Easy & Tasty Haggis Bon Bons Recipe - Scottish Scran (2024)

FAQs

What is Scottish haggis made of? ›

haggis, the national dish of Scotland, a type of pudding composed of the liver, heart, and lungs of a sheep (or other animal), minced 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.

Simply lamb, beef, oats, onions and spices, nothing more, nothing less. Haggis is basically like an oaty, spicy mince and a great source of iron, fibre and carbohydrate with no artificial colours, flavourings or preservatives.

Cooking instructions

FROM FROZEN: To colour, deep fry for 2 minutes at 170C. Then place on tray in the centre of a preheated oven at 180C for 14 minutes. FROM DEFROSTED: As above but reduce the oven time to 12 minutes. Ensure the core temperature of 82C is reached.

How to bake haggis in the oven. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Remove the outer packaging, prick with a fork and wrap in foil as you would a baked potato, then cook in the oven an hour per 450g. Serve as above.

Traditionally a Clan Chieftain or Laird may have had an animal or two killed for a particular feast, the offal being passed to the slaughterman as his payment. Haggis was always a popular dish for the poor, cheap cuts of nourishing meat that would otherwise have been thrown away.

What does haggis taste like? Haggis is like a crumbly sausage, with a coarse oaty texture and a warming peppery flavour. It's most commonly served with neeps (mashed turnip) and tatties (mashed potato) and washed down with a wee dram of your favourite whisky.

Haggis. Haggis is our national dish, and the first recipe dates back to the 15th century (in recorded history).

Haggis has a terrible reputation which it really doesn't deserve. It actually tastes good but is definitely a flavour and texture to get used to. It's a bit like crumbly sausage, and surprisingly peppery. The oats in the mix give it a pleasant earthiness as well as making it a very hearty meal.

The Haggis

Heart and lungs will provide some iron, zinc and selenium and the oats included in haggis will contribute to fibre intake. It's important not to over indulge in haggis as it tends to be high in fat and saturated fat as well as high in salt, so be mindful of the portion size.

So all you have to do is heat it up until it's pipping hot. Wrapping it in foil first helps to contain the contents if you are unlucky enough to burst it. Don't cook it at too high a temperature. Haggis prefer a wet, steamy heat to a dry one, so if you have a double pan steamer or steam oven, use that.

Can you eat haggis bon bons cold? ›

Made with haggis and pork sausage meat that is wrapped in a sage and onion breadcrumbs, these bon bons can be eaten hot or cold, but I opted to warm them up just for my own personal preference.

Defrost thoroughly in a refrigerator before use and consume within 24 hours.

Preheat the oven to fan 180C/conventional 200C/gas 6. Remove the outer packaging from the haggis then prick all over with a fork, wrap in foil like a baked potato and bake in the oven for 1 hour. To serve, split open the haggis with a sharp knife and spoon the contents over neeps and tatties or serve separately.

Haggis is traditionally served with neeps and tatties; mashed swede and potatoes. Some people also like to serve haggis with a little dram of whisky – the earthy, warmth of the spirit is delicious with those rich meaty flavours.

Cook in water

There are different ways to cook your Haggis, however, the traditional way is by wrapping it tightly with tinfoil and placing it in a simmering (NOT boiling) pot of water. It will take approximately 60 minutes to cook (from frozen) or 45 minutes (from thawed).

Today, the haggis that is widely available in supermarkets and served commonly in restaurants is made from either lamb, beef, pork, or sometimes venison. The stomach has been replaced with artificial casings.

Of course, there are those days when only a fried breakfast will do, and a full Scottish breakfast may include black pudding, fried haggis, lorne (or square) sausage and tattie scones, along with the usual eggs, bacon and beans.

“The close association with Scotland comes from the infamous Robert Burns poem, 'Address to a Haggis',” says James Macsween, managing director of haggis producer Macsween. “Following his death in 1796 his friends organised a Burns supper in his honour and the tradition has continued to this day.

“It tastes pretty much like liver pâté,” he said, before adding, “I don't like liver pâté.” “We're very traditional,” said Kitty Macmillan of the New York Caledonian Club, which expects more than 100 guests at its Burns Supper on Saturday night. “But haggis is an acquired taste.