National Dishes of the World

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Haggis
Photo: Chris Brown, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

main dish

Haggis

Scotland’s peppery mix of sheep’s offal, oatmeal and onion, served with mashed swede and potatoes.

Eaten in: United Kingdom

Prep
45 min
Cooking
3 h 30 min
Total
4 h 15 min
Servings
6

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About the dish

Haggis is Scotland’s national dish, made from sheep’s offal – heart, liver and lungs – minced with onion, suet and toasted oatmeal and seasoned generously with pepper and spices. It was traditionally cooked in a sheep’s stomach, today more often in an artificial casing. Cooked haggis has a crumbly, loose texture and a deep, gently spiced flavour. It is served with neeps and tatties, mashed swede and potatoes, sometimes with a whisky sauce. On 25 January, the birthday of the poet Robert Burns, haggis is piped to the table and his poem Address to a Haggis is recited over it. It is also bought ready-made, and a slice often turns up in a Scottish breakfast.

Main ingredients

  • sheep’s offal
  • oatmeal
  • beef suet
  • onion
  • black pepper
  • swede
  • potatoes

United Kingdom: Scotland’s national dish, served above all at Burns Suppers on 25 January.

More: Wikipedia (pl) Wikipedia (en)

Recipe

Haggis

https://foodmap.ominuvo.com/dish/haggis

Ingredients

6 servings

6 servings

Method

  1. Put the heart, liver and lungs (if using) in a pot, cover with water and simmer for about an hour. Drain, keeping the liquid, and leave to cool.

  2. Trim any tough tubes from the heart and finely chop or mince all the offal.

  3. Mix the offal with the suet, oatmeal, onions, spices and enough cooking liquid to make a moist but not runny mixture.

  4. Fill the casing two-thirds full (the oats swell), tie it off and prick it a few times. Alternatively, pack the mixture into a greased basin and cover tightly with baking paper and foil.

  5. Simmer the haggis in barely trembling water, or steam it, for about 2½–3 hours, topping up the water as needed.

  6. Meanwhile boil the swede and potatoes separately and mash each with butter, salt and pepper.

  7. Slit the casing or turn the haggis out of the basin and serve it hot by the spoonful with the neeps and tatties.

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