# How should I eat my canned haggis? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 14, 2007, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982 "2007-01-14T21:37:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/61 "2007-01-15T20:24:59Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Do testicles count? There are a few state fairs that devote themselves to “Rocky Mountain Oysters” ([del]bull[/del] [del]cow[/del] bovine testicles) or turkey testicles (I think “Turkey Testicle Festival” is my favorite English phrase ever.) But these are known because they’re so odd, so I wouldn’t offer testicles to my visiting American friends on the assumption they’ll like them! [/QUOTE] State Fair food makes Scottish cuisine look positively gourmet. (deep fried stick of butter on a stick, _shudder_) I’m not sure if that’s comparing like for like. But there’s a local bar – Growler’s or the Trainwreck, maybe – that we got “turkey fries” at a few Thanksgivings back. “turkey fries” = fried turkey pizzle. (mind you, this is the area where you can get a 1/2-lb bacon cheeseburger on a Krispy Kreme bun… gourmet and healthy, not) … i just wasn’t drunk enough to give a deep fried turkey hummer, thankyouverymuch. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/62 "2007-01-15T21:11:25Z")
Well, I hope you let us know how the haggis turns out, **Christopher.** ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/63 "2007-01-15T21:18:00Z")
[QUOTE=Lightray] (deep fried stick of butter on a stick, _shudder_) [/QUOTE] Do you have a cite for that? We had a thread about deep fried butter awhile back and the consensus was that it didn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/64 "2007-01-15T21:36:41Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] Do you have a cite for that? We had a thread about deep fried butter awhile back and the consensus was that it didn’t exist. [/QUOTE] That was the allusion; although mythical, it’s certainly representative of what might be found. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/65 "2007-01-15T23:10:43Z")
To serve haggis: Wait until Jan 25th, Rab Burn’s birthday. Play bagpipe music as you bring it into the dining room. Recite Burn’s ode to the haggis [Robert Burns Country: Address To A Haggis:](http://www.robertburns.org/works/147.shtml) Serve with Neeps And Tatties. pour a liitle “gravy” around the haggis on your plate. Not directly onto the haggis, it should be a little pufddle around the haggis. No need to use the single malt for this, blended will do. At the end of the meal sing _Auld Lang Syne_. Look up the words first, make sure you get them right. If you sing “for sake of” you’ll upset any real Scot. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/66 "2007-01-15T23:31:14Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] Do you have a cite for that? We had a thread about deep fried butter awhile back and the consensus was that it didn’t exist. [/QUOTE] Actually, I think someone did find a cite for deep fried butter- a quarter pound stick battered and fried. The mind reels. No one here has had my mothers fresh (as in she ground the fish herself) gefilte fish. It’s really, really good. Lutefisk, haggis (canned or otherwise)… I’m not so sure… ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/67 "2007-01-15T23:34:23Z")
[Deep fried butter post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7943185&postcount=65) There you go! ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/68 "2007-01-16T01:12:03Z")
[QUOTE=IvoryTowerDenizen] [Deep fried butter post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7943185&postcount=65) There you go! [/QUOTE] Looks like a joke site. They just sell t-shirts. ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/69 "2007-01-16T02:06:59Z")
My mom gave me a can of haggis once. I opened it to find a bag of haggis, clipped at the ends, wedged in the can. Tightly. Very tightly. After numerous attempts, including cutting both ends off the can and trying to shove the thing out, I decided to slice the bag, remove the haggis and eat it loose (heating it first, of course). I should have realized that something so tightly wedged might be under a bit of pressure. At the first touch of the knife, the haggis erupted. There was haggis on my glasses, haggis on my shirt, haggis on the cupboards, haggis on the floor, haggis on the cupboards on the other side of the kitchen, and haggis on the wall. Not a lot of it, just what spurted from a small puncture, but my God, that stuff traveled. After cleaning up, I emptied the bag into a saucepan and heated it. A bit strong, but not bad, I thought. Mind you, my tastes may not be the best guide. I like Spam. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/70 "2007-01-16T02:25:21Z")
The can of Haggis is now opened. and the rutabega is boiling. Not at all what I had expected. Basically it is a solid with the consistency of catfood. Smells like corned beef hash as has been suggested earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/71 "2007-01-16T02:46:52Z")
I hate “me too” posts, but ugh. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/72 "2007-01-16T03:14:04Z")
Too each his own. I love to try new stuff. No matter how this goes, I intend to go to Scottland and have real haggis. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/73 "2007-01-16T03:46:44Z")
[QUOTE=Christopher] Basically it is a solid with the consistency of catfood. [/QUOTE] And pretty much the taste of, I figure (not having tasted catfood but having tasted cat food). Really souse it with the booze and it might be edible. I found it very organ-y in that strong organ-taste kinda way. I have, however, eaten lutefisk and enjoyed it very much. If I only didn’t have to inhale the scent of cooked lutefisk which permeated the hall, it would’ve been much nicer. Stinks to high heavens but is very mild and pleasant to eat, actually. And I don’t even like fish. Or haggis. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/74 "2007-01-16T03:47:55Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] And pretty much the taste of, I figure (not having tasted catfood but having tasted cat food). [/QUOTE] Um. Make that ‘having tasted haggis’. And with that I’ll go top up my own blood sugar levels so my brain will work. I will try not to think of haggis while I eat anything but. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/75 "2007-01-16T05:10:17Z")
I would have to say that if one does not like corned beef hash at least a little, it is unlikely you will like haggis. Otherwise, it is worth a try. I tried it both on its own and spread over toast with melted cheese. I thought it was pretty good. The rutabega was like mashed squash. It needed butter, salt, and pepper. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/76 "2007-01-16T13:22:15Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] Looks like a joke site. They just sell t-shirts. [/QUOTE] So how about Paula Deen’s [“Fried Butter Balls”](http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_34925,00.html?rsrc=search) ? Not a stick of butter, but they are mostly butter rolled in bread crumbs. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/77 "2007-01-16T16:45:14Z")
[QUOTE=Christopher] I would have to say that if one does not like corned beef hash at least a little, it is unlikely you will like haggis. Otherwise, it is worth a try. I tried it both on its own and spread over toast with melted cheese. I thought it was pretty good. The rutabega was like mashed squash. It needed butter, salt, and pepper. [/QUOTE] Are you saying it tasted similar to canned Corned beef? Not too bad, then. And a perfect example of canned vs fresh stuff. Canned corned beef is nothing like real corned beef but it is not something bad. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/78 "2007-01-16T17:36:06Z")
[QUOTE=hackysack] As a Scot I dabble with a spicy haggis about once a month, dipped in batter and deep-fried from the chipper. It’s brilliant. If you want to do that I would add some heat to it with chilli powder or whatever and then freeze it before battering it and deep-frying (to stop it from breaking apart). [/QUOTE] Now _that_ sounds pretty tasty. I subscribe to the Texan philosophy of food- “if you deep fry anything enough, it’ll taste good.” ---
**Author:** ![Aangelica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Aangelica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aangelica)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/79 "2007-01-16T20:09:04Z")
[QUOTE=Christopher] I saw this can of haggis in the international grocery, and I’ve always wanted to try haggis so I bought it. I’m sure that it is nothing compared to the real thing. How do I eat it? I know nothing about haggis. [/QUOTE] Preferably with someone else’s mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982/80 "2007-01-16T20:26:33Z")
[QUOTE=LifeOnWry] Were I a meat-eater, I think I’d have no choice but to try it. Fortunately, I can fall back on my vegetarianism here. [/QUOTE] Have no fear! This purveyor of British Cuisine sells Vegetarian Canned Haggis. [www.basically-british.com/08VegetablesandSoups.htm](http://www.basically-british.com/08VegetablesandSoups.htm) I had a taste of fresh non-vegetarian haggis here in Houston. The cook said it was somewhat like (Cajun) _boudain_. I liked it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-eat-my-canned-haggis/387982.md?page=5)