For the first part of the Robert Burns Scottish Dinner, no one would tell me what is actually IN Scottish Haggis.
“You’ve had McDonald’s before, right?” said David. “Well, then you’ve already ingested random animal parts. Don’t worry about it– just eat.”
Finally it came out: Haggis is a whole bunch of lamb parts (heart, liver, lung… maybe even “bollocks”), cooked in a sheep stomach. Wow. Haggis is traditionally served with “neeps and tatties,” turnip and potatoes, and there is a famous long poem by Robert Burns (author of “Auld Lang Syne,” which we sing on New Years), celebrating the glorious “buttocks” appearance of the food. Come watch the play-by play of what happened last night at the Haggis party! Click a thumbnail to enlarge the photo.
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- David mixes the “neeps.”
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- Many folks wore plaid.
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- The Haggis emerges!
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- Everyone is excited/scared.
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- David begins the poem…
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- …in a Scottish accent!
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- David stabs the Haggis!
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- Smells like spicy meat.
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- Skye fearfully approaches.
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- She takes some Haggis!
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- Gaining courage to eat.
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- Scott dives in with zest!
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- I’m ready to try the haggis.
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- The first Haggis bite!!!
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- Ummm… taking it in…
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- Gosh, it’s spicy and meaty!
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- But it’s like meatloaf…
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- I actually love haggis!
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- Colin is a vegetarian…
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- …but decides to try Haggis!
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- He takes his first bite!
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- Thinking… tasting…
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- Um… it’s… it’s…
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- He likes it! Crazy!
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- A man dressed for Haggis.
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- We conquered the Haggis!
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- Burp! Too much Haggis.
And that’s what happened last night! I’m pleased to report that we are not only all still alive this morning, but now we also have some hilarious (and some might argue, delicious) cross-cultural memories! So what about you? Have you had Haggis before? How’d you like it? And if you haven’t, are you now tempted??
Very cute post! We’re always eating crazy things, and haggis is always brought up as a dare – we haven’t had the chance yet! Glad to see you survived!
You can do it!!!
It sounds very bad, but the pictures of the haggis looks good. Did you guys stuff the sheep stomach and then sew the stomach back together again? The haggis looks like a huge sausage. You get to try the neatest foods in the world. I am envy of the food you get to try.
Hehe thanks
I wasn’t there when David cooked it, so I did no stomach sewing!
OMG why would you eat lung!
It’s interesting?
Technically, you can’t get “real” haggis in the US because it’s illegal to serve lung.
Cool! Good for you for trying Haggis, you are very brave!
I had it for the first time when I was in Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival last August. I was a bit nervous as well because of how horrible it sounds, but I was actually really pleasantly surprised at how nice it was.
It has a very hearty, comforting feeling to it, especially when eaten with “Neeps and Tatties” (mashed turnips and potatoes) and whisky gravy in an old historical pub on the Royal Mile.
Yay for trying new things!
High five!
I love your facial expressions in the pictures when trying out the food. I don’t thing I’ll ever try haggis it looks nasty.
Great photos! The comments are as interesting as your article. It is unfortunate that the FDA puts such restrictions on food. I had “hagis sausage” in Scottsdale, AZ recently prepared by a Scots chef. It was served as a slider topped with a quail egg for breakfast and tasty!
I’ve been to Scotland twice but I still have yet to try haggis! I must try it next time!
I love the pictures. Ill try anything once, as long as you don’t tell me what it is first. Than ill have the image in my head and end up grossing myself out. Which is sad, because we shouldn’t be scared to try something different. Life is an experience.
I don’t think that I would ever eat one.It doesn’t look very tasty.
Wow. Ms. MArshall, after reading that artice, im not to sure i ever want to eat Schottish food… EVER.
Ms. Marshall, your facial expressions are really funny.
I don’t know about haggis, but I do have an urge to travel and try different dishes from different cultures. I love food. We wouldnt survive without it ^.^.
WOW, Ms. Marshall I must say that you indeed do have a lot of “Cojones” to try this unknown mystery meat thing. I am disappointed in your friend Colin who is a “vegeterian” =(. I would be lying if I said that this article didnt disgust me! Haha, well whatever, who knows what I eat in my culture…we even eat cow intestines! Yummmm….
Your friend David has turned me off from McDonald’s for life. And Im sorry but Haggis looks absolutely and unequivocally disgusting. And sounds disgusting too. Although this is coming from the girl who used to eat pig intestines…
Eww!:( That article just makes me want to throw up! Ms. Marshall you are so brave to actually eat it! It looks really disgusting, but I still love McDonalds no matter what! Also, for those of you out there who are vegetarians maybe you should try haggis, that way you might like it like Colin! All and all I’m never eating any scotish food, ever in my life because that looks truly revolting!D:
That looks absolutely disgusting. The description made me think it was odd from the start but the picture confirmed my suspicions. Note to self do not try haggis ha ha.
That stuff looks terrible I am sorry. But I did like all of the pictures you took so I could see what Haggis looked like. I am never in my life going to try that!
If Haggis is good, maybe I’ll try it one day!
i love the taste of haggis (esp the garlic!) but the thought just freaks me out.
we’ve made vegetarian haggis for years and it’s much more palatable!
i LOVE burns suppers – what FUN!! i can’t wait to go to one IN scotland!
brava!!
hehehehe…I like the last picture. You really like to explore with going around the world and trying new food.
I’m like a partial vegetarian (as in I don’t eat a lot of meat therefore my parents would never force me to try something new) so I probably would never try it. The only time that I eat something that I necessarily wouldn’t is when I’m celebrating a Jewish holiday with my uncle and his family.
Haggis looks like a very strange food to eat and I probably would never try it. It sounds very disgusting based on the information in the third paragraph a bit disturbing, but the pictures tell a whole different story.
I love what David said at the beginning of the article because it is so true… but still good! I’d still hate to think of that, or even Haggis in this case while I’m eating at Mickey D’s or BK. I also do love the pictures, as the expressions shown make me guffaw! Very good article! Looking forward to more articles like this, with the silly pictures of course!
Woo hoo! And yaaaay to you, because “guffaw” is one of the best words ever!
Last time I had Haggis was in Afghanistan-it’s quite tricky trying to mime out sheeps lungs, heart and stomach to a bemused crowd in downtown Kabul! Getting the whiskey was easy by comparison!
Ewww! Funny article, plus I now have no desire to try Haggis! It looks like a big pile of gross meat! I will have to take a break from eating McDonalds, too. You’re really brave to try Haggis Ms. Marshall!
Honestly I would never eat Haggis. I realize that some people love Haggis but it sounds so gross. Parts of lamb cooked in a sheep stomach! Why would someone do that?
You make a good point… it’s like, the baby is born from the womb, and then we sick humans stick it back inside the belly of the older generation… Ew!
I tried Haggis before and I hated it. I do not understand how you liked it.
OMG! I would never eat something like that! And David is rite, by saying that when we eat McDonalds we eat lots of animal parts, thats why I don’t really go there anymore, I mean you don’t even know whats in your food!
I think this “Haggis” was in one of the Scooby Doo movies that I watched. Shaggy and Scooby were at a Scottish castle and they were anticipating for dinner; such as pizza. The waitress came out with liver and intestines boiled or something.
LOL– This is hilarious!!!
NOOO! That man is no longer a vegetarian
But, me being the awesome vegetarian I am, I have no longing whatsoever to try that. It looks like a squishy brick! Ugh!
What’s is haggis? It looks like some kind of root. But I looked at a Google picture and it seems like a giant sausage.
Spencer! Two ways to answer your question: 1) Actually read the third paragraph of the article, 2) Click on the word “Haggis” in the third paragraph for a full Wikipedia definition. Sheesh! Who is your English teacher?!
This article made me want to throw up. I’m not going to eat McDonalds ever again… And I also don’t want to try Haggis. POOR LITTLE SHEEP!
By the way I like the pictures! They’re funny. (:
That’s so nasty. I will not want to try the Haggis. It didn’t look good to me, did it really taste good?
~Huabao
Great article! I like that quote from David “You’ve had McDonald’s before, right?” said David. “Well, then you’ve already ingested random animal parts. Don’t worry about it– just eat.” I knew about the whole McDonald’s, but i dont really eat that muc at McDonald’s to begin with. Now I’m kinda curious about that Haggis…
I agree with Alexis. I’m totally not going to be eating at McDonalds for a while if what your friend said was true. On the other hand, i don’t think I’ll be trying haggis. lol
The description of Haggis didn’t look so appetizing!
I can’t believe that Mcdonald’s food is “random” animal parts…
I won’t be going here for a while.
Great article !
Yuck !!!!! That’s really nasty ! It reminds me of chittlings.
LOL
Nice pictures, Ms.Marshall ! Did you ever look up what Haggis was made of ?
Yup! I explained it above, and if you click on the link attached to the word “Haggis” in blue in the third paragraph, you’ll see the Wikipedia page with all the nasty facts!
Too funny
What is in your hand? Do you eat Haggis with whipped cream?
)
Btw, tks for letting me know via tweet
Ha! Not whipped cream! That’s the potatoes and turnips!
It’s true. It is illegal to sell sheep’s ‘pluck’ in the USA. Guess you’ll have to head over to Scotland to try the real thing. I’m looking forward to some haggis when I go in a couple of weeks!
There has been a lot of media attention in Scotland regarding Haggis sales in America. It’s banned! So the actual Haggis you get in America is not the real deal.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-12259126