A traditional Scottish dish comprising the minced heart, liver, and lungs of a sheep, as well as suet, oatmeal, and various seasonings. The ingredients are cooked in a bag made from the rumen or forestomach of a sheep.
Most modern commercial haggis is prepared in a casing rather than an actual stomach.Haggis is traditionally served with "neeps and tatties" (Scots: turnip and potatoes), each of these being mashed, separately. Along a different line, it may derive from Old French agace, "magpie"— the magpie is known for collecting odds and ends, and a haggis is made up of odds and ends.
History and popularity
It is unknown when or where the first haggis was consumed.
Another theory, put forward by food historian Clarissa Dickson-Wright, is that haggis was invented as a way of cooking quick-spoiling offal near the site of a hunt, without the need to carry along an additional cooking vessel.
Modern usage
Haggis is traditionally served with the Burns supper on January 25th, when Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns, is commemorated. During Burns' lifetime haggis was a popular dish for the poor, since it made use of parts of a sheep that would otherwise have been wasted.
Haggis is widely available in supermarkets in Scotland (and in some parts of England) all the year round, and the cheaper brands are normally packed in artificial casings, rather than stomachs, just as the cheaper brands of sausages are no longer stuffed into animal intestines. Some supermarket haggis is largely made from pig's, rather than sheep's, offal. In addition, practically all Scottish fish and chip shops will sell their customers a 'haggis supper'. This consists of a small single portion haggis dipped in batter and deep fried, with chips; There are also fast-food shops that sell haggis burgers, with a patty of fried haggis on a bun. In addition some Glaswegian curry houses have also reportedly created the 'haggis baji' as a blend of Indian cuisine and local Scottish foods. Enterprising chefs also find some success with using haggis as a substitute for minced beef in various recipes.
Since the 1960s various Scottish shops and manufacturers have created vegetarian haggis for those who do not eat meat. These substitute various pulses and vegetables for the meat in the dish, with a large number of consumers reporting a result said to be pleasant but sometimes more akin to stuffing than traditional haggis. However since both the traditional and vegetarian haggis have wide variations in flavour depending on the recipe used, it is true to say that some variations of vegetarian haggis taste very similar to some variations of traditional haggis.
Odd facts and pop culture
Since many countries' food safety laws outlaw some of the ingredients in haggis (for example, United States law forbids the sale of any animal's lungs for human consumption), expatriate Scots and Scots descendants overseas have been known to engage in 'haggis smuggling' to obtain true Scottish haggis. At least one American company produces haggis for the U.S. market. The Caledonian Kitchen, a Dallas, Texas based gourmet business, began producing both a Highland beef and vegetarian haggis commercially in 1999. Its haggis is in wide distribution throughout the US.
Entertainment
Haggis is an amusing subject for many people. "A haggis is a small four-legged Scottish Highland creature, which has the limbs on one side shorter than the other side. However a haggis can easily be caught by running around the hill in the opposite direction." (see Wild Haggis) Surprisingly, this humorous myth is believed by many tourists, and thus they are shocked — and possibly disappointed — to hear the truth.
Many tourists are also duped (or nearly duped) by Scottish pranksters attempting to lead them on a 'Wild Haggis Hunt'.
Haggis is also used in a sport called haggis hurling, throwing a haggis as far as possible. The present World Record for Haggis Hurling has been held by Alan Pettigrew for over 21 years. He threw a 1.5 lb Haggis an astonishing 180 feet, 10 inches on the island of Inchmurrin, Loch Lomond, in August 1984.
Haggis juggling is an unusual competition that takes place at the Scottish Juggling Convention each year, with competitors competing for how long they can juggle three, four, or five large haggis.
'Haggis' is an uncommon surname, such as for the animator/games programmer Matazone Haggis, creator of the website known as The Other Side, or the screen writer Paul Haggis, known for his work on Million Dollar Baby, Due South, Thirtysomething, and other film and television series. In names it may come from Old English, meaning 'a woodsman's hut', and a Lord Haggis rode on the third crusade with Richard the Lionheart.
A popular internet Joke about haggis marketing discusses some failed attempts to make Haggis more popular. Other fun failed haggis marketing sites have since sprung up.
Following his victory in The Masters golf tournament in 1988, Scottish golfer Sandy Lyle chose to serve Haggis at the annual Champions Dinner before the 1989 Masters.
Haggis is also the stage name of comedian Tom Downs.
Haggis has also been made fun of many times in film and television.
In Armageddon, during the NASA space readiness exam, one of the minor characters names haggis as his favorite type of food.
In an episode of The Simpsons, Groundskeeper Willie is seen selling haggis at a completely empty booth.
Similar dishes
In some ways, the northeastern U.S. dish scrapple resembles haggis, however scrapple differs in the following ways: it uses pig offal instead of sheep offal and cornmeal instead of oatmeal;
In Romania, drob is a traditional dish very similar to haggis, prepared usually around Easter day, from sheep's organs, mixed with spices and herbs and wrapped in the sheep's stomach or, rarely, in a thin dough. Montalayo from Mexico, which is prepared from sheep or goat offal in a manner very similar to haggis.
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