I was somewhat boggled to find a new range of British smallgoods in a local deli's fridge. Is there a heavy and until now unmet demand for haggis around here? Really? OK, it's an elaborately specific sausage, but you know, it's got that erk factor. Check out the ingredients list: starring at number one (?with a bullet?!), the largest contributor to this foodstuff: Offal.
Now I'm OK with liver (liver and bacon has great gravy) and steak and kidney pies. But even if Clarissa Dixon-Wright is correct, and haggis developed as a quick method of converting entrails and offal into food on the hunting field...and even if lots of countries have versions of this (try the Wikipedia entry on haggis) - even so....tripe? sweetbreads? Not being eaten by this little black duck. They even had a 'slicing haggis' - tubular and easier to cut into even slices. No.
My choice of ethnic foodstuff aligned to my cultural heritage is, and will always remain, Irish soda bread. Now that's great and wonderful and an everlasting joy!
(Who's got a birthday coming up and needs a fun, refrigerated present? Hmmmm....)
3 comments:
Ugh. This American has apparently lost some portion of her Anglo-Celtic heritage from being on the wrong side of the pond for so long. I can't even imagine eating liver or kidneys--and haggis is just a joke.
My heritage is firmly with the haggis and I won't touch the stuff either.
Burns Day and the traditional piping of the haggis is next week (25 Jan), perhaps there is a seasonal demand.
On several of our jaunts to Scotland last year Haggis was offered in almost every restaurant and B&B, David even tried Haggis for Breakfast one day but there again he is fond of a bit of 'orwful'!! Chicken Liver Pate is about the only way I'll eat offal!
But... on one of our trips to Harrods in London he had a 'discussion' with some toffee nosed assistant (not a Harrods Employee, they were ALL delightful) who was offering tastings of ordinary Haggis as well as Vegetarian Haggis... no no no my dear surely that's impossible Vegetarian Haggis!! What would you wrap it in for a start??
It's a Weird Weird World that's for sure. cheers Pennie
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