The 25th of January means that it’s Burns Night chez Hand To Mouth. Despite my name I’m not Scottish, and neither of us are huge poetry fans, but we both love a bit of haggis so we celebrate Scotland’s favourite son with a bit of haggis and a drop or two of whiskey.
People get a bit squeamish about haggis as it’s made with sheep offal (lungs, liver and heart) and (traditionally) cooked in a sheep’s stomach. These days most haggises are sold in artificial casings, and there’s really nothing to worry about as all the contents are mashed up and mixed with onion, oatmeal, beef fat, spices and salt.
When it’s liberated from the casing the haggis it warm, sticky, hearty and really tasty. We have ours with neeps (mashed swede – still no idea why it’s called neeps), greens, and and intense onion and whiskey gravy.
Tradition dictates that you welcome the haggis to your table with one of Burn’s most famous poems ‘Address To A Haggis’. It’s pretty tricky to read, but it’s a bit of fun.
Serves 2
1 small haggis
1 medium swede
1/2 a large onion
300 ml chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon marmite
1 heaped teaspoon plain flour
25 ml whiskey
150g spring greens
Butter
Olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Method
First up, release the haggis from it’s plastic casing then wrap up in tin foil. Put a pan of water on the heat, and when it’s up to boiling point, pop in the armour clad haggis and cover with a lid. You’re going to simmer it for around 45 minutes.
Next prepare the gravy. Chop and slice half an onion, and then brown in a pan with a little olive oil and butter. When the onions are nice and soft, add marmite. Next add the flour and stir in to the onions, forming a paste. Cook this off for a minute or so before adding the whiskey. Burn off the alcohol, and then add the stock, season with a good few grinds of black pepper, and simmer until the liquid has reduced by about a third.
When the haggis is about 25 minutes from being ready, peel and chop your swede and add to boiling water. Cook the swede for around 20 minutes, then drain and mash with some butter, salt and pepper. Whilst you’re doing this boil up the spring greens for about 3-4 minutes until tender, and then drain and also season with butter, salt and pepper.
Next remove the haggis from the water, take off the foil and then slice the casing open with a sharp knife. A word of warning, the contents of the haggis expand during cooking, so they can spill out pretty fast when you make you’re incision. Scrape out the good stuff, discard the skin and serve with the neeps, greens and a generous helping of the onion gravy.
Eat with a little dram of your favourite whiskey, and toast Robbie Burns.
Tags: Burns, Gravy, Greens, Haggis, Neeps, Night, Onion, Swede, Whisky
