Wednesday, 10 February 2010

• He Was A Bold Man Who First Ate Haggis

  

  I decided it was high time to learn more about haggis, so I asked my Scottish friend, who is currently living in US, about the dish and if she has had it in the states.  While she has yet had haggis in the U.S., she offered up a great deal of information. 

  Haggis is a meaty and hearty meal made of lamb liver, heart, barley and seasoning.  Originally cooked in an animal’s stomach, now most cook it in casing.  An act passed in 1989 no longer allows the importation of traditional haggis into the U.S. but you can purchase it in a can or of course make your own. 

  My friend suggested I visit Myers at Keswick in Greenwich Village to find canned haggis and she said that, while I was at it, I should purchase Black Pudding, another traditional food in Scotland.  Black pudding is a blood sausage typically eaten for breakfast.  I was prepared to make a visit downtown the next morning in search of haggis.

  I absentmindedly left my apartment on a freezing Saturday morning without looking at a map and managed to get lost in the Village.  Distraught and nearly frost-bitten, I had decided to give up my search of Myers of Weswick when, all of a sudden, I came upon the store.  It was a sign!

  It would have been a shame if I had not found Myers of Weswick.  It is relatively small but offers up a big helping of UK tradition.  They sell everything from English tea to meat pies.  It is an awesome little store.  After purchasing my haggis in a can and black pudding, I couldn’t get home fast enough to prepare my Scottish fare. 

   

   

  The woman who was behind the checkout counter recommended I fry up the black pudding.  Following her advice, I fried it on the stove top for just a couple of minutes.  Before it is cooked, black pudding has a sienna color to it and can easily break apart but after cooking for just a few minutes, it turns a very deep red, almost black hence its name.  It was crunchy, spicy and liver-y in flavor.

  A few hours later, I pulled out the haggis.  I know haggis in a can cannot possibly be as good as the real thing (few foods found in cans are truly worth eating) but it tasted surprisingly good.  It was hearty and had a wonderful meaty flavor to it.  Eat it with some neeps and tatties and you have the perfect winter feast.  

  After pretty much eating the entire can of haggis (serves 5), I did some research on it.  Haggis is not eaten all too often but it is the traditional dish served at Burns supper, a celebration thrown every year on January 25th in honor of Robert Burns, a great Scottish poet. 

   

  Are there any other traditions surrounding food you recommend?

   

  

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