Popular on Food52
34 Comments
Caukie
February 13, 2018
I tried Haggis and vegetarian haggis while on an extended stay in Scotland. I am not a fan of organ meats or sweet meats but thought I would give it a try to make a fair assement about it. I loved the vegetarian haggis with all the same spices as original haggis but I just could not get past the organ meat taste in the original. If you like liver, kidneys and the like, then, by all means, try haggis. If you are not inclined to the organ meats, like me, then give the vegetarian version a try. Keep in mind, not all haggis recipes are created equally, especially in Scotland. I found that everyone has their own version of it. You may have to taste several variations until you come upon one you like.
Christine's C.
February 11, 2018
We recently made a trip to Edinburgh (highly recommend it) and tried haggis a few times. It was delicious! What we had at several pubs was a mixture of minced meat and offal in a tasty and heavily seasoned sauce that is both a little bit sweet (in a warming-spice kind of way) and slightly spicy (perhaps a touch of hot pepper). It was served with neeps ( mashed turnips) and tatties (mashed potatoes) almost like a deconstructed shepard's pie. What's not to love? We totally enjoyed it. (Disclaimer, we get a big kick out of trying things when traveling that we might not try or even find at home.) My takeway: Don't knock it till you try it.
Christine H.
February 11, 2018
I ate Haggis for the second time in Reno, NV. at the Northern Nevada Society of Scottish Clans Annual Robert Burns Dinner. The Haggis was delicious. It is very rich, and just has the texture of ground meat. I hate liver but with the spices, oatmeal and lemon juice that the chef used in this recipe I did not notice the liver taste or texture.
Rachel
February 6, 2017
I adore haggis. Whenever I'm visiting family in Scotland I eat as much as I can get my hands on! I particularly like it sliced and sauteed with breakfast. It has the most amazing savory flavor. The ultimate umami, in my opinion.
Tiffany
January 31, 2017
Yes! As an American who moved to Scotland a few years ago, I was really excited to finally be able to try it. Macsween makes the best version I've tasted (a lot of local butchers will make their own) and it's very rich - not overly offal-y tasting, but definitely not your run-of-the-mill "meat flavor". Haggis is normally sold in a type of plastic wrapping that you remove before eating (and after cooking), but around Burns Night you can get it in sheep's stomach, which is traditional.
Lyndsay
January 27, 2017
Vegetarian haggis is lovely - lentils, seeds etc with a similar flavour profile and none of the ick factor. I makes seriously good veggie chilli.
Nancy
January 26, 2017
As the French say, in theory and in practice...
In theory, this is "nose to tail" eating when it was part of survival, not a retro movement. It represents economic use of materials and a community tradition. I should be all in favor.
In practice, it's far from my taste and custom. Or, I'm just not ready.
In theory, this is "nose to tail" eating when it was part of survival, not a retro movement. It represents economic use of materials and a community tradition. I should be all in favor.
In practice, it's far from my taste and custom. Or, I'm just not ready.
Stephanie B.
January 25, 2017
I've never had haggis, but I've had a similar Romanian dish: ground or minced pork offal/organ meats seasoned with lots of onion, garlic, pepper, and paprika and stuffed into sausage casing - I've never liked it, no matter how much my parents and various family members tried to make me eat it.
Liz D.
January 25, 2017
Tried it in Scotland a few years ago--very peppery, and the initial flavor was good, but it had a liver aftertaste that I didn't like; I don't like liver...The Stornaway black pudding was much better
Barney S.
January 25, 2017
i recently traveled through the Carolinas and had a SC BBQ Hash. It reminded me a lot of haggis - most of the same ingredients. http://www.foodrepublic.com/2016/07/05/what-is-south-carolina-hash/
NYNCtg
January 25, 2017
My husband is from Scotland and I've had haggis there may times. I like it. I don't go out of my way to get it but I do enjoy it when it is presented. Every time we are there my husband gets a haggis supper at the chippy. battered and fried and sprinkled with salt and vinegar it is pretty good. My one sister-in-law thinks it is funny that i like it and gets me some version every time I visit. Haggis flavored potato chips last time. That was a bridge too far.
GsR
December 7, 2016
What can you say about a food that requires you to drink whiskey to get it down?
Zensister
December 7, 2016
Not for me. As curious as I am, I don't care for liver, and I just don't think there's enough onion and oats in the world to make it suitable for my palate. I hope it's everything you imagine it to be, though!
Peta
December 6, 2016
I had it in Edinburgh this past March, delicious with neeps and tatties and a savory sauce. As part of a céilidh.
Frances Q.
December 6, 2016
Sounds a little bit like scrapple to me although scrapple is not made using oats. I bet it's tasty.
Karla S.
December 6, 2016
In the South we call it "liver and lites" Made with the pork liver and lung. With the ban of lung, the only time we get to eat it is when we slaughter are own hogs.
weekend A.
December 6, 2016
Guess I'm in the minority at least on this thread -- I had it in Scotland and didn't like it. I was admittedly much younger, but I have no urge to try it again...ever. I remember cutting into it while it was still super hot and the filling kind of spilled out. It didn't set me up for success.
weekend A.
December 7, 2016
I should also add that the version I was served included ground up esophagus in it, which I found particularly hard to reconcile.
Jan W.
December 6, 2016
So - I'm super glad for haggis lovers, but I'm still waiting for APHIS to update or remove their restrictions for cured/dried pork and dairy products. There's virtually no chance that pork products can harbor any transmissible animal or zoonotic disease in 2016 - with the meat processing standards that are in force in practically all industrialized countries. With dairy products its unlikely that they could bring to the United States any disease that isn't already here.
If APHIS and CBP would focus on stopping diseases from plants (citrus greening anyone?), produce, and soil from foreign countries and leave the pork and cheese alone, that would be a much better use of their efforts.
If APHIS and CBP would focus on stopping diseases from plants (citrus greening anyone?), produce, and soil from foreign countries and leave the pork and cheese alone, that would be a much better use of their efforts.
Andrew M.
December 6, 2016
You guys have black pudding, yeah? The spicing is generally similar, but it's richer and more savoury, with a better texture. Best intro is probably the same usage; fried for breakfast.
Alternatively if you want to go authentic, have a whole one battered and deep fried with a pile of chips and a can of Irn Bru. Rainy seaside optional.
Alternatively if you want to go authentic, have a whole one battered and deep fried with a pile of chips and a can of Irn Bru. Rainy seaside optional.
Kathryn
December 6, 2016
Haggis is lovely! The sheep's stomach is used to encase tasty, peppery minced meat - you don't eat the stomach. Think of it as being like the material used to hold a Christmas pudding whilst it boils. When in Scotland I had haggis (just the cooked meat!) served in filo pastry - yummy! Honestly, it's not even remotely scary - don't forget to drink a nice scotch with it.
Gristle &.
December 6, 2016
I had it one Hogmany (New Year's Eve) in Perthshire, and thought it was excellent. Then I found a chip shop in Glasgow that offered it, and I really fell in love! I must have had it once a week. I wish I could remember where it was now- one of those hole in the wall places you never find in the guide books, but man, they did a mean haggis & chips.
Lauren
December 5, 2016
When people say, "Yuck, haggis, gross," without ever having tried it, I always ask if they like corned beef hash, which pretty much everyone does, and I say that's basically what haggis tastes like. I ate it in Scotland a couple times and found it to be delicious, and corned beef hash is the closest comparison I can make.
amanda R.
December 5, 2016
I did a school exchange program in middle school and spent 2 weeks in Edinburgh. One night, our teacher organized a classic haggis dinner in what was probably a pretty snazzy place. Being uncultured and a teenager, I joined a group that snuck out and found a cafe. One of the best BLTs of my life.
FJT
December 5, 2016
We love haggis, but we were brought up on it! Good haggis is delicious... but avoid the canned stuff.
Merry
December 5, 2016
I've only had it in Scotland and it was delicious. Can't figure out why it gets such a bad rap and I don't think there's anything in that isn't in sausage or hot dogs (or scrapple for those in PA). Though I can't imagine that canned haggis could compare to the deep fried haggis balls we had at a pub in Edinburgh.
Val G.
December 5, 2016
Years ago my son's fifth grade held a "Country's Dish" dinner, and he purposely picked Scotland, just so we could make haggis. Well, an Americanized version, anyway. His interest had been piqued through Monty Python's Horace poem (Google it!). We used calf's liver and it came out tasting somewhat like braunschweiger/liverwurst, so we followed up with homemade hardtack crackers (a Boy Scout recipe, IIRC) and brought the lot (with a copy of the poem) to school on the appointed night. It was a surprising hit!
Heather
December 5, 2016
I've had it - first imported through unknown channels for a Burns night in LA (haggis does not always contain sheep lung), which smelt REVOLTING while being prepared, but was pretty damn tasty when done (and the apartment aired out), and then any number of times while living in the UK. I'm partial to the liver heavy versions, but I see it as basically a rustic version of meatloaf.
heatheranne
December 5, 2016
You can also get it canned in Canada (if you look hard enough). I bought canned haggis when I was last in Scotland so I could eat it on Robbie Burns Day - the only day of the year I'll eat it. It's fine (certainly not disgusting like most think it ought to be), but not something I'm going to eat every day.
Sue B.
December 5, 2016
I've eaten haggis in Scotland several times and my husband made one from a "kit" he found on the internet. It was probably not exactly the same but it was tasty with neeps and tatties for a Robert Burns night. Great fun!
Mary-Elizabeth T.
December 5, 2016
Come visit us in Canada. You can get it any weekend of the summer at the pluthora of Highland Festivals we host.
See what other Food52 readers are saying.