The Scottish national dish

What it means to be a haggis

June 9, 2005

What legend tells us...

small three (four)-legged animal native to the Scotland glens each leg has a different length -> haggis hunting usually takes place on flat plains where they can only run around in circles only available in season: 30th November to 25th January noises of haggii during the mating season gave rise to that other great Scottish invention, the bagpipes The largest known recorded haggis (caught in 1893 by a crofter at the base of Ben Lomond), weighed 25 tons Haggis hunting season is the week before Robbie Burns Birthday, that's January 25th. So, the season is open January 18-25th. The recipe/method for making haggis can be traced to the ancient Greeks and Romans. The earliest Scottish recipes for haggis were printed in the early 15th century.

The truth about haggis ...

the national dish of Scotland traditionally served with neeps and tatties (mashed swede and mashed potatoes) usually made from minced sheep`s entrails mixed with onion, oatmeal, suet and spices, traditionally boiled in an animal`s stomach for several hours tradtionally served on Burn`s night (January 25th) -> Robert Burns: Address To A Haggis

Defining haggis ...

Encyclopedia Britannica:
a large spherical sausage made of the liver, heart, and lungs of a sheep, all chopped and mixed with beef or mutton suet and oatmeal and seasoned with onion, cayenne pepper, and other spices. The mixture is packed into a sheep`s stomach and boiled.

Infoplease.com:
a traditional pudding

Foodnetwork.com:
This Scottish speciality is made by stuffing a sheep`s stomach lining with a minced mixture of the animal`s organs, onion, suet, oatmeal and seasonings, then simmering the sausage in water for about 4 hours. Haggamuggie is a simplified version of haggis made with fish liver.

Haggis

Saumagen

famous dish from the Palatinate it is made from potatoes, carrots and pork boiled in hot water and it is served in slices with Sauerkraut and mashed potatoes origin in the 18th century

Word origins: haggis [hggiss] (plural hagisses)

ME haggen -> to chop OF agace -> magpie Parallel semantic development of English pie -> originally: magpie > applied to a pastry case with a filling Magpie collects trinkets -> assortet sheep`s entrails in a haggis French hachis: -> Gehacktes but haggis is older than hachis Scandinavian origin:
Swedish hagga -> to chop Icelandic hoggva

Possible translations with reference to ...

Defintions
spherical sausage pudding sheep`s stomach stuffed chopped minced

word origins
haggen/hagga/hachis/hoggva -> Gehacktes

the Saumagen -> sheep`s stomach

difference in preparation and consumption

Points to discuss ...

web phrase count translations How could we translate haggis if it was an animal?