Wednesday 19 January 2011

Haggis

Burns Night is coming nigh and I wanted to share a story with you about my first (and second) experience with haggis.

On my first trip over here, my friend Cathy and I decided we should try haggis. We'd heard about it and we wanted to give it a shot. We made it to Inverness and wanted to have our dinner so we walked to a restaurant on the river and sat down. Looking at the menu, we saw haggis as a starter. We ordered it and hesitantly tried it.

I don't know how to explain the taste. It was spicy. Chewy. Crumbly in the mouth. Overall, not something I enjoyed at all. So I concluded there and then - haggis was awful!

I wouldn't touch it after that and anyone that said that it was good, I would argue that it was not nice at all.

A few years later, there were four of us that went on a three week trip to Ireland, Scotland, and England. Once we arrived in Scotland, Cathy and I decided to play a little trick on our unsuspecting travel partners. We told them that they had to try haggis and that they wouldn't be allowed to leave the country if they didn't try it.

We were in Tyndrum at the whisky shop and the guy behind the counter recommended the Clachaig Inn in Glencoe (incidently, the movie Made of Honor was partly set there) for lunch. We wandered our way to the single track road that led us there. We felt like we had gone back in time. I think it must have been an old coaching in or something of that nature.

We ordered lunch and although I can't remember who noticed it, but one of us found haggis on the menu as a starter. It was decided that we'd order one between us so we could get it out of the way.

Out it came and with a bit of uncertainty, we all had a forkful. I was stunned! This was good stuff!! The flavour filled our mouths and we were all jockeying for the next bite - I was amazed that we didn't lick the plate!!

Well, that was it. I was hooked. It was amazing and from that moment on, I was a haggis lover. I eat it whenever I get a chance. However, I have never cooked it myself - I feel that I've not lived here long enough to do so! =)

Now I think I need to start a campaign to get people to at least try the stuff before they start to poo-poo it. So, how do I go about this? I must think about this and hire a marketing firm! =)

3 comments:

  1. haha..good luck w/ that! I hope I'm not one of your guinea pigs :)

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  2. When I had haggis I really couldn't "taste" it. It was so peppery. I mixed it with the tatties and neeps and I thought it was pretty good.

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  3. There is haggis and there is good haggis. MacSweens has a great reputation, and I can recommend it. Cooking it only involves making sure it is thoroughly hot, as it is cooked already. It even does good in the microwave, if you unwrap it first. Try it!

    By the way, we saw a couple of the little beasties running around in the woods behind the house yesterday. ;-)

    E.

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