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Haggis
Recipe by Graham
Haggis tastes like, well imagine ground lamb mixed with onion, oatmeal and spices and you'll get the idea. It's rather good actually, and doesn't deserve its poor reputation. It has an excellent nutty texture and delicious savoury flavour.
The haggis is traditionally served with "neeps and tatties" (turnip and potato, boiled and mashed separately) and a "dram" (i.e. a glass of Scotch whisky). Though generally accepted as a Scottish dish, the first known written recipe for a dish of the name (as 'hagese'), made with offal and herbs, dates from around 1430 in Lancashire, North West England.
If you are visiting Scotland you most definitely should not leave the country without eating fresh-made local haggis. If, like me, you can only get commercial haggis, don't fret, it's still very good and is prepared and sold in a casing rather than an actual sheep's stomach.
But if you live in a cave in the Himalayas and 'commercial' haggis isn't available to you (or if you simply prefer to make it yourself), here's how to make your own...
Guinness Beef Stew 
Haggis, Neeps and Tatties Ingredients for Haggis
Currently displaying quantities in US Imperial Measurements
How to Cook Haggis
- Rinse the stomach thoroughly, scald it with boiling water, turn it inside-out and scrape it clean with a knife, then soak overnight in cold salted water
- Rinse the lungs, heart and liver well, and place them in a large pan of cold water. Bring the water to the boil and cook for about 2 hours. When cooked, strain off the stock and set it aside.
- Mince the lungs, heart and liver and place into a large mixing bowl. Peel and finely chop the onions and add them to the mix. Also add the oatmeal, spices and seasoning. Mix well and add enough stock to moisten the mixture. It should have a soft crumbly consistency.
- Spoon the mixture into the sheep's stomach until it's just a bit over half full (this leaves room for the oatmeal to swell). Sew up the stomach with strong thread and prick it several times so it doesn't explode while cooking.
Place the haggis into a pan of boiling water and cook for 3 hours without a lid. (Make sure there's always enough water to cover the haggis, so add more boiling water as necessary)- To serve, cut open the haggis and spoon out the filling. Serve steaming hot with mashed potatoes and turnip, or make a nice "tower" (like the photo on the left) and serve with whisky sauce as described in our recipe for Haggis, Neeps and Tatties
GRAHAM'S HOT TIP:
You can toast the oatmeal slightly before adding to the mixture, if you like a really 'nutty' taste.
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