence of hard facts as to haggis' origins, popular folklore has provided more fanciful theories.One is that the dish originates from the days of the old Scottish cattle drovers. When the men left the highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
to drive their cattle to market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
the women would prepare rations for them to eat during the long journey down through the glen
Glen
A glen is a valley, typically one that is long, deep, and often glacially U-shaped; or one with a watercourse running through such a valley. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrower than a strath."...
s. They used the ingredients that were most readily available in their homes and conveniently packaged them in a sheep's stomach allowing for easy transportation during the journey. Other speculations have been based on Scottish slaughtering practices. When a Chieftain
Chiefs of the Name
The Chief of the Name, or in older English usage Captain of his Nation, is the recognised head of a family or clan...
or Laird
Laird
A Laird is a member of the gentry and is a heritable title in Scotland. In the non-peerage table of precedence, a Laird ranks below a Baron and above an Esquire.-Etymology:...
required an animal to be slaughtered for meat (whether sheep or cattle) the workmen were allowed to keep the offal
Offal
Offal , also called, especially in the United States, variety meats or organ meats, refers to the internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but includes most internal organs other than...
as their share.
A frequent tale is that a "Haggis" is a small Scottish animal
Wild Haggis
Wild haggis is a fictional creature said to be native to the Scottish Highlands. It is comically claimed to be the source of haggis, a traditional Scottish dish that is in fact made from the innards of sheep .According to some sources, the wild haggis's left and right legs are of different lengths...
with one set of legs longer than the other so that it can stand on the steep Scottish Highlands without falling over. According to one poll, 33% of American visitors to Scotland believe haggis to be an animal.
Modern usage
Burns supper
A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, author of many Scots poems. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January, sometimes also known as Robert Burns Day or Burns Night , although they may in principle be held at any time of the...
on the week of January 25, when Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
, is commemorated. He wrote the poem Address to a Haggis, which starts "Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!" During Burns's lifetime haggis was a popular dish for the poor
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
, as it was very cheap, being made from leftover, otherwise thrown away, parts of a sheep (the most common livestock in Scotland), yet nourishing.
Haggis is widely available in supermarkets in Scotland and other parts of the world all the year round, with cheaper brands normally packed in artificial casings, rather than stomachs, just as cheaper brands of sausages are no longer stuffed into animal intestines. Sometimes haggis is sold in tins or a container which can simply be microwaved or oven-baked. Some supermarket haggis is largely made from pig, rather than sheep, offal.
Haggis can be served in Scottish fast-food establishments deep fried in batter. Together with chips, this comprises a "haggis supper". A "haggis burger" is a patty of fried haggis served on a bun, and a "haggis pakora" is another deep fried variant, available in some Indian restaurants in Scotland.
A modern haggis variant often served in higher class restaurants is the "Flying Scotsman", which is chicken breast stuffed with haggis. This can in turn be wrapped in bacon to create a dish known as "Chicken Balmoral". Haggis can also be used as a substitute for minced beef in various recipes.
Since the 1960s various Scottish shops and manufacturers have created vegetarian haggis for those who do not eat meat. These substitute various pulses
Pulse (legume)
A pulse is an annual leguminous crop yielding from one to twelve seeds of variable size, shape, and color within a pod. Pulses are used for food and animal feed. The term "pulse", as used by the Food and Agricultural Organization , is reserved for crops harvested solely for the dry seed...
and vegetables for the meat in the dish.
Drinks
Scotch whiskyScotch whisky
Scotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland.Scotch whisky is divided into five distinct categories: Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky , Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky.All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three...
is often asserted to be the traditional accompaniment for haggis, though this may simply be because both are traditionally served at a Burns supper
Burns supper
A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, author of many Scots poems. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January, sometimes also known as Robert Burns Day or Burns Night , although they may in principle be held at any time of the...
. Warren Edwardes of Wine for Spice notes that haggis is spicy and therefore recommends refreshing semi-sparkling wines to drink with haggis with increasing level of sweetness depending in the spiciness of the haggis: whisky
Whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and corn...
, with its high alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
level, can exaggerate peppery spice
Spice
A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...
(unlike the capsaicin
Capsaicin
Capsaicin 2CHCH=CH4CONHCH2C6H3-4--3- ) is the active component of chili peppers, which are plants belonging to the genus Capsicum. It is an irritant for mammals, including humans, and produces a sensation of burning in any tissue with which it comes into contact...
in chili
Chili pepper
Chili pepper is the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. The term in British English and in Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaysia and other Asian countries is just chilli without pepper.Chili peppers originated in the Americas...
, which it dissolves) rather than complement it. Haggis-maker MacSween conducted a taste-test which confirmed that whisky is a proper accompaniment, and adds that lighter-bodied, tannic red wines, such as those made from the Barbera
Barbera
Barbera is a red Italian wine grape variety that, as of 2000, was the third most-planted red grape variety in Italy . It produces good yields and is known for deep color, low tannins and high levels of acid...
grape, are also suitable, as are strong, powerfully flavoured Belgian beer
Belgian beer
Beer in Belgium varies from pale lager to lambic beer and Flemish red. There are approximately 178 breweries in the country, ranging from international giants to microbreweries..-History:...
s, such as Duvel and Chimay Blue.
Outside Scotland
Haggis remains popular with expatriateExpatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
Scots in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, owing to the strong influence of Scottish culture, especially for Burns Supper
Burns supper
A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, author of many Scots poems. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January, sometimes also known as Robert Burns Day or Burns Night , although they may in principle be held at any time of the...
s. It can easily be made in any country, but is sometimes imported from Scotland.
Since 1971 it has been illegal to import haggis into the US from the UK due to a ban on food containing sheep lung, which constitutes 10 to 15% of the traditional recipe. The situation was further complicated in 1989 when all UK beef and lamb was banned from importation to the US due to the BSE
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 30 months to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of...
crisis. In 2010 a spokeswoman for the US Department of Agriculture stated that they were reviewing the ban on beef and lamb products, but the ban on food containing sheep lung will remain in force.
Other uses
Haggis hurling
Haggis hurling is a Scottish sport involving the hurling of a haggis as far as possible for distance and accuracy from atop a platform . The Haggis must be edible.-Background:...
, which involves throwing a haggis as far as possible. The present Guinness World Record for Haggis Hurling has been held by Alan Pettigrew for over 25 years. He threw a 1.5 pound (0.680388555 kg) haggis 180 in 10 in (55.12 m) on the island of Inchmurrin
Inchmurrin
Inchmurrin is an island in Loch Lomond in Scotland. It is the largest fresh water island in the British Isles.- Geography and geology :...
, Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond is a freshwater Scottish loch, lying on the Highland Boundary Fault. It is the largest lake in Great Britain by surface area. The lake contains many islands, including Inchmurrin, the largest fresh-water island in the British Isles, although the lake itself is smaller than many Irish...
, in August 1984.
On October 8, 2008, competitive eater Eric "Steakbellie" Livingston set a world record by consuming 3 pounds (1.4 kg) of haggis in 8 minutes on WMMR radio in Philadelphia.
Following his victory in The Masters golf tournament in 1988, Scottish golfer Sandy Lyle
Sandy Lyle
Alexander Walter Barr "Sandy" Lyle, MBE is a Scottish professional golfer. Lyle has won two major championships during his career. Along with Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam, he became one of Britain's top golfers during the 1980s...
chose to serve haggis at the annual Champions Dinner before the 1989 Masters.
See also
- White puddingWhite puddingWhite pudding or oatmeal pudding is a meat dish popular in Scotland, Ireland, Northumberland, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. White pudding is very similar to black pudding, but does not include blood. Consequently, it consists of pork meat and fat, suet, bread, and oatmeal formed into the shape of...
- ScrappleScrappleScrapple, also known by the Pennsylvania Dutch name pon haus, is traditionally a mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and flour, often buckwheat flour, and spices. The mush is formed into a semi-solid congealed loaf, and slices of the scrapple are then panfried before serving...
- Soondae
- SkirlieSkirlieSkirlie is a Scottish dish, made from oatmeal fried with onions and seasonings. Most commonly served as a side-dish, it also used as the basis of White Puddings, or used as a stuffing for chicken or other fowl....
- SaumagenSaumagenSaumagen is a German dish popular in the Palatinate. The name means "sow's stomach". The dish is similar to a sausage in that it consists of a stuffed casing; however, the stomach itself is integral to the dish. It isn't as thin as a typical sausage casing...
, a traditional GermanGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
dish from the Palatinate region. - ChiretaChiretaChireta is an Aragonese type of haggis. It is a flavorful rustic dish typical to the counties of Ribagorza, Sobrarbe and Somontano de Barbastro, high up in the Spanish Pyrenees...
- PölsaPölsaPölsa is a traditional Swedish dish, very similar in taste and consistency to Scottish haggis. The main ingredients are liver, heart, onion, pot barley, and often beef mince or minced pork, mixed with stock, black pepper, and marjoram...