"offal" news and stories

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]

Source

When I first saw Mario Batali's new paperback Mario Tailgates NASCAR Style on Jessica's Biscuit, I thought it was a joke. I got my hands on a copy at a local bookstore today and, indeed, it's real. Apparently Mario likes NASCAR. At least, that's what the introduction lead me to believe, as he speaks of NASCAR fans in the first person plural. The recipes are a combination of American "cookout" food and some recycled items from Mario's previous books. Ham and cheese biscuits and "Mario's Kick Ass Barbecue Sauce" mingle with pork braciolona and grilled lobster with Limoncello. I just don't know about the logistics of stuffing, trussing and braising a pork shoulder in a tailgait environment. Still, I have to give the man credit for continuing to broaden the palate of the average joe. But with Mario's well-known penchant for using unusual meats, I'm a little surprised that I didn't see any roadkill cookery in here. Maybe I just didn't look hard enough.