Haggis: What’s in a name?
Consider the haggis, a traditional Scottish food. Long held to be a peasant food, haggis has evolved to being a preparation nurtured even by executive chefs.
“Haggis and Chips” read the food vendors’ signs at the recent Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, where I was volunteering in the House of Boyd tent. What in the world is haggis, I wondered. Anything “and chips” might be fried, as in Fish and Chips, I thought. On a warm day, something cooler beckoned, and I did not go for the haggis. After all, there was plenty of time to try it later.
Our tent neighbors, the MacDougalls, were running a small kitchen from their table, with “Porky Campbell” ham biscuits that Saturday morning, and giving them to neighbors and passersby, freely. I can personally vouch that they were very good. Which is why, when they brought out the haggis that afternoon, my interest was piqued.
It was a very pretty, gourmet-looking presentation, especially for a picnicking-type event. The MacDougall lady unwrapped it and there on the platter was revealed a beautiful, golden, loaf-shaped pastry, reportedly enveloping a haggis. “What IS haggis?” I asked. Would you believe, two teenage MacDougall girls in white gowns and tartan sashes began extolling the virtues of haggis?
“It’s really good!” one assured me.
Her younger sister, though, was quieter, and I wasn’t sure exactly what she was saying as she smiled and her eyes rolled toward her sister, then to the haggis, then away. But, most likely it was positive, right? The first sister encouraged me to try it. “I love it,” she said. “It’s like a pâté.”
I hesitated, though. Because, I thought I overheard someone saying something about sheep’s intestines! This was more like the type of information I was really looking for: the ingredients of this traditional Scottish food. After all, why would they call it “haggis” if it were so delicious…and harmless?
I asked for more. Information, that is.
“Are you sure you want to know what’s in it?” asked the lady who presented this traditional treat. “Sure,” I replied.
Bands of sounding bagpipes can drown out a fair number of syllables during any conversation, which they did in this case and left me unsure about what I was hearing. Suffice it to say, there was something about a sheep’s stomach, and “other” organs, ground up. I also heard “oats” which appealed to me. Then, there was the word “Scotch.”
Now, I’m definitely not a Scotch drinker, but at this point, it sounded like a real boon to this recipe.
“There’s a chutney here to go with it, which is also really good!” the younger MacDougalls concurred.
Finally, I felt soothed enough to try the haggis.
The apple-currant chutney was as pretty as the golden sheen on the pastry enveloping the haggis, which is a good thing since I cannot say the same for haggis.
But, haggis was indeed good! Now that I was imbibing, the MacDougalls allowed that it was much better warm, but for picnic purposes that was hardly possible.
Haggis is without a doubt just as nutritious as one always hears that organ meats are. Its texture was nice, aided by the oatmeal, and the flavor was similar to pâté, but maybe not as heavy. In any case, I was very pleasantly surprised and will taste the haggis at any Scottish Games I attend in the future.
“Gourmet” Haggis?
The MacDougalls order their haggis annually for the Highland Games, they said, from a nearby historic, luxury resort named Eseeola Lodge. Eseeola is also the proprietor of the private Linville Golf Club, the first golf course in the state of North Carolina. Both have a proud history, which is one reason I was surprised to hear that they serve something called haggis, something made from a sheep’s stomach.
I phoned Eseeola out of curiosity, and asked to speak to their chef. When Chef Patrick Maisonhaute picked up the phone, I explained that I’d tasted the haggis they recently prepared. I told him I was amazed to find out that they make this item, and he replied that they only do it once a year.
“But, it’s a very nice thing, you know,” he said. “Because of the name, and the ingredients, people are afraid to eat it. It is technically a sort of pâté. The cutting of the haggis is done very ceremoniously, and that is an important part of the celebration,” he said, referring to the Robert Burns Dinner.
I asked him if they serve it in the Lodge’s restaurant. “We do not serve it as part of the menu, because it takes a week to prepare it. It must be left to marinate, at least 3 days, but longer is better. This is why we only make it once a year, for the Games, and only to order, since it requires so much time and the proper amount of attention.
“I change the recipe slightly, using the stomach lining from the pork instead of sheep’s intestines. I use lamb’s liver, oatmeal and Scotch. The Scotch helps it,” he laughed. “But haggis is very good. If you liked it, I hope you will try it again next year!” Chef Maisonhaute said.
I did, and I shall!
