"Inside" because with haggis it's what's inside, rather than outside.
OK! We have some "haggis-curious" folks and at least one who's probably secretly all in but wants us to believe otherwise.
So first some context...
Setting aside dubious historical accounts (and Robert Burns' Address to a Haggis) let's just focus on the fundamentals. Haggis is somewhere between a pate and a sausage. "Pate" because it has a fair portion of liver in it, and it is cooked a fairly low temperature for a long time to set the dish. "Sausage" because it has a skin (usually) and also added ingredients that may show up in a sausage but not often in pate. Oats, specifically.
Specific ingredients are: Heart and liver, onions, oats and fat. Vegetarian options are possible and in my opinion entirely palatable. I'll be honest that I like haggis and take some care to see that it is not just something we gag down once a year with a shot of whiskey before moving on to the roast beef and potatoes. Unfortunately I have had enough versions of commercial haggis to have formed an entirely negative opinion of them. Fortunately, making your own haggis is dead easy!
Technically haggis is made with sheep's offal however if you don't live near any conveniently stealable sheep you may improvise with calf liver and heart. Or vegetarian options as I will (briefly) mention later. Traditional haggis also included lung tissue, but honestly in these days of diesel smoke, coal-fired power plants and other such lovelies; who wants to eat that? I've made several with authentic sheep parts and they've been fantastic. I've probably made more with other bits because some places I've lived don't run to sheep. Go with what you can get; you could even use pig or chicken hearts and livers if that's all you can find. Haggis is in the mind, not the precise execution.
The onions are plural. You will need at least three nice sized yellow onions. My old haggis guru told me, "The keyword is 'redolent.' Add enough onions."
Oats can be a bit of a conundrum. People eat a lot of them, but seem to care little for the aesthetics of taste. They're not just cheap filler, but I digress. I have been a constant gadfly to the Canadian Oat Research Centre because I keep nagging them about breeding for taste. Quaker is not your friend, here. Making haggis with rolled oats (or any other grain) is a recipe for mush. The grains should be ground not rolled. If all you can find aside from Quaker are "steel-cut" oats then that will work. The difference is that steel cut oats are cracked/cut while ground oats are...well...ground. If you're of a mind to spend money making peasant food, then look for imported Scottish or Irish oats. Bob's Red Mill used to do Scottish oats as well as steel-cut. Good brand.
And fat. Most traditional haggis would have used mutton fat. You're cutting up a sheep anyway, might as well use what you have. Mutton fat can be unpleasant to some folks due to taste and also what it's like cold. "Modern traditional" haggis typically uses lard. I have also used plant-based butter flavoured fat with success. The fat in haggis is supposed to help make the mix smooth and tasty. The amount is variable; haggis is often boiled for several hours which causes a lot of the fat to cook out, so extra is put in at the front end. There are other ways, using and losing less fat.
Inside that rather loose framework you may play as you wish. Boil up the heart, saving aside some of the broth. Boil up the liver with a chopped onion, draining away the broth. Turn your oven to 400F and put the oats in a baking dish. Toast them until they are golden and fragrant. Save aside a half-cup for another dish later. Get out your meat grinder. Run the meats through, then run three or four onions through to clean out the grinder. Put meats and onion mush into a large bowl, throw in some oats and start mixing/kneading. Add fat as needed. If it's too stiff add some broth. Add a bit of salt and a whack of pepper. Throw in a pinch of mace. A bit of rosemary.
It should be a grainy meaty mix with some onion fumes coming off. At this point you can stuff it loosely into a sheep's stomach or force it into a large sausage casing and sew up the ends. I prefer to make "bowl haggis" which simply requires plopping the mixture into a large bowl, covering with a tent of aluminum foil, and steaming it for an hour and a half. Note that vegetarian haggis needs less cooking. (Note that the casing is discarded. Eat the good stuff inside.)
I've made "haggis" with a lot of shredded veggies: potatoes, carrots, turnips, onion, beets, etc. I've also made a different version with plant based ground "meat." Of the two types I like the "meat" version better. You really can't go far wrong, so experiment.
That orphan half-cup of toasted oats? While you're at the store buy a nice pint of vanilla ice cream. Let it soften just a little, then turn it out into a bowl. Fold in those oats and a tablespoon of good malt whiskey. Pack back into the container and re-freeze -- this is a modernized version of Cream Crowdie and is your dessert.
Serve the haggis with Clapshot (potatoes, turnips and onions all mashed together) and a smacking ale. Tradition seems to indicate a (or several) shots of whiskey with the meal, however strong spirits dull the palate.
There ya go; Slainte Mhath! Leftovers go great in Haggis Hash for breakfast, or a nice slice cold between some whole grain bread with mayo and mustard makes a good lunch.
O.H.
OK! We have some "haggis-curious" folks and at least one who's probably secretly all in but wants us to believe otherwise.
So first some context...
Setting aside dubious historical accounts (and Robert Burns' Address to a Haggis) let's just focus on the fundamentals. Haggis is somewhere between a pate and a sausage. "Pate" because it has a fair portion of liver in it, and it is cooked a fairly low temperature for a long time to set the dish. "Sausage" because it has a skin (usually) and also added ingredients that may show up in a sausage but not often in pate. Oats, specifically.
Specific ingredients are: Heart and liver, onions, oats and fat. Vegetarian options are possible and in my opinion entirely palatable. I'll be honest that I like haggis and take some care to see that it is not just something we gag down once a year with a shot of whiskey before moving on to the roast beef and potatoes. Unfortunately I have had enough versions of commercial haggis to have formed an entirely negative opinion of them. Fortunately, making your own haggis is dead easy!
Technically haggis is made with sheep's offal however if you don't live near any conveniently stealable sheep
you may improvise with calf liver and heart. Or vegetarian options as I will (briefly) mention later. Traditional haggis also included lung tissue, but honestly in these days of diesel smoke, coal-fired power plants and other such lovelies; who wants to eat that? I've made several with authentic sheep parts and they've been fantastic. I've probably made more with other bits because some places I've lived don't run to sheep. Go with what you can get; you could even use pig or chicken hearts and livers if that's all you can find. Haggis is in the mind, not the precise execution.The onions are plural. You will need at least three nice sized yellow onions. My old haggis guru told me, "The keyword is 'redolent.' Add enough onions."
Oats can be a bit of a conundrum. People eat a lot of them, but seem to care little for the aesthetics of taste. They're not just cheap filler, but I digress. I have been a constant gadfly to the Canadian Oat Research Centre because I keep nagging them about breeding for taste. Quaker is not your friend, here. Making haggis with rolled oats (or any other grain) is a recipe for mush. The grains should be ground not rolled. If all you can find aside from Quaker are "steel-cut" oats then that will work. The difference is that steel cut oats are cracked/cut while ground oats are...well...ground. If you're of a mind to spend money making peasant food, then look for imported Scottish or Irish oats. Bob's Red Mill used to do Scottish oats as well as steel-cut. Good brand.
And fat. Most traditional haggis would have used mutton fat. You're cutting up a sheep anyway, might as well use what you have. Mutton fat can be unpleasant to some folks due to taste and also what it's like cold. "Modern traditional" haggis typically uses lard. I have also used plant-based butter flavoured fat with success. The fat in haggis is supposed to help make the mix smooth and tasty. The amount is variable; haggis is often boiled for several hours which causes a lot of the fat to cook out, so extra is put in at the front end. There are other ways, using and losing less fat.
Inside that rather loose framework you may play as you wish. Boil up the heart, saving aside some of the broth. Boil up the liver with a chopped onion, draining away the broth. Turn your oven to 400F and put the oats in a baking dish. Toast them until they are golden and fragrant. Save aside a half-cup for another dish later. Get out your meat grinder. Run the meats through, then run three or four onions through to clean out the grinder. Put meats and onion mush into a large bowl, throw in some oats and start mixing/kneading. Add fat as needed. If it's too stiff add some broth. Add a bit of salt and a whack of pepper. Throw in a pinch of mace. A bit of rosemary.
It should be a grainy meaty mix with some onion fumes coming off.
At this point you can stuff it loosely into a sheep's stomach or force it into a large sausage casing and sew up the ends. I prefer to make "bowl haggis" which simply requires plopping the mixture into a large bowl, covering with a tent of aluminum foil, and steaming it for an hour and a half. Note that vegetarian haggis needs less cooking. (Note that the casing is discarded. Eat the good stuff inside.)I've made "haggis" with a lot of shredded veggies: potatoes, carrots, turnips, onion, beets, etc. I've also made a different version with plant based ground "meat." Of the two types I like the "meat" version better. You really can't go far wrong, so experiment.
That orphan half-cup of toasted oats? While you're at the store buy a nice pint of vanilla ice cream. Let it soften just a little, then turn it out into a bowl. Fold in those oats and a tablespoon of good malt whiskey. Pack back into the container and re-freeze -- this is a modernized version of Cream Crowdie and is your dessert.
Serve the haggis with Clapshot (potatoes, turnips and onions all mashed together) and a smacking ale. Tradition seems to indicate a (or several) shots of whiskey with the meal, however strong spirits dull the palate.
There ya go; Slainte Mhath! Leftovers go great in Haggis Hash for breakfast, or a nice slice cold between some whole grain bread with mayo and mustard makes a good lunch.
O.H.
Last edited:
Our Scottish family wanted us to have a "real haggis" when we were there, so they got one and we practically had to fight the family to get any!
