I awake bleary-eyed and mealy-mouthed after a t’riffic Burns supper with my pal Jack, a true Scot and one of my oldest friends. The picture above is of us dressing up as the kings of Scotland and England when we were young ankle-biters.
Jack and his flatmate Jack (a helpful coincidence after one dram too many) fed us on vintage homemade wine, roast woodcock, partridge, and, naturally, haggis. Their attempts to make their own went as far as ambling into Sainsbury’s and asking if they had a sheep’s pluck. They didn’t. Not that it mattered – the Macsween’s version is, despite protestations to the contrary, not bad at all; pleasingly peppery and with a good, offally pong. Or maybe that was the homemade wine.
Anyway, this is really a tribute to a great Scottish legacy. It’s such a wonderful tradition – the whisky, the haggis, the fact that you spend five minutes complimenting your dinner before eating it…I can’t really think of any ‘English’ tradition that compares. The Scots celebrate with passion, grace, and love, while we Sassenachs oscillate wildly between purse-lipped awkwardness to pavement-spewing, drunken incontinence. Sure, I know at the weekend the streets of Glasgow encompass some of the more refreshed gentlemen on these shores, but, when it comes to celebrating, the Scots have it right.
So how was your Burns night? Did it pass you by entirely, or did you find yourself elbow deep in haggis?
This is our dark, blurry, and slurry attempt at Burns’s Address to a Haggis.
Actually managed to celebrate Burns night last night (despite being married to a vegetarian and the night being a precursor to Australia Day). We addressed the (veggie) haggis and delighted in it’s deliciousness combined w/ tatties and…er…green beans. Another national day worth celebrating me thinks 😉
Yes everyone is quite sweet on the veggie haggis, will have to try it, J
I went round a friend’s house; he microwaved the haggis and didn’t make enough neeps and tatties so we did a mad dash to the meateasy for late night burgers.
What is meateasy? 😉
Stumbled across your blog today and I’m enjoying it. Interesting ingredients and methods you’ve described; I had no idea pig cheek was a cut of meat you could buy at the supermarket!
This year’s Burn’s Night was the first I’d celebrated. My housemate and I got a haggis at the market and had some ‘neeps’ (but alas, no ‘tatties’!), and it was delicious. I was still under the misguided impression that sliced sausage and haggis were the same thing (not entirely sure where I got this idea from!) so when I was told it was a stomach stuffed with lung, it came as something of a surprise.
Still, tasty 🙂