The Hunting of the Haggis

[jsluder]

Check out HaggisHunt.com. Of particular interest is the Haggisclopedia, which is full of useful and fascinating information about haggii.

[Lambchop]

Oh! Yaaaay! Is it haggis season again? I've been waiting!

I had more fun with that last year! Definitely recommended!

[gonzo914]

And a nice recipe page, too. Haggis Hunt Recipes

There's real haggis (complete with sheep's innards), haggis lite (made with more civilized meats) and vegetarian haggis, plus lots of suggestions as to what to do with the leftovers. The Haggis Tartlets with Red Onion Marmalade sound extra tasty.

And for those of you who neither are inclined to hunt down their own haggis in the wild nor are desirous of exploring the gustatory aspects of the more dubious parts of a sheep, these folks make a canned haggis that even my kids will eat -- Caledonian Kitchen . (The whiskey cakes are tasty, too.)

[Roger O'Keeffe]

Shouldn't the plural be a third-declension "haggites" ?

[Lambchop]

Oh, Gonzo, you are misinformed! Haggis are not sheep! They are cute little animals! Kind of like a big, pudgy hedgehog.

If you go to the website, you'll see them. During the season, you hunt for them on camera views of lovely Scotland, London, and New York (well, NY isn't so lovely). When you spot one, you log it in the register and become eligible for prizes. You can spot herds of them and golden ones, too.

Last year, I was fortunate to see one swimming in the London Aquarium! And a herd of them crossing a road, and one on the sidewalk in New York. None of the passerby in NY even acknowledged it! But that's the way they are there--very aloof and self-absorbed.

[gonzo914]

Oh, Gonzo, you are misinformed! Haggis are not sheep!

From the Haggis Hunt website itself --

Actual Scottish Haggis - how to make it

A champion Haggis should be firm and slightly sticky, with no tendency to dry out or crumble too much. Most traditional Scottish butchers sell their own home made Haggis and guard the recipe fiercely. Ours is from the Glasgow Cookery Book from around 1926.

Be aware that this recipe includes lungs and windpipes and other things that don't tend to appear in cut out 'n' keep recipe cards. If you want to avoid these gruesome bits or aren't allowed to eat them (hello, America!), try the Haggis-lite recipe instead.

(Ignore people who tell you to put a rock in with your simmering Haggis then throw out the beast and eat the rock - they are Phillistines with no sense for the finer things in life.)

Ingredients.

1 sheep’s pluck. i.e. the animals heart, liver, and lights (lungs).
Cold water.
1 sheep’s stomach (empty).
1lb lightly toasted pinhead oatmeal (medium or coarse oatmeal).
1-2 tablespoons salt.
1 level tablespoon freshly ground black pepper.
1 tablespoon freshly ground allspice.
1 level tablespoon of mixed herbs.
8oz finely chopped suet.
4 large onions, finely chopped.
(lemon juice (or a good vinegar) is sometimes added as well as other flavourings such as cayenne pepper)

Directions

Wash the stomach in cold water until it is thoroughly clean and then soak it in cold salted water for about 8-10 hours.

Place the pluck in a large pot and cover with cold water. The windpipe ought to be hung over the side of the pot with a container beneath it in order to collect any drips. Gently simmer the pluck for approximately 2 hours or until it is tender and then leave the pluck to cool.

Finely chop or mince the pluck meat and then mix it with the oatmeal. Add about half a pint of the liquor in which the pluck was cooked (or use a good stock). Add the seasonings, suet and onions, ensuring everything is well mixed.

Fill the stomach with the mixture, leaving enough room for the oatmeal to expand into. Press out the air and then sew up the haggis. Prick the haggis a few times with a fine needle. Place the haggis it in boiling water and simmer for approximately 3 hours.

(I particularly liked the part about hanging the windpipe over the edge of the cooking pot to catch the bronshial spew.)

They probably just call these pudding things "haggis" because they would look like a haggis if they had hair, and webbed feet and a beak

[emmline]

The veggie haggis recipes actually look pretty good.

[Lambchop]

I'm sorry . . . I'm not reading that perverted recipe! I have my hands over my eyes . . . la la la la!

Yes, Emm, veggie haggis sounds delicious.

[Cynth]

Oh, I remember someone, Lamby maybe it was you, telling about this website some time ago
when we were discussing haggis and the hunt was over. I'm so excited! I'm going to start hunting right away!!!!


Okay, I hunted haggii for a while. How on earth would I see a little animal on some of those webcams? It doesn't seem like it would show up at such a long distance away from the ground.

[Lambchop]

Oh, I remember someone, Lamby maybe it was you, telling about this website some time ago
when we were discussing haggis and the hunt was over. I'm so excited! I'm going to start hunting right away!!!!


Okay, I hunted haggii for a while. How on earth would I see a little animal on some of those webcams? It doesn't seem like it would show up at such a long distance away from the ground.

You'll see them. They'll look just like the pictures above. Often, the camera will refocus to get a better shot of them.

One trick is to go from one cam to another, and keep an eye on the whole lot of them for a change in the view. That change in view often heralds the appearance of haggii.

It's a bit more difficult in the dark, but the haggis will be visible. Once, I spotted one on an upper story window ledge of a building in Glasgow.

[emmline]

I wish I could find this old Gahan Wilson cartoon--
A crusty old Scot is standing in a field talking to an obvious tourist while a line of stomach-shaped animals with short legs leap over a stone wall.
He says something like "Aye, y'ev arrived in time ta' see the annual runnin' o'the haggis!"

[Dave Parkhurst]

Don't forget, for those who feel a need for haggis hunting equipment, there are haggis whistles for calling the little buggers. I found them on eBay.
Dave

[chrisoff]

Don't forget, for those who feel a need for haggis hunting equipment, there are haggis whistles for calling the little buggers. I found them on eBay.
Dave

And if you're feeling particuarly brave you can use a Thistle Whistle to call the Loch Ness Monster:

[missy]

I have no idea why, but for some reason I have memories of snipe hunting going through my brain..........

[Joseph E. Smith]

Is it just me, or do the Haggii look remarkably a lot like Pladypus?