# Scotland's Haggis Surrenders - Norway wins disgusting food crown **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 20, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941 "2005-11-20T16:27:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/21 "2005-11-20T20:37:56Z")
> [@Bren\_Cameron](#): > > Fermented herring can’t be much worse than hakarl. The name is obviously onomotpoetic. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/22 "2005-11-20T22:00:06Z")
The movie [Cold Fever](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109028/) has a scene of a guy eating a sheep’s head. It’s hilarious; he’s very drunk, and he makes the head talk to him like a puppet before taking a bite out of it. The film is set in Iceland, not Norway, but the filmmaker, Friðrik Þór Friðriksson, presumably knows what’s authentically Icelandic and what’s not. (I hope those characters in his name display correctly.) ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/23 "2005-11-20T22:20:20Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > It’s a pudding for Og’s sake! A sausage! These dishes were invented to make the less appetising bits palatable. > > Haggis is much tastier than American hot dogs, even is they are made from the same cuts of meat and similar filler. There’s no way haggis is tastier than a hot dog. A properly grilled hot dog is one of the most perfect foods out there. Anyway, I don’t think most Americans have actually seen haggis (or a recipe) and they don’t realize it’s a sausage-like thing with the organs all minced up. Most probably imagine it to be closer to a oatmeal with organ chunks mixed in and then cooked inside a stomach, but with the stomach acting more as a sack rather than a skin, if you follow. At least, that’s how I always thought it was until I actually saw haggis for myself. If you actually plopped a haggis thing in front of an American, they’d probably says, “Oh, well, that actually doesn’t look so bad.” ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2005, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/24 "2005-11-20T23:04:48Z")
Traditional Haggis Recipe > [@](#): > > Traditional Haggis - > If you’re feeling brave this January, try your hand at making your own haggis. Here’s a traditional recipe dating from 1856 > > INGREDIENTS: > 500g dry oatmeal > 225g chopped mutton suet > 225g lamb or venison liver, boiled and minced > 225ml stock > sheep pluck (heart, liver, lungs, windpipe), boiled and minced > 1 small chopped onion > ½ tsp cayenne pepper > ½ tsp allspice > ½ tsp salt > ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper > 1 cleaned sheep or lamb’s stomach bag > > PREPARATION: > > 1. Toast oatmeal slowly and evenly under the grill until crisp. > > 2. Mix all the remaining ingredients (except for the stomach bag) together. > > 3. Pack the mixture into the stomach bag to just over half full, press out the air and sew up securely with kitchen string. > > 4. Prick the haggis all over with a large pin to prevent it bursting. You can wrap it with foil if the stomach appears weak in places. Drop into a large pot of cold water, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 3 hours. > > 5. Serve with clapshot: mashed potatoes and turnips. > > PREP/COOK > INFORMATION: > > Prep time: 30 minutes > Cook time: 4 hours Serves: 4 . ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/25 "2005-11-21T00:18:38Z")
Well, you’ll all be glad to know that Google images has plenty of photos of prepared smalahove. P.S.: If there are still people on the board who say we shouldn’t have a “puking smiley” after reading all this, you aren’t human. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/26 "2005-11-21T00:54:27Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Well, you’ll all be glad to know that Google images has plenty of photos of prepared smalahove. > > P.S.: If there are still people on the board who say we shouldn’t have a “puking smiley” after reading all this, you aren’t human. You’ve been served! [Yummy for your tummy!](http://www.gardkarlsen.com/family/smalahove_served.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/27 "2005-11-21T01:05:27Z")
> [@astro](#): > > You’ve been served! > > [Yummy for your tummy!](http://www.gardkarlsen.com/family/smalahove_served.jpg) I don’t see why anybody sees this as any different to, say, a large fresh salmon being presented on a platter. Yeah, yeah, I haven’t eaten a fish eye. But who knows, maybe they’re the tastiest part, and we’re missing out? ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/28 "2005-11-21T01:36:58Z")
> [@astro](#): > > You’ve been served! > > [Yummy for your tummy!](http://www.gardkarlsen.com/family/smalahove_served.jpg) I consider myself as culinarily broad minded as the next guy, but, man, I don’t _even_ want to know what that piece of meat is just below the sheep’s head. Now, blood boudin, _that’s_ good eating. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/29 "2005-11-21T01:48:36Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > The name [hakarl] is obviously onomotpoetic. Anything to do with a [Hot Karl](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hot+karl)? I hope not. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/30 "2005-11-21T01:50:59Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > He discards the eye’s _pupil_? Sounds pretty easy to do, since the pupil is just a hole in the iris. > > that comment makes the reporting a bit suspect. I always discard the donut hole, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/31 "2005-11-21T02:40:16Z")
Aren’t American hotdogs made in intestines for the casing (as are most sausages)? Isn’t that very similar to using the stomach? ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/32 "2005-11-21T03:06:48Z")
> [@astro](#): > > You’ve been served! > > [Yummy for your tummy!](http://www.gardkarlsen.com/family/smalahove_served.jpg) Did you see the [“after” photo?](http://www.gardkarlsen.com/family/smalahove_just_eaten.jpg) I hope I’m never that hungry. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/33 "2005-11-21T04:24:58Z")
> [@Bren\_Cameron](#): > > Fermented herring can’t be much worse than hakarl. Which, I freely admit, I’ve never tried, only read about. > > [http://www.isholf.is/gullis/jo/shark.htm](http://www.isholf.is/gullis/jo/shark.htm) I am very thankful my shark biologist Dad didn’t know about this when I was growing up; he loved to show folks how to eat shark, and would have done this in a minnit, in our backyard. I’m not telling him about it now, either. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/34 "2005-11-21T05:58:48Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Did you see the [“after” photo?](http://www.gardkarlsen.com/family/smalahove_just_eaten.jpg) > > I hope I’m never that hungry. Ho. Lee. Crap. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/35 "2005-11-21T06:11:14Z")
> [@MelCthefirst](#): > > Aren’t American hotdogs made in intestines for the casing (as are most sausages)? Isn’t that very similar to using the stomach? Used to be, most of them are synthetics, now. Although tonight I had some Italian sausage that was packed in real intestine. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/36 "2005-11-21T06:23:48Z")
Pfah. I laugh at your sheep’s heads and rotten shark, and give you [_casu marzu_](http://food.oregonstate.edu/ref/dairy/trofimov.html). It’s basically pecorino cheese that has been digested by barn fly maggots for months. Oh, and you _eat the living maggots_ - which are apparently quite energetic and may jump into your eye - along with the maggot-shit-that-used-to-be-cheese. Blurk. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/37 "2005-11-21T06:26:24Z")
> [@The Sausage Creature](#): > > Used to be, most of them are synthetics, now. Although tonight I had some Italian sausage that was packed in real intestine. I highly, highly recommend [Conecuh sausage](http://www.conecuhsausage.com/our_products.php). Excellent sausage still packed in intestine. You can tell by the satisfying _snap_ you get when biting into one. Mmmm-mmmm-mmmm. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/38 "2005-11-21T08:09:25Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Pfah. I laugh at your sheep’s heads and rotten shark, and give you [_casu marzu_](http://food.oregonstate.edu/ref/dairy/trofimov.html). It’s basically pecorino cheese that has been digested by barn fly maggots for months. Oh, and you _eat the living maggots_ - which are apparently quite energetic and may jump into your eye - along with the maggot-shit-that-used-to-be-cheese. > > Blurk. What, couldn’t be bothered to read the whole thread? ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/39 "2005-11-21T13:16:51Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Eyes? Pshaw. That’s child’s play. You can even find _Tacos de ojos_ in the transplanted Maxwell Street Market here in Chicago. To be honest, for this adventurous eater, it’s no more disgusting than brain or tripe. A _taco de ojo_ is a wonderful thing. I have several everyday no matter where I’m at at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2005, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941/40 "2005-11-21T14:07:42Z")
[This](http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/cat_steve_dont_eat_it.php) has been linked to before on the boards, but I think it’s proper to have it again here! It’s a humorous journal of taste-testing strange and/or disgusting “food.” Enjoy! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotlands-haggis-surrenders-norway-wins-disgusting-food-crown/331941.md?page=3)