It's Burns night.....anyone else having haggis, neeps and tatties?

[Pert_UK]

Nope?

Well this is the first time I've cooked haggis and my girlfriend isn't looking too impressed by the smell or the thought of sheep's stomach stuffed with all sorts of "interesting" animal parts.....But she'll give it a go.

I've had it many times before, but this year I'm cooking it for myself....

I've gone slightly untraditional by doing the tatties with melted cheese and spring onion (scallions), and we're having wine rather than whisky (although I'll sneak a little Highland Park later).

Wish me luck!

Happy Burns Night!

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o need,
While thro your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An cut you up wi ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn, they stretch an strive:
Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
The auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
'Bethankit' hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout,
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi perfect sconner,
Looks down wi sneering, scornfu view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit:
Thro bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll make it whissle;
An legs an arms, an heads will sned,
Like taps o thrissle.

Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies:
But, if ye wish her gratefu prayer,
Gie her a Haggis!

Rabbie Burns, Address to a Haggis.

http://www.rabbie-burns.com/thepoems/address.htm

P.

[Stinky The Clown]

1. I had the "pleasure" of haggis just once ......

....... and that was quite enough, thank you! Some friends of ours in Edinburgh made it especially for us when we visited once in the '80s. I still remember it and I still won't try it again!

I far more enjoyed his "pinched salmon" done on the grill outdoors. For thos who don't know, virtually all rivers in the UK are owned by someone and you need their permission (after payment of a "mopdest" fee, generally, to fish them. Pinched salmon is what you get when you bypass the owner and the fee. }(

I suppose it could also be called "poached" salmon!

[WritersBlock]

2. The way I like haggis is

sliced about 1/2 inch thick, floured, sauted, & then drowned in a black peppercorn-whisky sauce. Lots of sauce.

Come to think of it, maybe it's the sauce I really like.

I don't have a recipe, unfortunately. It's a restaurant dish, but it could probably be emulated fairly easily by a die-hard recipe tweaker.

[BikeWriter]

4. I looked up some recipes. This sounds similar to Cajun boudain.

I have no problem with cooking boudain. I sold twenty pounds of the second batch I made to a professional Cajun chef. :)

[BikeWriter]

3. How did the haggis turn out, Pert?

:)

[Pert_UK]

5. It was fantastic, but really quite rich.....

We had a 1kg haggis between 2 of us and that was probably a bit too much. My g/f enjoyed it but couldn't eat half, so I took the rest to work the next day and had it for lunch (having heated it up in the microwave).

It was the best haggis I've ever had, which is good news because we know the people who made it. I'll definitely have another one from them....They're also doing South African style biltong (dried beef) which is really good too.

[BikeWriter]

6. Very good, I'm glad it was a success. The recipes I looked up were...

...quite reminiscent of Boudain, an ethnic dish I love. I may have to try some haggis, if I can find it. :)