Haggis (Scottish Gaelic: taigeis) is a savoury pudding containing sheep’s pluck (heart, liver, and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and cooked while traditionally encased in the animal’s stomach though now an artificial casing is often used instead. According to the 2001 English edition of the Larousse Gastronomique: “Although its description is not immediately appealing, haggis has an excellent nutty texture and delicious savoury flavour”.
It is believed that food similar to haggis—perishable offal quickly cooked inside an animal’s stomach, all conveniently available after a hunt—was eaten from ancient times.
Although the name “hagws” or “hagese” was first recorded in England c. 1430, the dish is considered traditionally of Scottish origin. It is even the national dish, as a result of Scots poet Robert Burns‘ poem “Address to a Haggis” of 1786. Haggis is traditionally served with “neeps and tatties“, boiled and mashed separately, and a dram (a glass of Scotch whisky), especially as the main course of a Burns supper.
Haggis is traditionally served as part of the Burns supper on or near January 25, the birthday of Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns. Burns wrote the poem “Address to a Haggis“, which starts “Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o’ the puddin-race!” In Burns’s lifetime haggis was a common dish of the poor as it was nourishing yet very cheap, being made from leftover parts of sheep otherwise discarded.
Haggis is widely available in supermarkets in Scotland all year, with cheaper brands normally packed in artificial casings, rather than stomachs. Sometimes haggis is sold in tins or a container which can be cooked in a microwave or conventional oven. Some commercial haggis is largely made from pig, rather than sheep, offal. Kosher haggis, not only pork-free but fully conformant to Jewish dietary laws, is produced.
Haggis is often served in Scottish fast-food establishments, in the shape of a large sausage and deep fried in batter. Together with chips, this comprises a “haggis supper”. A “haggis burger” is a patty of fried haggis served on a bun. A “haggis pakora” is another deep fried variant, available in some Indian restaurants in Scotland. Haggis can be used as an ingredient in other dishes, even pizza, rather than the main part of a dish.
A traditional haggis recipe describes haggis as “sheep’s ‘pluck’ (heart, liver, and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased in the animal’s stomach and boiled”. Ingredients are sheep stomach, heart and lungs of one lamb, onions, oatmeal, salt, pepper, stock, and water, with optional ingredients dried coriander, cinnamon, and nutmeg. It can be boiled, baked, or deep fried.
In the north-east of Scotland, from Aberdeen northwards, in addition to the customary neeps and tatties, haggis is commonly served with mince.
