Scotland's national dish forms part of its mythology

Restaurant poster in Inverness advertising haggis, inspired by the myth | Silvia Barcia

A survey of 1,000 Britons made by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust said that “one in ten millennials and a similar proportion of Londoners believe that haggis is a real animal”, reported The Times in Haggis origin mystery (2019). The haggis myth depicts a small, hairy animal that lives in the Scottish Highlands and its main oddity is its legs, as it has them longer on one side than the other so that it can only run across the Scottish hills in one direction. It even has a fictitious organisation called the Haggis Wildlife Foundation, which plays on the idea that haggis is a real animal and claims to be dedicated to documentation and preservation in order to connect “Wild Haggis Enthusiasts World Wide to actively contribute to the shared mission of celebrate and preserve Scottish folklore”.

So, what exactly is haggis? According to the national Oxford Dictionary of Food and Nutrition (Bender, 2014), it is made of sheep's heart, liver and lungs cooked and chopped with suet, onions, oatmeal and seasoning. Haggis is Scotland's national dish and is served as the main dish on Burns Night, when Scottish people celebrate the birth of Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns and recite the poem Adress to a Haggis (1787). This dish was widely eaten in ancient times by peasants because it was an easy and cheap way to use all the parts of the animal, and it was also cooked inside the animal. 

Presentation of haggis at Burns Night at The Venue Steak House in Barcelona | Silvia Barcia

“Everyone likes the spiciness of the haggis” says Stuart McPherson, the chef at Brea, a restaurant specialized in Scottish food in Stirling. The traditional accompaniment is neeps and tatties, which is turnip and potatoes, but there are also special ways of cooking it, “I've prepared a dish featuring a haggis and turnip tarte Tatin”, McPherson notes that it consists of a puff pastry base topped with haggis and turnip, baked and then flipped, so the pastry sits on top. It is finished with a pigeon breast, an apple cider and thyme sauce, and a crispy bacon crumb for added flavour. 

Haggis with mustard mash, turnip purée, whisky sauce & seasonal veg – Brea, Stirling | Silvia Barcia"

“We always make sure it comes with our whiskey sauce: we take famous grouse, boil off the alcohol of that and then add a lot of peppercorn cream," says a representative of Nicky Tams, a restaurant also located in Stirling that serves haggis, “the reception is always good all the bowls of haggis come back completely spotless”. The spokesperson emphasize that the dish can pair well with a brown ale or a traditional kind of Scottish stout, but if “you're enjoying, anything can go well with it, even water."