Haggis is the traditional Scottish meal but not the most popular in fact many Scots turn their nose at idea of eating it.

It is said and I believe it that most people would not have even heard of the Haggis if it had not been for our national poet Robert Burns. He referred to it as the Chieftain of the Pudding Race in his poem “Address To The Haggis. Today over 210 years after the death of Robert Burns that poem is still said throughout the world especially on 25th January when we hold our Burns Night celebrations.

You will be able to find the full version of “Address to the Haggis” on our ScottishJerk.com website. The same section of the website includes a template menu for those looking to organise their own Burns Night supper. The template also has the Scottish Grace or Selkirk Grace along with the order of toasts and responses that should be included.

On less formal occasions such as almost every night of the week all year round most Scots COULD buy what is referred to as a haggis supper. This is simply deep fried haggis with chips (outside of Scotland “chips” may be called French fries) and sold mainly as a take-away meal along with Haggis burgers. However this does not tell us what is the secret recipe that makes Haggis so special.

Ask a Scot and they will tell you a Haggis is a small animal with its two left legs shorter than the right legs. Females have the short leg on the right so you tell them apart easier! Darwin explained this under the survival of the fittest theory by pointing out that this difference in leg length allowed them to run in circles around steep Scottish highland hills. Some travel agents will still try to sell tourists tickets for haggis hunting tours and then take them to the local butchers shop.

In reality the haggis is made up of the cheapest cuts of meat available usually a sheep making it popular for poorer families in ancient times (although venison haggis is eaten in some areas). By tradition the ingredients are mixed from several different meats including the heart, liver and lungs (the latter is often called lights) together with some mutton, onion, suet fat and arrange of spices and herbs to local taste and custom. After mixing it will be placed inside a sheep’s stomach as a lining before being boiled and served usually with neeps (turnip) and boiled potato.

Today you will also find the sheep’s stomach has been replaced with an artificial cellulose casing and several vegetarian versions of the haggis are being made available in supermarkets.

In many countries it will not be possible to get a truly traditional haggis e.g. the USA where the lung of animals has been ruled to be unfit for human consumption. We have covered the haggis in more detail including its role in Burns Night celebrations on our Scottish culture website http://ScottishJerk.com