Our family’s take on traditional Scottish haggis – haggis pie! Served with traditional neep and tattie clapshot and a side of homemade whisky cream sauce, this haggis recipe is perfect for celebrating Robbie Burns Day, also known as Burns Supper.

Happy Robbie Burns Day! Today, January 25th is the birthday of renowned Scottish poet Robert Burns. You might be familiar with his work, “Auld Lang Syne,” amongst many others. I’m particularly fond of his “Address to a Haggis” and “A Rose-Bud By My Early Walk.”

A typical way for Scots and Scottish descendants to celebrate Robbie Burns Day or “Burns Supper,” as it is often called, is to drink Scottish whisky and feast on haggis.

Now, what is haggis, you may ask?

The Legend of the Wild Haggis

Some people think haggis is a mystical creature that roams the Scottish highlands. A tiny beastie, it’s said to be, the wee haggis has a shaggy, wire mane.

Having evolved over the centuries, the wild haggis has longer legs on one side of its body compared to the other – thus allowing it two only be able to run in circles. In fact, there are said to be two varieties of wild haggis, depending on which side of its body is longer than the other: the type of haggis that can only run clockwise, and those that can only run in circles counter clockwise.

Tis but a myth, sadly. I think they would be quite cute. My grandma actually knitted a haggis – Isn’t it cute!

Haggis, The Dish

Haggis, in reality, is a type of a savoury pudding, intended to use up all the leftover animal parts once the regular meat cuts have been used.

Haggis is traditionally made of different types of offal (organ meat) – sheep’s pluck (heart, liver, lungs), ox bung (appendix meat) and suet (raw, hard fat taken from the kidneys of cattle), cooked with Scottish oats, onion, spices, traditionally encased in a sheep’s stomach for baking.

I know, it all sounds a bit terrifying, but many dishes about the world use organ meats. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it, and that goes for any cuisine world wide. Haggis has a surprisingly addictive and delicious nutty texture and savoury flavour, and everything is cut up very fine and well mixed. You also don’t eat the stomach – the haggis filling is simply baked inside of the casing. Modern haggis is usually no longer cooked inside actual sheep stomachs, since there are many other options now.

Haggis was, in fact, a dish created out of necessity. Meat is and has always been fairly expensive, and people are hungry and have been for all of existence. Finding ways to use every part of an animal in your dinner was essential for putting food on the table for many in the past.

Haggis, The Name

Some of the first mentions of haggis in cookbooks are dated to the year 1430 AD. The earliest haggis recipes are actually found in old English cookbooks – a fact that ruffles many people’s feathers, especially being that haggis is the national dish of Scotland.

Other people claim the origins of haggis may be Scandinavian. The “hag” part of the word could be derived from the ancient Norse “haggw” or the ancient Icelandic “hoggva” (to chop). In modern Scots speech, “hag” means to hew something, or to strike with a sharp weapon, hence the fact that haggis is made of finely chopped-up ingredients.

Clapshot and Whisky Cream Sauce

There are a few essential side dishes usually served with traditional haggis: clapshot and whisky cream sauce. Let’s go over them.

Clapshot

Clapshot is, more simply put, the Scottish equivalent to mashed creamed potatoes. It’s usually made with neeps and tatties (turnips and potatoes) that are boiled, mashed, then mixed with melted butter and sometimes cream.

Fun fact – historically, “neeps” in Scotland were not actually turnips, but rutabagas. Finally, a recipe to use rutabagas! They are also cheap, so that’s a plus.

Whisky Cream Sauce

I don’t usually get too excited about sauces, but this one is a real winner, and it elevates the enjoyment of your haggis dish by about a million per cent. Don’t skip it.

Essential ingredients in whisky cream sauce are:

• heavy cream (or dairy milk, or coconut milk if you can’t have dairy)
• mustard
• whisky

Modern Haggis

Now, modern haggis may not include these ingredients exactly. In fact, the consumption and importation of organ meats is largely illegal in Canada, and so our family haggis recipe is made using things you can get in just about any Canadian grocery store.

We also do bake our haggis in a casing, but it’s simply a pastry crust! You can also just bake your haggis filling in a dish covered with baking foil – similar to the way you might cook a meatloaf.

Nowadays, you can find premade haggis at just about every grocery store in Scotland. Indeed, we even found Inverness airport selling it at the gift shop in a small fridge, during our last trip to Scotland!

Again, premade store haggis might or might not contain organ meats today, it is often sold in an artificial casing. The filling might be made of pork instead of lamb, and some haggis is even vegan! Yes, you heard me – vegan haggis! It’s usually made from lentils, oats, barley, vegetables, or even beans.

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Haggis in Pastry Crust with Clapshot and Whisky Cream

Tools

Haggis

• pie plate or baking dish
• frying pan - either re-use the same pan for the oats and the meat, or plan to use two frying pans
• cooking spoon
• knife
• cutting board
• mixing bowls
• measuring cups
• measuring spoons
• pastry brush
• oven mitts

Clapshot

• large cooking pot
• knife
• vegetable peeler
• cutting board
• measuring cups
• measuring spoons
• potato masher or fork

Whisky Cream Sauce

• medium saucepan
• measuring spoons
• measuring cups
• cooking spoon or whisk
• small bowl, in case you need to make a slurry

Instructions

For the Haggis

1. Toast the oats: Add the oats to a pan over medium-high heat. Move the oats around the pan for 5-8 minutes, until they begin to steam and smell aromatic. Take care they don’t burn – lower the heat if necessary and stir constantly. Once toasted, take the oats off the heat and set aside.

2. Combine the dry ingredients for the pastry dough, then knead in the cold butter until a shaggy dough forms. Slowly add the ice water, kneading until the mixture forms a smooth dough. Divide the dough into 2 balls. Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge until needed.

3. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat, then add the ground meat. Cook until the meat is browned, stirring often, for about 10 minutes.
4. Add the onion, seasonings and broth, then let cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
5. Remove the mixture from the heat and let cool for 10 minutes, then mix in the egg and oats.

6. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
7. Roll out one ball of the pastry dough until it is a few inches larger than your baking dish. 
8. Place the rolled-out pastry in the baking dish, ensuring it covers the bottom and sides. Press it gently into the corners.
9. Spoon the pre-cooked filling onto the pastry-lined baking dish, spreading it evenly.

10. Roll out the second portion of pastry to create the top crust. Lay it over the haggis filling.
11. Use a knife to trim any excess pastry hanging over the edges of the dish. Press the edges of the bottom and top crusts together to seal the pie. Use a fork or your fingers to crimp the edges.

12. Using a sharp knife, cut flute holes in the top crust. You can create a design or pattern if desired.
13. Melt 2 teaspoons of butter, then use a pastry brush to paint it over the top crust. 
14. Bake the haggis pie at 350˚F for 45-60 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
15. While the haggis bakes, make your clapshot and cream sauce, if desired.
16. Remove the haggis pie from the oven and let it cool for five minutes before serving. Serve with clapshot and a side of whisky cream sauce.

Clapshot

1. Wash and peel the vegetables, then cut them into roughly equal-sized pieces.
2. Place the vegetables in a large pot of salted water. 
3. Bring the water to a boil, then let simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the veggies are tender. You can test the veggies for doneness by piercing them with a fork.
4. Drain the water from the pot, reserving the cooked vegetables.
5. Mash the cooked vegetables together using a potato masher or a fork. 
6. Mix the butter and milk into the warm vegetables until fully melted and incorporated. 
7. Season the clapshot with salt and pepper to taste. 
8. If desired, garnish the clapshot with chopped fresh herbs.

Whisky Cream Sauce

1. Heat the heavy cream and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium-high heat until it reaches a simmer. Stir constantly to prevent the cream from burning.
2. Add the mustard, and let the sauce simmer for 5 mins until it begins to thicken. Stir constantly to prevent the milk from separating.
3. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the whisky. 
4. If the sauce is too runny, add a starch slurry to thicken.
   • In a small bowl, mix a few tablespoons of the hot cream sauce with 1-2 teaspoons of potato starch or flour until a smooth paste forms. 
   • Mix the paste back into the rest of the cream sauce until well incorporated and the sauce has thickened to the desired consistency. 
5. Once thickened, season with salt and pepper, then serve. This sauce is best prepared right before eating.

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A Celebration of Scottish Heritage

Being the national dish of Scotland, what better way is there to celebrate your Scottish heritage than by enjoying a haggis?