[Sca-cooks] Haggis, Updated: Less Offal, Tastes Great

[Adele de Maisieres]

Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote:

>Actually, one of the people quoted specifically mentions that the  
>"traditional" ingredients are somewhat fluid, and if you look at non- 
>Hieland recipes, or any from outside the window of the Highlands of  
>the 18th and 19th centuries, these may appear non-traditional in many  
>respects (for example, do they call for suet or not, or what spices  
>do they use in addition to black pepper -- mine uses pepper only, and  
>invariably gets raves).
>  
>

That's fair enough-- it's primarily the idea that offal is yucky that I 
find objectionable.  (Mmmm... haggis with plenty  of pepper...)


>>  And there
>>are some weird statements about the taste (like liver pate,  
>>according to
>>one commenter) and about haggis being an acquired taste.
>>    
>>
>
>Not from the author. He's a reporter, not an evangelist. I don't see  
>this as being either part of the solution or part of the problem.  
>Rather, it acknowledges a problem, explores some possible reasons for  
>the problem, and explains what some people are doing about it.
>  
>

Yes, he's a reporter, but he's also made some conscious decisions about 
exactly what to report.  I mean, presumably, if you looked for them, you 
could find a bunch of commenters who think that haggis is delicious and 
that the old-fashioned kind is best and report on that.

>I can't get  
>sheep lungs, so I have to improvise. I find a small amount of pork  
>spleens (Italian and Chinese butchers, as well as serious French  
>butchers, sell these, sometimes calling them "milts") makes a good  
>substitute to give greater dimension than you'd get by simply  
>omitting the lungs.
>  
>
Lungs have been banned from sale here, too, although if you're in the 
know, they can sometimes be procured. 


>haggis  
>_does_ have a pretty bad reputation in many parts of the world. I'm  
>glad to have made the converts I have.
>  
>
Maybe.  I've only seen a lot of negative comments from North Americans. 


>> Now for a few remarks based on my personal experience:
>>Good haggis, well-made with the traditional ingredients is delicious.
>>It tastes nothing like pate-- if anything, it's a bit like a meatloaf
>>with a coarse, crumbly texture.
>>    
>>
>
>I aim for a texture somewhere between a moist pilaf and a hash, myself.
>  
>
I concur-- your description is better than mine.  I like a more 
granular, pilaf-y texture myself, but that's purely a matter of taste.

>  
>
>>  Many people who try it like it
>>immediately, and, conversely, it mainly has a bad reputation amongst
>>people who have never tried it.
>>    
>>
>
>Not unlike garum and the films of Kevin Smith in that respect.
>

:-)


-- 
Adele de Maisieres

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Habeo metrum - musicamque,
hominem meam. Expectat alium quid?
-Georgeus Gershwinus
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