has robby ever had haggis?
Vindris the Stickleructor
rob
wrote:
> well?
never heard of that before in my life dude.
Vindris the Stickleructor
An uncooked small haggis
Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish.
There are many recipes, most of which have in common the following
ingredients: sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with
onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and
traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately three
hours.
Haggis somewhat resembles stuffed intestines (pig intestines otherwise
known as chitterlings or the kokoretsi of traditional Balkan cuisine),
sausages and savoury puddings of which it is among the largest types. 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."[1]
Most modern commercial haggis is prepared in a casing rather than an
actual stomach. There are also meat-free recipes for vegetarians.
Haggis is traditionally served with "neeps and tatties" (Scots: swede,
yellow turnip or rutabaga and potatoes, boiled and 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, or served with a Whisky-based sauce.
Contents
1 History
2 Folklore
3 Modern usage
4 Drinks with haggis
5 Use outside Scotland
6 Entertainment
7 Similar dishes
8 References
9 External links
[edit] History
The haggis is frequently assumed to be Scottish in origin though there
is little evidence for this, and food writer Alan Davidson states that
the Ancient Romans were the first people known to have made products of
the haggis type.[2] A kind of primitive haggis is referred to in Homer's
Odyssey, in book 20, 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).
Clarissa Dickson Wright repudiates the assumption of a Scottish origin
for haggis, claiming that it "came to Scotland in a longship [ie. from
Scandinavia] even before Scotland was a single nation."[3]
Dickson-Wright further cites etymologist Walter William Skeat as further
suggestion of possible Scandinavian origins: Skeat claimed that the
hagâ€" part of the word is derived from the Old Norse hoggva or the
Icelandic haggw, 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 normal French so that the "ch" of "hachis", i.e.
"chopped", was pronounced as the "ch" in "loch", giving
"haggis"[citation needed].
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
grilled 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 â€" likely in a vessel made from the animal's
hide â€" was one way to make sure these parts did not go to waste.
[4]
'Haggis' is an uncommon surname and may come from Old English, meaning
'a woodsman's hut'[citation needed], and a Lord Haggis rode on the third
crusade with Richard the Lionheart.[citation needed] One example is Paul
Haggis, known for his work on Million Dollar Baby, Due South,
Thirtysomething.
[edit] 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 to drive their cattle to market in Edinburgh the women would
prepare rations for them to eat during the long journey down through the
glens. 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.[5]
[edit] Modern usage
Recitation of the poem Address to a Haggis by Robert Burns is an
important part of the Burns supper.
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 (and in some parts of England) 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, 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 bhaji"
is another deep fried variant, available in some Indian restaurants in
Glasgow. Higher class restaurants sometimes serve chicken breast stuffed
with haggis which is often referred to as "Chicken Balmoral" or "Flying
Scotsman" is chicken breast stuffed with haggis and sometimes also
wrapped in bacon. Haggis can also be used as a substitute for minced
beef in various recipes. In some Scottish butchers, haggis is combined
with Lorne sausage into a product colloquially known as "Braveheart"
sausage.
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. Since both the
offal-based and the vegetarian haggis have wide variations in flavour
depending on the recipe used, it would be difficult to demonstrate that
the two varieties do or do not taste alike.
[edit] Drinks with haggis
Scotch whisky 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[6]. Haggis-maker MacSween conducted
a taste-test [1] 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 beers, such as Duvel and Chimay Blue.
[edit] Use outside Scotland
Haggis spread with oat cakes in the U.S.
Haggis remains popular with expatriate Scots in the United States,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand, owing to the strong connotations with
Scottish culture, especially for Burns Suppers. It can easily be made in
any country, but is sometimes exported from Scotland.
Haggis may not be imported into the USA from the UK since the BSE crisis
of 1989. This is due to haggis' offal ingredients such as sheep lungs.
The British Food Standards Agency disputes these concerns, and states
that there is no reason for the import of haggis to be restricted.[7]
[edit] Entertainment
A haggis on a Robert Burns plate.
A fictional Wild Haggis, Haggis scoticus, next to a prepared specimen,
as displayed at the Glasgow Kelvingrove Gallery.
Haggis is an amusing subject for many people. Along with some other
foods associated with a specific country or region (such as Australia's
Vegemite, Norway's lutefisk, or Finland's salmiakki), it's perceived to
be loved in its home country and loathed by the rest of the world.
Many tourists are also duped (or nearly duped) by Scottish pranksters
attempting to lead them on a 'Wild Haggis Hunt'. The Scotsman
newspaper's web site runs an annual Haggis Hunt [8].
Haggis is also used in a sport called haggis hurling, throwing a haggis
as far as possible. The present Guinness World Record for Haggis Hurling
has been held by Alan Pettigrew for over 22 years. He threw a 1.5 lb
Haggis an astonishing 180 feet, 10 inches on the island of Inchmurrin,
Loch Lomond, in August 1984.[9]
On October 8th, 2008, competitive eater Eric "Steakbellie" Livingston
set a world record by consuming 3 pounds of haggis in 8 minutes on WMMR
radio in Philadelphia.[10]
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.[11]
The band Enter the Haggis have it as part of their name.
[edit] Similar dishes
In some ways, the northeastern United States dish scrapple resembles
haggis, however scrapple differs in the following ways: it uses pig
offal instead of sheep offal and cornmeal instead of oatmeal; it is a
meatloaf rather than a sausage; and it is fried instead of being boiled.
As a result, the appearance and the flavour vary significantly. So the
resemblance lies more in the fact that it is a combination of offal,
grain and vegetables than in any specific ingredient or cooking style.
Other similar dishes include:
Asheh, a specialty of Tartus in Syria, sheep stomach and intestines
stuffed with minced lamb and rice
Bahur, Bulgarian sausage made from rice and pork liver and heart
Balkenbrij from the Netherlands
Bopis from the Philippines, made from pork minus the casing
Boudin, an Acadian/Cajun sausage made with pork offal and rice
Buchada (or dobradinha) from northeast of Brazil, in which goat's
intestines are filled with pieces of liver, heart, blood, etc... cooked
then served with white rice.
Camaïot, a Balearic Islands sausage related to sobrassada made from
pork offal, coarsely minced, and boiled into pork skin from the leg
Chireta from Aragonese valleys of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza, and Girella
from Catalan valley of Pallars, both made by boiling inside sheep
intestines a mixture of rice and sheep offal, mainly lungs and heart
Drob de miel from Romania, an Easter specialty made from ground sheep's
organs, mixed with spices and herbs and wrapped in a sheep's stomach or
caul (more rarely, in a thin dough).
Garnatálg, an intestine and fat dish from the northern Faroe Islands.
Ghammeh (aka kroush), from Lebanon, sheep stomach stuffed with rice,
garlic, onions, pine nuts, minced lamb meat and spices, usually served
with a soup that has similar ingredients to the fillings.
Goetta
Hogs pudding or Groats Pudding from Devon & Cornwall containing oats and
spiced pork offal
Jaternica or hurka, from Slovakia. Very similar to Bulgarian Bahur, made
with rice and mixed pork bowels. Known as hurka in Hungary.
Jelito, Czech & Moravian dark black-brown non-smoked sausage made of
minced pork (second-rate parts - head, fatback, liver) with blood,
spices (garlic, black pepper, all-spice, cumin, marjoram, mace, garlic),
salt and peeled barley or unsweetened white bun. Other and similar
sausage produced during hog killing is greyish-brown jitrnice made of
minced offal (liver, kidney, lung) and fat with pork broth, same
assortment of spices, and bun. Filled casings (guts, approx. 20 cm long
and 3 cm thick pieces) are skewered and boiled in broth.
JUG-JUG from Barbados, reputed to be a corruption of haggis with the
corn flour substituted for the oatmeal.
Kaszanka from Poland, closely resembling haggis despite its very
different ingredients of buckwheat and pig's blood
KepeninÄ— from Lithuania made from animal's (most frequently pig's)
liver, lungs and some fat, all that stuffed into pig's large intestines.
Kishka, a traditional Ashkenazi Jewish kosher dish consisting of a
mixture of meal,meat and spices stuffed in a beef intestine or a sewn
pocket made of poultry neck skin
Knipp (Speise) from Bremen and Lower Saxony, north Germany. Made with
any animal leftovers, spiced with salt, pepper and thickened with
cereal. Served in either a sausage or in slices usually with fried
potatoes and bacon. Tastes exactly the same as Scottish haggis.
Kraujiniai vÄ—darai from Lithuania, Samogitia made from pig's blood
and wheet grains, stuffed into pig's large intestines.
Lungemos (Lungmush) Norway. Similar to haggis. Pork, Beef meat, Lung and
Heart. Eaten with Lefse or potatoes, mashed or boiled
Mazzit from Malta made from animal's entrails
Montalayo from Mexico, which is prepared from sheep or goat offal in a
manner very similar to haggis
Pölsa from Sweden, made from beef
Saumagen from Western Germany, made with pork
Slátur, an Icelandic cooked sheep's stomachs filled with blood, fat,
and liver
Stippgrütze from Westphalia, Germany, made from barley soup, pork or
beef meat and entrails, fat, spiced with salt, piment, pepper, stuffed
into a glass jar or into synthetic sausage skin. Pan-fried before served
and eaten together with bread or pan-fried potatoes.
Å vargl in Croatia and Serbia, made from pork
TlaÄ enka, from the Czech Republic. Similar to haggis, but from pork
with large pieces of lean and fat meat, boiled in bladder or stomach.
Tripas from Portugal made from animal's entrails and served with beans
and rice.
Véres hurka from Hungary made from animal's entrails, blood, pork, and
rice or soaked bread rolls, fried and served with some mustard or
pickles and a slice of bread. Another version known as májas hurka is
made without blood and so is white in colour. Both types contain a lot
of herbs and spices, especially marjoram and black pepper, so they smell
fragrant but are not excessively heavy on the stomach.
[edit] References
^ Montagné, Prosper (2001). Larousse Gastronomique. pp. 592.
^ Davidson, Alan (2006). The Oxford Companion to Food. UK: Oxford
University Press. ISBN 0192806815.
^ Barham, Andrea (2005). The Pedant's Revolt: Why Most Things You Think
Are Right Are Wrong. Michael O'Mara Books Ltd. ISBN 1-84317-132-5.
^ Dickson Wright, Clarissa (1998). The Haggis: A Little History..
Pelican Publishing Company. ISBN 1-56554-364-5..
^ "American tourists believe Haggis is an animal", guardian.co.uk, 27
November 2003
^ http://winewithhaggis.co.uk Wine With Haggis
^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7198751.stm Scots ask US to lift
haggis ban
^ http://haggishunt.scotsman.com Haggis Hunt
^ http://www.haggishurling.org/hweb/AboutUs.htm Haggis Hurling
Association
^ http://ifoce.com/news.php?action=detail&sn=639
^ The Course. The Official Site of the Masters Tournament. Last accessed
January 8, 2007.
[edit] External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Haggis
Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on
Haggis
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Address to a Haggis
Video Documentary of History of Haggis in America, Haggis Recipe, Alton
Brown's Haggis Recipe, Belief in the Wild Haggis
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haggis"
Categories: Scottish sausages | Puddings | Peasant foods | Offal |
Scottish cuisine
