# A way with haggis



## Langham (Nov 7, 2012)

I was given a haggis recently - apparently there is some annual festivity north of the border, at which one eats haggis. I'm not that keen on haggis, and my wife refuses to touch it so I have devised my own way of cooking it.

On the principle that a haggis is a bit like a bloated, bloodless black pudding, I have been slicing it thickly and frying it in olive oil as I would black pudding. The texture is rather good this way in fact - crispy on the outside, oaty and quite rich on the inside. I serve it with tomato and basil sauce.


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## dks202 (Jun 20, 2008)

I have never tried it but I have a close friend from Scotland (now in South Texas, long story) who grew up with it. She can't wait to get home every year, her mom makes it at home in Dunoon. It's hard for me to imagine the taste but it's no more disgusting than barbaracoa or menudo around here.


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## Langham (Nov 7, 2012)

^ I may be wrong, but I believe the haggis is a banned import to the USA. 'Disgusting' is not quite how I would describe it, but it is not a universally popular dish here. I feel sure that someone with a surer culinary touch than myself - perhaps Heston Blumenthal? - might be able to do something quite interesting with a haggis.


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## drlivingston (Jun 21, 2012)

That looks like something a pathologist would remove during an autopsy.


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## Langham (Nov 7, 2012)

I understand the haggis's skin is traditionally made from the lining of a sheep's stomach, so resemblance to a bodily organ is perhaps not surprising.

Out of interest, I have done some quick internet research which suggests a nordic origin for the haggis. The earliest known recipe for one is dated 1430 and from Lancashire, in England:


> _
> For hagese'
> _Þe hert of schepe,
> þe nere þou take,
> ...


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## Wolfslair (Sep 11, 2014)

Reminds me of Philadelphia scrapple without the stomach used as a serving bag. Do not waste any spare parts of the animal when it is butchered and you are bound to come up with some unappetizing dishes.


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