Re: [CH] Chile Haggis V8 #620

Cameron Begg (begg.4@osu.edu)
Fri, 06 Dec 2002 08:48:11 -0500 

Hi C-H's,

Joannie asked about chiles in haggis. I have often made it with a 
little cayenne pepper. A LITTLE you ask? Well yes, because for 
hundreds of years Scots have been making haggis with the only pungent 
spice to which they had access namely black or white pepper. In 
considerable quantity too. Therefore the addition of lots of chili 
pepper to the haggis would be painting the lily. No reason of course 
why you cannot leave out some or all of the pepper and experiment 
with capsicums in its place.

To those of you who like to deride this delicious food, I think my 
distant relative Robert Burns has the best put down for you in his 
"Address to a Haggis":

" Is there that owre his French ragout
    Or olio that wad staw a sow, (sicken)
    Or fricassee wad mak her spew
       Wi' perfect sconner,      (disgust)
    Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view
       On sic a dinner?"

The poem is all over the web, but here is one URL if you want to read 
more of it:
http://www.bath.ac.uk/~exxdgdc/poetry/poets/haggis.html

Joannie also said:
>Have to get the Haggis out of the bag first though and then re-bag.

Huh? Why? Shake powder on to taste.

<rant>
BTW - you won't buy proper haggis in the US except in imported cans. 
The authorities have decided to display their woeful ignorance yet 
again by pronouncing some of the necessary sheep parts as "unfit for 
human consumption." (Maybe that's where some of you haggis haters get 
your prejudice.) Lucky for me, thanks to the generosity of a certain 
C-H sheep farming couple, we are well provided for next Jan 25 :-)
</rant>
-- 
---
                      Regards,               Cameron.