The thought of Haggis can be off-putting for many (one of the guests is still refusing to be told what's in it...) and some Haggis can be very bad... but good haggis is fantastic - there's something visceral and rich about it, bloody goergeous. So i took no chances and ordered it down from north of the border. Found a great and really helpful online butchers - McLays of Glasgow - who shipped me down a couple of their finest. It was served traditionally with neaps (usally turnip, but couldn't get any, so had to improv with parsnip and swede mashed together), tatties - creamy mashed potato - and an onion gravy helped along with some herbs and wee nip of Single Malt.
The main course was very simple to do - prepped in advance so i could be a bit more sociable when my guests arrived, and the Haggis simmered in it's 'cook-in bag' for an hour or so. Of the two i ordered, the general consensus, even among the Haggis virgins, was that the Warrior (apparently a more traditional, but smaller one) was the more flavoursome one - more highly peppered and richer, though the Sma' Chief was also rather good.
Aftermath... note the mostly empty bottle of Jura... |
Dessert, was also relatively light. At christmas I nabbed a Richard Corrigan Great British Menu recipe for an Irish Whisky vanilla ice cream (that time served with his Christmas Pud souffle). This time I Ben and Jerry-ised it, stirring in some crumbled up shortbread just before it went in the freezer. This was served in a sandwich of two pancakes and topped with another nob of icecream, and a citrus and whisky syrup with some grated chocolate over the top. Which took precisely two minutes for everyone to scoff down!