Try a recipe for real haggis

Scotland's national dish is, of course, the haggis. Our local supermarket even sells a frozen haggis pizza.

If you would enjoy making your own traditional haggis, here is a recipe from an 1847 cookbook:

Sheep's Haggis. The principal national dish of Scotland is the Haggis, of which there are two kinds, sheep and lamb. We believe that the following is the best receipt that has been published for making a genuine Scotch haggis.

Procure the large stomach bag of a sheep, also one of the smaller bags called the “king's hood,” together with the pluck (the lights [lungs], liver and heart). The bags must be well washed first in cold water, then plunged in boiling water, and scraped. Great care must be taken of the large bag; let it lie and soak in cold water, with a little salt, all night.

Wash also the pluck. You will now boil the small bag alone with the pluck; in boiling, leave the windpipe attached, and let the end of it hang over the edge of the pot, so that impurities may pass freely out. Boil for one hour and a half, and take the whole from the pot. When cold, cut away the windpipe, and any bits of skin or gristle that seem improper.

Grate the quarter of the liver (not using the remainder for the haggis) and mince the heart, lights, and small bag, very small, along with half a pound of beef suet. Mix all this mince with two small tea-cupfuls of oatmeal, previously dried before the fire, black and Jamaica pepper, and salt; also add half a pint of the liquor in which the pluck was boiled, or beef gravy. Stir all together into a consistency.

Then take the large bag, which has been thoroughly cleansed, and put the mince into it. Fill it only a little more than half full, in order to leave room for the meal and meat to expand. If crammed too full, it will burst in boiling. Sew up the bag with a needle and thread. The haggis is now complete.

Put it in a pot with boiling water, and prick it occasionally, as it swells, to allow the air to escape. If the bag appears thin, tie a cloth outside the skin. There should be a plate placed beneath it, to prevent its sticking to the bottom of the pot. Boil it for three hours.

It is served on a dish without garnish and requires no gravy, as it is sufficiently rich in itself.

From: A Household Book of Practical Receipts, by Susannah Frances Reynolds and William E. Hall, London, 1847.

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