[Sca-cooks] haggis question
Johnna Holloway
johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu
Fri Jan 5 12:03:47 PST 2007
It may not always have been a sheep's stomach.
Wikipedia mentions
It's unknown who discovered and prepared this for the first time. The
most likely origin of the dish is from the days of the old Scottish
cattle drovers <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_drovers>. When the
men left the highlands <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Highlands>
to drive their cattle to market <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market> in
Edinburgh <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh> the women would
prepare rations for them to eat during the long journey down through the
glens <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen>. They used the ingredients
that were most readily available in their homes and conveniently
packaged them in a sheep's stomach allowing for easy transportation
during the journey.
Another theory, put forward by food historian Clarissa Dickson-Wright
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarissa_Dickson-Wright>, is that haggis
was invented as a way of cooking quick-spoiling offal
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offal> near the site of a hunt, without
the need to carry along an additional cooking vessel. The liver and
kidneys could be grilled <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grill> directly
over a fire, but this treatment was unsuitable for the stomach,
intestines, or lungs. Chopping up the lungs and stuffing the stomach
with them and whatever fillers might have been on hand, then boiling the
assembly — likely in a vessel made from the animal's hide
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal%27s_hide> — was one way to make
sure these parts did not go to waste. (Dickson-Wright 12).Dickson
Wright, Clarissa <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarissa_Dickson_Wright>
(1998). /The Haggis: A Little History/. Pelican Publishing Company. ISBN
1-56554-364-5
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Booksources&isbn=1565543645>.
Other theories are based on Scottish slaughtering practices. When a
Chieftan or Laird required an animal to be slaughtered for meat (whether
sheep or cattle) the workmen were allowed to keep the offal as their share.
Johnnae
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