To most Americans, the thought of haggis, the national dish of Scotland, is stomach turning. In fact, that is what it's made of: specifically sheep stomach stuffed with minced sheep organs and onion. There has been a ban on importing haggis into the U.S. since 1989, when the BSE threat first appeared. Now the Scottish government is thinking of asking the U.S. to drop the ban at the request of Scottish haggis maker Macsween. The Macsween company thinks they can sell a lot of haggis here, due to all of the Scottish ex-patriots. A company spokesman also claims that "once Americans try a good quality haggis, they can't get enough of it". (Er, maybe.) Officials say that haggis is perfectly safe as long as hygiene procedures are followed correctly which would make haggis safe to import into the U.S.
I have a personal rule that I have to try everything once. I won't lie, haggis is one thing that makes me nervous. Once I found out what it involved I was a little alarmed. However, if I did have the chance to try some high quality haggis I would not pass it up. What's the point in living if you don't take a chance from time to time?
[Via ColdMud.com]
1-23-2008 @7:03PM Kat K. said... YUM. I adore haggis, and convinced my husband, a non-lover of offal, to sample some at a Scottish restaurant, Boisdale in London, while we were on our honeymoon. We were both absolutely shocked when he, who finds ordinary sausage utterly unspeakable, absolutely adored it. A particularly good rendition? Dunno - I'm an American and haven't had much, but I make a point of going there whenever I'm in town.
http://www.boisdale.co.uk/belgravia/
Years ago, I met the World Haggis Eating Champion. His son had previously held the title. And probably on more more than one occasion, his stomach.
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1-25-2008 @5:26PM Brian said... WHat about Gummi Haggis:http://candyaddict.com/blog/2007/10/08/mcphees-gummy-haggis-and-gummy-tapeworm/
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1-21-2008 @10:46AM jrsygir1 said... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
NONONONONONONONONONONONONO
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1-21-2008 @10:54AM Mr Atrocity said... Haggis, especially served with parsnips and potatoes, is really delicious. This shouldn't be a surprise; offal is really tasty meat. It's pure squeamishness that puts people off. Furthermore, a regular (proper) sausage skin is made from pig intestine so there's little difference between it and a haggis skin and I don't often hear people complain about sausages.
It's a crying shame that we are so fickle about which parts of an animal we'll eat. In essence what's the difference between eating a creature's muscle and eating its internals? It's all dead flesh. Try it, you might like it.
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1-21-2008 @11:06AM slackferno said... I've had American haggis. The verdict: meh. Wasn't awful (oooh, did I go there?) but the oatmeal filler left something to be desired. This didn't do much to dissuade me from my theory that much of Scottish cuisine is rooted in bar bets, as in "I bet you won't put that in your mouth!" "I bet I will!"
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1-21-2008 @11:19AM SeanMike said... Personally I've always wanted to try it. I mean, how much worse can it be (in terms of squeamishness) than hot dogs or most sausages?
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1-21-2008 @11:43AM sugarshakes said... There's always vegan haggis!
http://supervegan.com/blog/entry.php?id=620
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1-21-2008 @3:08PM anonymoose said... On a recent trip to Scotland I tried haggis with neeps and tatties (turnips and potatoes) as well as a vegetarian version. While it wasn't bad I found the flavouring a little strong and I have to say I enjoyed the black pudding much more.
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1-21-2008 @12:30PM Kiwi Carlisle said... It's spelled "expatriate", not "ex-patriot", and it means someone who's left the country.
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1-22-2008 @2:07AM Robin said... I live in Glasgow with my Scottish partner, and let me tell you, he's mad for haggis. I'm a vegetarian so haven't experienced the whole tradition, but I do love vegetarian haggis and think the spice mixture and texture to be unique and really tasty.
Haggis is not pure offal like tripe; it's cooked in a sheep's stomach but the stomach is not eaten. Also haggis cannot be eaten without a good whisky sauce and clapshot! (turnips and potatoes mashed together)
People squeamish about haggis might like Chicken Balmoral - chicken stuffed with haggis and then served with whisky sauce. Tends to tone down the strong spices and flavouring.
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1-21-2008 @6:03PM Remslie said... Jeepers,
I had American haggis just last Friday night at the Robert Burns dinner at Cal Tech. It came with Neeps & Tatties (parsnips and potatoes) and was dry and pretty tasteless- mostly the grain filling provided what flavor and texture there was.
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1-22-2008 @8:38AM Beany said... Seems to be some confusion above about what 'neeps' are. 'Neeps' means Swede/Rutabaga , rather than white turnip, in my experience.
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