Now we can say we’ve been fully indoctrinated. After years of hearing haggis jokes, we felt we couldn’t spend five weeks in Scotland and not try it. Friends at home, upon hearing that we were planning a trip to Scotland, immediately asked, “Are you going to try haggis? Ha, ha, ha!” Well, now we can say we have.

What is so funny about haggis? Is it because it’s cooked inside a sheep’s stomach? Today it’ s more commonly cooked in sausage casing, and they remove the casing before serving it. In fact it was very decoratively displayed in a little tower alongside a similar tower of neeps (turnips, mashed) and a tower of tatties (potatoes, mashed). The dish looked like a cute little Scottish castle. The pub we were in also served a delicious whisky sauce on the side. The only thing they didn’t include to make it worthy of a traditional Robert Burns dinner was a wee dram of whisky. It tasted like a savory meatloaf with a texture more like corned beef hash. It was quite good.

And then we got back to our B&B and I looked up “haggis” in Wikipedia. I had forgotten the “meat” that’s cooked inside the casing is the sheep’s organs: heart, liver, and lungs. I don’t eat organ meats. *urp*

Now I know why Robbie Burns included whisky with his haggis. Marcus, pass the whisky. I’ll let you know how we feel in the morning.