Haggis!

[Pandora II]

I just made haggis for supper with mashed potatoes and peas. Mmmmmm

Its one of my top 5 foods for definite. My mother always cooked it as the last meal of the holidays before I went back to boarding school.

DH and I were wondering if you have haggis in the US?

Are any of you secret haggis addicts as well?

 

[aprilcait]

What's haggis?

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/5/2008 4:04:54 PM
Author:Pandora II
I just made haggis for supper with mashed potatoes and peas. Mmmmmm

Its one of my top 5 foods for definite. My mother always cooked it as the last meal of the holidays before I went back to boarding school.

DH and I were wondering if you have haggis in the US?

Are any of you secret haggis addicts as well?

Not I.

 

[Bia]

Negative. But I like most everything so I'll probably like it.

 

[radiantquest]

ive never had haggis, is it like sheppards pie?

haggis=mashed potatoes, peas,etc?
sheppards pie=mashed potatoes, corn, ground beef

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 8/5/2008 4:14:11 PM
Author: radiantquest
ive never had haggis, is it like sheppards pie?

haggis=mashed potatoes, peas,etc?
sheppards pie=mashed potatoes, corn, ground beef

I don't think so, isn't it sheeps liver and heart??

eta: look SDL shows what it is!!!!
1 sheep stomach
1 sheep liver
1 sheep heart
1 sheep tongue

 

[ladypirate]

Yum! I''ve never had it in the states, but I had in Scotland a few times and it is delicious (even though it sounds like it would be

). Do you have a great recipe you''d like to share? (Hint hint?

)

 

[aprilcait]

Date: 8/5/2008 4:17:15 PM
Author: Skippy123

Date: 8/5/2008 4:14:11 PM
Author: radiantquest
ive never had haggis, is it like sheppards pie?

haggis=mashed potatoes, peas,etc?
sheppards pie=mashed potatoes, corn, ground beef

I don''t think so, isn''t it sheeps liver and heart??

eta: look SDL shows what it is!!!!
1 sheep stomach
1 sheep liver
1 sheep heart
1 sheep tongue

Ugh, duuude!

Maybe if I didn''t know that it was comprised of leftover sheep innards I''d like it, but now that I know what''s in it... not so much.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

I can''t stand haggis, the texture is nasty and I am not fond of the flavor.

To answer your question pandora, haggis has never really caught on in the us. There is a long running joke that scots play on Americans when they visit. They tell them they are going hunting for a bizzare animal called a haggis and will tell all these absurd stories about it; like it has one shorter legs and so it runs in cicrcles, etc. Once they laugh at the Americans for falling for it, they laugh harder when they feed them haggis without telling them what is really in it.

 

[Pandora II]

Never made it myself - would be quite hard to do I think.

It''s basically sheep''s heart, liver and lungs minced up very finely, mixed with onion, oatmeal, suet and spices stuffed into a sheep''s stomach (although only the expensive ones come in the stomach these days, most are in plasticy membrane stuff).

You either steam it, cook it in the oven - or microwave it (which is what I do).

It doesn''t taste anything like you think it would looking at the ingredients. It is seriously one of the nicest comfort foods on the planet!

I am definitely NOT a lover of offal at all - haggis does not taste like it has offal in it and it''s not black pudding like either. It''s a kind of peppery, nutty flavour quite unlike anything else.

My parents are mad Scots...

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 8/5/2008 4:30:31 PM
Author: brazen_irish_hussy
I can't stand haggis, the texture is nasty and I am not fond of the flavor.

To answer your question pandora, haggis has never really caught on in the us. There is a long running joke that scots play on Americans when they visit. They tell them they are going hunting for a bizzare animal called a haggis and will tell all these absurd stories about it; like it has one shorter legs and so it runs in cicrcles, etc. Once they laugh at the Americans for falling for it, they laugh harder when they feed them haggis without telling them what is really in it.

Ah yes, the mysterious wild haggis!

I too have played that joke - on poor unsuspecting Italians! I took a whole load over with me one Christmas and did a big Burns Night dinner. They all loved the haggis - I told them what was in it afterwards.

 

[iheartscience]

I haven''t had it but I would love to try it! (Done well, that is!) I have had beef tripe, which is intestines or stomach, I believe, and it was tasty.

I''ll try anything once-I just can''t keep eating something I don''t like! I get what I call the slow chew...and the slow chew leads to gags...and we all know where gags lead!

 

[Pandora II]

If you like tripe - which is eeeeuuuugggghhhh

in my book, you will definitely be able to handle a haggis.

It's almost impossible to do it badly - except the disgusting concoction known as a 'haggis supper' which Scottish chip shops in unsalubrious parts of Edinburgh seem to have in droves. It's haggis dipped in batter and deep fried - you can also follow it with a deep-fried mars bar. Yuck!

I'm also not partial to the fancy whisky sauces that have been recently invented for haggis!

 

[WishfulThinking]

I''d be up for trying it, but I''ve never had it! My brain immediately goes into "euuuucchhh!" mode when I think about the ingredients, but I think that''s a cultural thing, and I could get over it pretty fast. Then again, I''m the girl who eats rabbit, and most Americans look at me like I''m insane for killing sweet, innocent bunnies. Well, yes, I love bunnies, but they also taste nice, and they''re pretty commonly eaten in Portugal where my mother is from. If I can get over the cultural expectation not to eat cute, fuzzy animals I am sure I can overcome the cultural expectation not to eat innards.

 

[ladypirate]

Date: 8/5/2008 5:17:17 PM
Author: WishfulThinking
I''d be up for trying it, but I''ve never had it! My brain immediately goes into ''euuuucchhh!'' mode when I think about the ingredients, but I think that''s a cultural thing, and I could get over it pretty fast. Then again, I''m the girl who eats rabbit, and most Americans look at me like I''m insane for killing sweet, innocent bunnies. Well, yes, I love bunnies, but they also taste nice, and they''re pretty commonly eaten in Portugal where my mother is from. If I can get over the cultural expectation not to eat cute, fuzzy animals I am sure I can overcome the cultural expectation not to eat innards.

I''ve tried rabbit a couple of times, but it''s not really my thing. The meat is kind of stringy or something (or maybe it''s just the way it was cooked?) I LOVE duck, though. I could eat duck every day. Yum yum!

 

[angel_nieves]

My mom use to make haggis, and I use to love it!!!!!

 

[WishfulThinking]

Date: 8/5/2008 5:20:01 PM
Author: ladypirate

Date: 8/5/2008 5:17:17 PM

Author: WishfulThinking

I''d be up for trying it, but I''ve never had it! My brain immediately goes into ''euuuucchhh!'' mode when I think about the ingredients, but I think that''s a cultural thing, and I could get over it pretty fast. Then again, I''m the girl who eats rabbit, and most Americans look at me like I''m insane for killing sweet, innocent bunnies. Well, yes, I love bunnies, but they also taste nice, and they''re pretty commonly eaten in Portugal where my mother is from. If I can get over the cultural expectation not to eat cute, fuzzy animals I am sure I can overcome the cultural expectation not to eat innards.

I''ve tried rabbit a couple of times, but it''s not really my thing. The meat is kind of stringy or something (or maybe it''s just the way it was cooked?) I LOVE duck, though. I could eat duck every day. Yum yum!

I never found it to be stringy- how interesting. I definitely don''t like stringy meat, so I don''t blame you one bit. It might be the way it was cooked. I''m not sure who cooked it when you ate it, but I know my grandmother has a lot of experience cooking it because she has all her life, even from when she was a young girl and it was her job to prepare it, so she is very good at it and I imagine she does it completely "right." Also, we ate rabbits raised by very small breeders, not a large farm that might not have as quality a product. I think ours were organic or something? Maybe that has something to do with it. They were pretty young, too, which might have helped.

Duck is delicious, though. Yuummm. This thread is making me want to cook something!

 

[Pandora II]

I'll try pretty much anything once - except most animals that could be kept as pets (excluding guinea pigs and rabbits which I will eat) ie cat/dog/horse and I won't eat snake or hedgehog as I own some. I also wouldn't eat endangered species.

Roast bunny is lovely!

I hate: liver, kidneys, offal of any kind in fact and broadbeans.

So, that fact I adore haggis just shows how unoffal like it is.

I'd send some over, but I don't think you can import it into the US.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

Date: 8/5/2008 6:23:06 PM
Author: Pandora II
I''ll try pretty much anything once - except most animals that could be kept as pets (excluding guinea pigs and rabbits which I will eat) ie cat/dog/horse and I won''t eat snake or hedgehog as I own some. I also wouldn''t eat endangered species.

Roast bunny is lovely!

I hate: liver, kidneys, offal of any kind in fact and broadbeans.

So, that fact I adore haggis just shows how unoffal like it is.

I''d send some over, but I don''t think you can import it into the US.

Rocky mountain oysters where I am is along the same lines as haggis where you don''t tell people what they are until after they have eaten it. I have never tried it, but my dad likes them.

I don''t really like rabbit, I also found it stringy. I find reptile meat has a weird texture I am not fond of. Duck is good, pigeon isn''t bad, but goose is the absolute best.

I will try most things. I draw the line at cats/dogs/horses as well and won''t eat anything bloody or the head of something. I also can''t eat anything remotely spicy without getting violently ill.

 

[Linda W]

I would probably try it, if I didn''t know what it was made of.

 

[Miranda]

Date: 8/5/2008 6:34:54 PM
Author: Linda W
I would probably try it, if I didn''t know what it was made of.

LOL, Linda! That is exactly what I was thinking!

Nope, Pandora, it isn''t something that has caught on here in the US. I don''t know many people who eat innards very often anymore. When I was a kid I would hear of dinner being liver and onions or something like that. Not often anymore though.

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 8/5/2008 5:10:38 PM
Author: Pandora II
If you like tripe - which is eeeeuuuugggghhhh

in my book, you will definitely be able to handle a haggis.


It''s almost impossible to do it badly - except the disgusting concoction known as a ''haggis supper'' which Scottish chip shops in unsalubrious parts of Edinburgh seem to have in droves. It''s haggis dipped in batter and deep fried - you can also follow it with a deep-fried mars bar. Yuck!


I''m also not partial to the fancy whisky sauces that have been recently invented for haggis!

Hahaha! "Handle a haggis" just sounds hilarious! But it''s good to know I would like it!

The tripe I had was actually very good-you might have liked it if you had it the way I had it! I took an anthropology course a few semesters ago and the teacher had us bring in things that tasted like home, so one girl from Mexico made this spicy tripe soup thing her mom always makes and it was shockingly delicious!

I agree with your later post, though-I definitely couldn''t eat cat/dog/horse/guinea pig/etc. I have eaten squirrel, rabbit, bear and venison, though! My dad grew up hunting and he still hunts occasionally, so I''ve eaten lots of different types of things he caught!

 

[Beth]

My husband''s whole family loves it. I cannot even bear to think of it. His mother makes it as a special treat on Bobby Burns day and also at other times. I can''t even stand the smell of it cooking. The dog likes it.

 

[Maisie]

I am not far from Scotland but have never tried Haggis. I don''t think I could either.

 

[FrekeChild]

I''ll eat anything. Seriously. Anything. I''ll let you know if I don''t like it, but I''ll eat it anyway. Smoked Ants-tried it. Bunny-eaten it. Frog legs- yum! Alligator-yum! Tripe-yum! Offal-yum!

That''s what culinary school does to you. You have to try everything. It''s like an unofficial rule.

Menudo = Mexican tripe soup

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 8/5/2008 7:56:33 PM
Author: FrekeChild
I'll eat anything. Seriously. Anything. I'll let you know if I don't like it, but I'll eat it anyway. Smoked Ants-tried it. Bunny-eaten it. Frog legs- yum! Alligator-yum! Tripe-yum! Offal-yum!


That's what culinary school does to you. You have to try everything. It's like an unofficial rule.


Menudo = Mexican tripe soup

Yes! Menudo! That's what I had! Soooooo tasty!

ETA: I like frog legs too!

 

[FrekeChild]

Heck yeah it is thing2!!!!There is a restaurant here, it''s *New Mexican*/Mexican food, and they have a drive up window (and going inside too of course) where you can get some amazing menudo. Sooooo yummy!!!!!

 

[Beth]

Rabbit and dumplings is really good. I do enjoy game.

 

[Elmorton]

Pandora, I typically try to be open about food, but that recipe reminds me that I''m soooo glad y''all taxed our tea.

 

[Rhea]

I''m not a secert haggis fan. I''d never seen the stuff until my first Burns Night super here. Count me out!