You’d be forgiven if you thought haggis sounds, well, unappetizing.
Scotland’s national dish is made of sheep offal (the heart, organ meat etc.) chopped finely with onion, oatmeal, spices, stock and suet, the hard white fat found around an animal’s kidneys. The mixture is then stuffed into a sheep’s stomach and steamed or boiled.
Despite its lumpy oval shape, a sort of squished football, it’s technically a type of sausage. Or is it a pudding? It depends who you ask.
However you choose to classify it, fans say it tastes better than it sounds. “It’s meaty, it’s hearty and it has a deep umami to it,” says long-time haggis aficionado Don McSwiney. “A good haggis is a bit peppery, a little spicy. It’s truly delightful.”
And it’s the star of the menu at Robbie Burns celebrations across the province in January and early February.
Burns was a Scottish poet who lived in the 1700s and is now celebrated with special dinners around the world on January 25 — the anniversary of his birthday — each year. (The celebrations start a week or two beforehand and often go into February.) One of his most famous poems is Address to a Haggis; his tribute to the “great chieftain o’ the puddin-race” is the reason why haggis is served at every true Robbie Burns dinner, where the poem is typically read aloud to great fanfare. And bagpipes.
For many years as a child, McSwiney lived in Stonehaven, a small town north of Aberdeen in Scotland. Haggis was a staple on the menu at friends’ homes throughout the year, not just in January. “Haggis is an ordinary working-class delicious dish, like meatloaf. It’s one of those things I grew up eating,” says McSwiney, a member of the Calgary band, The Dino Martinis. “I never really worried about what it was made of. I just ate it.”
He has fond memories of buying battered and deep-fried haggis served with fries (“chips,” as the Brits would say), at the local fish and chip shops in Scotland. And when he married, he introduced his wife and children to the joys of haggis, too. (His son took the photos for the story.) And now, every year for the past couple of decades, he and his family throw a Robbie Burns celebration for friends and family. “The traditional Scottish way to serve it is with ‘neeps and tatties,’ turnips and potatoes,” he says. “Sometimes at the fancy Burns dinners in Calgary, you’ll be served things like Cornish game hens and salmon, and they treat haggis like it’s this daring side dish, like a plate of deep fried crickets. “But for the Scots, the haggis is the star of the show.”
Niall Towey is the owner and operator of Mac Towey Artisan Butcher in Calgary. From Ireland, he moved to Canada in 2018. “I’m not Scottish, but I’m from pretty close,” he says with a laugh. While there is, of course, a big demand for haggis around Robbie Burns Day, he makes 1,000 pounds or more of the stuff throughout the year. He can even make a vegetarian haggis; just order in advance, he says.
There are so many ways to enjoy haggis, he says, adding that he’s trying to convince a local pizza chef to make a haggis pizza. “If you put it in a perogy, it’s like a little cloud of happiness,” he says. “Or put a sprinkle of it in stew — haggis stew. It’s like a dumpling.”
McSwiney doesn’t put it in stew or on pizza. Nor does he make his own haggis from scratch. “It’s best to buy from someone who knows what they’re doing,” he says, pointing out the effort involved in chopping up all those bits of offal — not to mention fussing to fill the sheep’s stomach. “That’s not something I’m going to do any time soon,” he says. He does, however, keep a couple on hand in the freezer, for a handy, hearty comforting meal on a chilly winter’s night. “I steam it for an hour. When you see the ‘golden dew’ coming from the pores of the haggis, as Burns would say, then you know it’s ready,” he says.
And foodies may panic at the thought, but McSwiney has even had haggis in a can occasionally. “It’s not that bad,” he says with a laugh. “If you’re desperate for haggis, it’s actually pretty good. “For me, haggis recalls memories of home. And honestly, I just like it because it’s delicious.”
Try haggis at a Robbie Burns dinner
There are so many Robbie Burns tributes across the province, we can’t begin to list them all. Many wine shops also host events, although they may not serve haggis; ask at your favourite store.
- The Pipes and Drums of the Edmonton Police Service dinner, edmontonpolice.ca, January 18
Edmonton Scottish Society dinner, edmontonscottishsociety.org, February 1
Calgary Burns Club dinner, calgaryburnsclub.com, January 24
St. Andrew-Caledonian Society Robbie Burns Night, standrewcaledonian.ca, February 1
Hunting for haggis
You don’t have to wait until Robbie Burns Day to try haggis. Nor do you need to make your own.
The Bothy Wine & Whisky Bar, Edmonton, has haggis on the menu year-round for your dining pleasure, thebothy.ca
The British Banger Company, Okotoks, makes haggis in two traditional forms: the regular “bung” and in a roll, so you can simply slice and eat, britishbangercompany.ca
Mac Towey Artisan Butcher, Calgary, makes haggis year-round; order in advance to guarantee availability, 403-702-2434, mactowey.com
Bon Ton Meat Market, Calgary is where Don McSwiney buys his haggis; it’s consistent, he says, and it’s available year-round, bontonmeatmarket.com
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