Easy & Tasty Haggis Bon Bons Recipe - Scottish Scran (2024)

FAQs

What is Scottish haggis made of? ›

haggis, the national dish of Scotland, a type of pudding composed of the liver, heart, and lungs of a sheep (or other animal), minced and mixed with beef or mutton suet and oatmeal and seasoned with onion, cayenne pepper, and other spices. The mixture is packed into a sheep's stomach and boiled.

A traditional haggis recipe describes haggis as "sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver, and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased in the animal's stomach and boiled".

Cooking instructions

FROM FROZEN: To colour, deep fry for 2 minutes at 170C. Then place on tray in the centre of a preheated oven at 180C for 14 minutes. FROM DEFROSTED: As above but reduce the oven time to 12 minutes. Ensure the core temperature of 82C is reached.

How to bake haggis in the oven. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Remove the outer packaging, prick with a fork and wrap in foil as you would a baked potato, then cook in the oven an hour per 450g. Serve as above.

Traditionally a Clan Chieftain or Laird may have had an animal or two killed for a particular feast, the offal being passed to the slaughterman as his payment. Haggis was always a popular dish for the poor, cheap cuts of nourishing meat that would otherwise have been thrown away.

Haggis has an earthy, gamey flavor due to the offal; the oats give it nutty flavor as well. The liver in the mix also lends of bit of a classic paté flavor. Haggis is scooped out of the casing when served and has a crumbly texture. Even in Scotland, haggis is an acquired taste.

Haggis. Haggis is our national dish, and the first recipe dates back to the 15th century (in recorded history).

The Haggis

Heart and lungs will provide some iron, zinc and selenium and the oats included in haggis will contribute to fibre intake. It's important not to over indulge in haggis as it tends to be high in fat and saturated fat as well as high in salt, so be mindful of the portion size.

Haggis has a terrible reputation which it really doesn't deserve. It actually tastes good but is definitely a flavour and texture to get used to. It's a bit like crumbly sausage, and surprisingly peppery. The oats in the mix give it a pleasant earthiness as well as making it a very hearty meal.

So all you have to do is heat it up until it's pipping hot. Wrapping it in foil first helps to contain the contents if you are unlucky enough to burst it. Don't cook it at too high a temperature. Haggis prefer a wet, steamy heat to a dry one, so if you have a double pan steamer or steam oven, use that.

Is haggis best boiled or baked? ›

Cook in water

There are different ways to cook your Haggis, however, the traditional way is by wrapping it tightly with tinfoil and placing it in a simmering (NOT boiling) pot of water. It will take approximately 60 minutes to cook (from frozen) or 45 minutes (from thawed).

Defrost thoroughly in a refrigerator before use and consume within 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to fan 180C/conventional 200C/gas 6. Remove the outer packaging from the haggis then prick all over with a fork, wrap in foil like a baked potato and bake in the oven for 1 hour. To serve, split open the haggis with a sharp knife and spoon the contents over neeps and tatties or serve separately.

noun. hag·​gis ˈha-gəs. : a traditionally Scottish dish that consists of the heart, liver, and lungs of a sheep or a calf minced with suet, onions, oatmeal, and seasonings and boiled in the stomach of the animal.

Cook for about 1 hour 45 mins until piping hot throughout (topping up water as needed).

Of course, there are those days when only a fried breakfast will do, and a full Scottish breakfast may include black pudding, fried haggis, lorne (or square) sausage and tattie scones, along with the usual eggs, bacon and beans.

The poem actually helped popularise the dish and after Rabbie's death, his pals got together five years on (in 1801) to celebrate his life and they served haggis in his memory. Haggis is the main event of a Burns Supper – and we don't do things by a half, we celebrate the dish.

It's sort of a cross between a mild breakfast sausage with a slight peppery spice, and oatmeal. I like it. Originally Answered: How does haggis taste? Kind of like liver paté, but with a grainier texture due to the oatmeal.

While it is eaten all year round, haggis is particularly associated with Burns Night, when it is traditionally served with "neeps and tatties" (Scots: swede, yellow turnip or rutabaga and potatoes, boiled and mashed separately) and a "dram" (i.e. a glass of Scotch whisky).