Better Call Paul Weekend Quiz: Haggis- Aye or Nay?

[voodoopenguin]

RecipeForDisaster wrote:
Intriguing. I should get my hands on a vegetarian haggis... my husband would be really excited.

This is our usual one, you will have to research if it's available in the US.

http://www.macsween.co.uk/products/delic...egetarian/

We have tried to do it ourselves with good results but it is time consuming and never exceeded a commercial one in taste or texture so haven't tried again.

Paul

[Lemon Drop]

Well if you want the real thing you'll have to travel 'cross the pond because it's been illegal to import Scottish haggis to the US since 1971. The USDA has declared that sheep lungs are not fit for human consumption. Then there was some later connection to "mad cow" disease, the sheep version, so that was that.

(USDA being same people who say Doritos and Ballpark hotdogs are OK, so....)

Canada just lifted the ban on haggis imports this week. If nobody dies maybe US will follow suit.

Haggis seems to have been invented by the ancients - they could easily cook the highly perishable innards in the animal's stomach over a fire right after a hunt. Later it was a class thing - upper class got the "good" parts of a slaughtered animal and workmen got the rest.

Haggis snobs say it's not really haggis without the lungs.

[Acer]

I've sampled it once. Homemade by a genuine expatriate Scot. I was expecting something more sausage-y in flavor. Instead, it was relatively bland and organish. I did not have a second helping.