Let's talk about Haggis

[Ookii]

So I was reading the Haggis Wikipedia article, which happens to be amazing.  First let's establish what Haggis is:

There are many recipes, but it is normally made with the following ingredients: sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately an hour.

Now for more fun facts:

Because food safety laws in some countries 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.

This one is just wrong:

In 2007, the Scottish Haggis championship was won by a 22 year old Northern Irishman who had only been making the dish for three years.

Sports:

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 22 years. He threw a 1.5 lb Haggis an astonishing 180 feet, 10 inches on the island of Inchmurrin, Loch Lomond, in August 1984.

My favorite:

One character in The Curse of Monkey Island is named Haggis McMutton. He states that it's just a nickname, and that his real name is Heart, Liver And Kidneys Boiled In The Stomach Of The Animal McMutton. When asked if his parents had been expecting a girl, he replies, "Aye."

What isn't sufficiently conveyed in the article is the texture and taste of Haggis, has anyone here had it?  What's it like?

[Ironwood]

Yes.  It's nice.

[WayAbvPar]

Haggis is where I draw the line between me and my Scot roots. Daddy don't dig on no innards, y0.

[Samwise]

I had haggis while I was in Scotland.  I concur that it is nice.  IIRC it tasted like ground beef with a bit of peppery seasoning and gravy and served over mashed potatoes.  (Mutton and beef aren't all that dissimilar, and with the possible exception of lungs, all the organs in a haggis can probably be found in the average American hamburger as well.)

If I had to sum it up in three words: Scottish meat loaf.

[Hayduke]

I'd probably eat dog or casu marzu before haggis.

Ookii - Fixed yer linkage

[Endie]

Haggis is gorgeous: it should be spicy and with a fairly firm pinhead oatmeal for texture.  It's delicious served with fruit-based sauces, but even better with ones based on spirits: glayva or whisky are particularly nice bases.  It is also the only food I have ever tasted that is actually pleasant when eaten with whisky.  And no, that's not to kill the taste.

[Tale]

It's really nice. Very good food.

Consider this subject like you might consider traditional Asian cuisine. It may contain some things you are not used to eating in your country, but given people have been eating it for centuries, the problem is your prejudice not the food.

Another very Scottish example is black pudding (blood sausage) which is also perfectly good to eat. It's just ignorant to give an American-style "ew" about any of this. Look at the production process for a fast food hamburger, and you encounter a much more frightening food.

The other cool thing about haggis is that it's representative of a small, stoic culture's resistance to a large, dominant culture next-door. Scotland has 6 million people to England's 60 million. It's a Scottish national sport to tell the English (and other tourists) that haggis is a wild animal in the highlands and explain how to hunt it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Haggis

[Big Gulp]

Haggis is where I draw the line between me and my Scot roots. Daddy don't dig on no innards, y0.

German/Polish.  Head cheese, blood soup, and sausages galore attest to the fact that we'll eat anything.  I'd have no problem trying haggis.

[Signe]

The only part of Haggis I'll eat is oatmeal, with fruit, in the morning.  Boiling nasty sheep bits in it's own stomach lining is just unhealthy and icky.  And gross.  I won't eat it and I won't cook it.  Poor Righ.     He likes it.

[Chenghiz]

For a long time I've had 'haggis' alongside 'lutefisk' in my head. How wrong I was.

[hal]

That whole "Wild Haggis Hunting" bit was great fun as in the Appalachian (populated by Scot/ Irish for the most part) there are rumors of a breed of cows who's right legs are shorter than their Left legs. for grazing on the mountains. It is also reminiscent of snipe hunting. Great to see and understand the origions of myths.

[Ookii]

I had haggis while I was in Scotland.  I concur that it is nice.  IIRC it tasted like ground beef with a bit of peppery seasoning and gravy and served over mashed potatoes.  (Mutton and beef aren't all that dissimilar, and with the possible exception of lungs, all the organs in a haggis can probably be found in the average American hamburger as well.)

If I had to sum it up in three words: Scottish meat loaf.

Well that's disappointing, I was expecting it to be one of those local acquired dish taste type things, but it really just sounds like it's kickass meatloaf (no ketchup for this stuff though).

I did a quick search for Haggis in AZ, but so far have come up with nothing.  Apparently it's illegal to sell the lungs of animals so it won't be "true" haggis anyway, but it would be cool to have a favorite local haggis haunt.

Oh, and in terms of that Casu marzu cheese, I don't even know where to start.

[Abelian75]

Yeah, I'd concur that it's actually pretty good.  Like a more tender ground beef as I recall.  I mean, honestly the ingredients aren't THAT gross, and indeed I'm sure we eat most of that in hamburgers/hot dogs.  The stomach-cooking is the weirdest part, imho.

[Lantyssa]

The only thing that gets me is the liver bit.  Maybe mixed up I couldn't taste it.  It doesn't matter though since oatmeal is on the no-eat list.

[Abelian75]

casu marzu

Oh.  My.  God.

[voodoolily]

Hell I think Braunschweiger is the cat's pajamas (on rye bread with lettuce and a little horseradish and mayo), so I'd prolly like haggis alright.

[Big Gulp]

The only thing that gets me is the liver bit.  Maybe mixed up I couldn't taste it.  It doesn't matter though since oatmeal is on the no-eat list.

Never eaten chicken livers?

You know how they sell mixed chicken hearts/gizzards/livers in the poultry section of the supermarket?  Ever wondered who ate those?  That'd be sick bastards like me.

Oh, and whoever also mentioned liverwurst is correct.  With a hard, dark roll of bread and some spicy mustard it's delicious.

[Hayduke]

Another very Scottish example is black pudding (blood sausage) which is also perfectly good to eat. It's just ignorant to give an American-style "ew" about any of this. Look at the production process for a fast food hamburger, and you encounter a much more frightening food.

I wouldn't eat either (haggis or a fast food hamburger).

[Signe]

It's not the liver that bothers me... I put a thin coat of pâté de foie gras on the pastry when I make Wellington (shh.  I haven't made it in absolute ages. It's hard) although I'm not nuts about any sort of liver on it's own.  It's the sheep's lung (I don't think you can even get lung in the US), heart and stomach that bother me.  Eww.  Better sheep though than beef, at least in Britain, I guess.  I can't even stand the way organ meat smells when it's cooking.  I come from a family who would make tripe, veal tongue and, yes, even the dreaded lutefisk.  I know what I hate and there's a lot of it!  Haggis fits in nicely. 

[Samwise]

The stomach-cooking is the weirdest part, imho.

Natural sausage casings are made of intestine.  Using the stomach isn't any weirder IMO.

[Trippy]

It's not the liver that bothers me... I put a thin coat of pâté de foie gras on the pastry when I make Wellington (shh.  I haven't made it in absolute ages. It's hard) although I'm not nuts about any sort of liver on it's own.  It's the sheep's lung (I don't think you can even get lung in the US), heart and stomach that bother me.  Eww.  Better sheep though than beef, at least in Britain, I guess.

Scrapie is the sheep version of Mad Cow's Disease and is very likely to have been the source of the infectious agent that started the spread of Mad Cow's Disease in England. So no, sheep is not better than beef if you are worried about that sort of thing.

[Lantyssa]

Never eaten chicken livers?

You know how they sell mixed chicken hearts/gizzards/livers in the poultry section of the supermarket?  Ever wondered who ate those?  That'd be sick bastards like me.

And my dad.  I'm a picky eater, which I'll freely admit (not that there's much left once you remove glutten containing grains and dairy).  Liver is something I really, really, really don't like the taste of though.

It's not a food that makes me cringe at the thought of it though.  Like that cheese.  Ick.

[Baldrake]

Anyone for smalahove?

[Engels]

  Like that cheese.  Ick.

I've considered myself a pretty stout soul, having eaten octopus, pigs feet, brains, and other crazy things.

But with that cheese, I've finally met my match. The one statement in that wiki entry that brought me to a screeching halt was:

Folk wisdom in Sardinia holds that the presence of still-living larvae are an assurance that the decomposition has not yet advanced to a toxic state

[Righ]

Apparently it's sell the lungs of animals so it won't be "true" haggis anyway, but it would be cool to have a favorite local haggis haunt.

I've eaten haggis made without lung. You would be hard pressed to tell the difference if its a good recipe. You could probably mail order the American made stuff fairly easily if you fancy cooking it yourself. Also every major US city is bound to have some sort of Scotland fan club thing going, and they'll no doubt arrange a Burns Night in January. But I doubt you'll be able to go down the local chippy and get a deep fried haggis supper in many places in America sadly.

[Oban]

I'd probably eat dog or casu marzu before haggis.

Wow, that cheese is just wrong on so many levels.  How you can equate live insects in rotting milk to Haggis is truly beyond me.

[Trippy]

I'd probably eat dog or casu marzu before haggis.

Wow, that cheese is just wrong on so many levels.  How you can equate live insects in rotting milk to Haggis is truly beyond me.

When disturbed, the larvae can jump for distances up to 15 cm (6 inches), prompting recommendations of eye protection for those eating the cheese.

[Righ]

Fuck eye protection, I recommend psychiatry.

[Tale]

I've considered myself a pretty stout soul, having eaten octopus

Not much different than calimari.

pigs feet,

Not a giant step from eating pigs' legs.

brains,

On many restaurant menus. Tripe though is harder to find these days.

and other crazy things.

All of us are always swallowing insects, bacteria and other stuff. Using a computer keyboard and eating a sandwich are an interesting combination.

[Hayduke]

Damn haters.  I come bearing delicious gifts and this is how I'm repaid.  Fine then, more worm cheese for me.

[CmdrSlack]

After reading about the worm cheese, I think I did actually throw up a bit into my mouth.

Ugh.

[Selby]

Tripe though is harder to find these days.

Yikes.  I remember selling that in the grocery store.  Surprisingly people used to buy it and rave about how great it was.  Anything that smelled as weird and had that funny texture\color was not something I was planning on eating.

[MisterNoisy]

Never eaten chicken livers?

You know how they sell mixed chicken hearts/gizzards/livers in the poultry section of the supermarket?  Ever wondered who ate those?  That'd be sick bastards like me.

Goddamn.  Now I want to fry up some livers and gizzards.  Food of the freakin gods if you don't overcook it. 

[Engels]

Tripe though is harder to find these days.

Yikes.  I remember selling that in the grocery store.  Surprisingly people used to buy it and rave about how great it was.  Anything that smelled as weird and had that funny texture\color was not something I was planning on eating.

Tripe a la Madrilen~a is actually one of my favorite things. I buy about 4 tins of it within a day of getting off the airplane in Spain. You can get tripe in Seattle pretty easily; just head down to Uwajimaya, our pan-asian supermarket. Of course, that does me no good, since I have no earthly idea how to make it.

[Signe]

I hate this thread.    I very much prefer V-Lily's food threads.