FResh haggis...

[Old Hippie]

Is haggis better or worse the day after it's cooked? I remember meatloaf being better the second day, and it seems possible that haggis would be better if left to "age" overnight.

If you buy a haggis from a local shop, then chances are the flavours have had a bit of time to meld before you cook it. If you make your own, then you'll notice the "second day" effect a little more because you actually cooked it on the first day. ;) For what it's worth, among my haggis recipes (yes, I have several) is a vegan haggis. I use a vegan "meatless meat" and of course onions, a little mace, and lots of black pepper. If a true-blue-tartan haggis snob tasted it (Old Hippie raises his hand...) they'd know it wasn't "legit." If you gave some to somebody whose only knowledge of haggis is "It's got guts in it, eh?" they'd be able to say they'd "had haggis."

I like to make that version a few times a year when I've got a little time and want something different for dinner. I don't stuff it; it's "bowl haggis" and it's pressure-cooked for 30 minutes. Since the fat's not going to boil out, use about half what you'd use in a normal haggis recipe. I'm not a strict vegetarian, but I tend to eat low on the food chain.

I have lamb bits this year so that's what I'll use. I'll get another dose of haggis at Burns Night (where I'm honoured to give the Address and Toast to Immortal Memory).

If the haggis is good and firm when it's cold you can make sandwiches out of the leftovers. If it's crumbly fry it up and serve with potatoes. Put some in a baking dish, make little depressions in the top, crack in eggs and make haggis hash. Bake it in a pastry crust for haggis pasties, or coat it in fish batter and make deep-fried haggis. The possibilities are limitless. Just watch drinking whisky with your breakfast haggis! HOOOOOaaaaahhhhh...