A Burns Supper

My Scottish friends invited us to a Burns Supper to commemorate the birth of Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns.  Born in 1759 to a poor farming family, Robert Burns was among the first to write in the Scots language rather than the "Queen's English".  He wrote the famous poem "Address to a Haggis" which celebrates the power of the legendary Haggis.

Of course, I really had no idea what Haggis was, except that it somehow involved innards, which I am not a real fan of.  I came to learn that it is basically a big sausage normally filled with, yes, innards (sheep's heart, liver, and lungs) minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for several hours.  Apparently, the sale of any animal's lungs for human consumption is forbidden In the United States, so making true Haggis can be quite a challenge.  Indeed, we had vegetarian Haggis, so only the lungs of grains and vegetables were used at our Burns Supper.

THE MENU

Scotch Broth - this was a tasty Vegetable Soup with a TON of black pepper which I was told was the correct seasoning - SPICY

Haggis warm reeking rich wi' champit tatties n' bashed neeps - Uh, yeah, translation = Haggis (vegetarian with grains instead of meat) with mashed potatoes and mashed turnips.  Haggis is traditionally served with "neeps and tatties" which is mashed swede (rutabaga) and mashed potatoes - Scots generally refer to Swedish turnips as 'turnips' rather than 'swedes', hence "neeps".  Get it? Ok.

Cranochan - Yummy, sweetened cream, yoghurt, whisky and honey, served with raspberries and toasted oatmeal

Whisky - To the Scots it's not Scotch, it's Whisky with no 'E'.  This was my favorite part.

The evening began with a welcome from our host and then the Selkirk Grace:

Some hae meat an' canna eat
An' some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat an' we can eat,
An' sae the Lord be thankit.

And then the Address to a Haggis, before which the Haggis is ceremonially "piped in" or brought in to bagpipe music (in this case, they improvised as a bagpipe was not available).  The Haggis is presented to the head table and the Address is performed.  When the presenter reaches the line 'an cut you up wi' ready slight', he cuts open the haggis with a sharp knife.  Poetry, whisky and stabbing! My kind of event!

After which we ate and then finished with a dedication to Robert Burns along with a couple of poetry readings and songs.  Just when you think it's all over, the tables and chairs are moved away, and the Ceilidh dances begin.  We had to stay for one energetic dance to see Chris's kilt really fly.  You know you are in for a great night when your boyfriend is wearing a skirt. 

Comments

[Sam]

I am JEALOUS.
I love veggie haggis which tastes not actually much different from the real thing, but unnerves me less.
I love cranochan too
and Atholl Brose too which you didn't have, probably because no one in the world seems to like it except me.
i don't like neeps though. You can keep yer neeps
And send me yer whisky instead

there is a whisky festival in SF in March
the details were posted on my blog a few days ago