Haggis a popular January dish in Calgary, says butcher

There are a few foods out there that most people tend to cringe at the mere mention of and haggis is one of them.

A savoury Scottish meat pudding that traditionally contains the heart, liver and lungs (pluck) of a sheep along with oats and spices and is boiled in its stomach — haggis is an acquired taste and, unless you grew up with it, it may not trigger fond associations.

However, there is a growing demand for proper haggis in Calgary. So much so that Gord Robertson and his small crew at MacEwan’s Meats on Elbow Drive turn out 300 pounds of the stuff every day in January — that’s 4,000 pounds in one month.

It’s popular because Robbie Burns Day on Jan. 25 — a holiday celebrating the national poet’s birthday — revolves around one of his best-known works, Address to a Haggis, penned in 1787.

So what does today’s haggis contain?

Made with a traditional recipe passed on by previous owners, a haggis from MacEwan’s Meats is composed of 30 per cent boiled beef liver, 30 per cent steel-cut oats (imported straight from Scotland), 30 per cent beef fat, or suet (from nearby Waterton), 10 per cent onions and their secret spice blend (which they mix up during the brief lull between Christmas and the haggis rush).

The trick is in the blend, Gord says. 

Grinding the ingredients together and then combining them with the hot cooking water left over from simmering the liver, which melts the fat as it blends, ensures an even texture and distribution of the spices.

The finished mixture resembles a thick porridge, which is extruded into cleaned-out cow stomachs in much the same way sausages are formed.

Once filled, each haggis is tied off with wet string, set aside to be boiled, then cooled and immediately frozen.

Once home, the haggis is roasted. Gord suggests placing a thawed haggis loosely in foil, adding about ½ inch of water, then closing the ends of foil together and placing the package on a cooking tray, or in a shallow casserole dish, in the middle of the oven to roast at 350˚ F for 20 to 25 minutes per pound. (If it swells during cooking, you can poke the skin with a fork or the tip of a knife to allow steam to escape.)

Then serve your roasted haggis with a piper on hand as it makes its entrance, if at all possible, split down the middle and scooped out along with “neeps and tatties” (turnip and potato), boiled and mashed separately, and a dram of Scotch whisky to chase it all down.