Now that I have made you recoil in terror, here is how to make Scotland’s national sausage with ingredients available in the US.

Yes, I called it a sausage, because that’s what it is!

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT NEEDED

meat grinder

vacuum sealer

vacuum bag

sous vide setup OR large lidded pot

INGREDIENTS

1 large onion, diced

4 tbsp butter

1/2lb steel cut (pinhead) oats

1 cup broth or stock (chicken or veg)

1lb lard or suet

3lb lamb, cut into bite sized chunks

1lb ground beef

1 tbsp allspice

1.25 to 2.5 tbsp salt *to taste

1 tsbp freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp mustard powder

Cook the onion in the butter over medium-low heat till soft and the sharp onion smell has dissipated. Add in the oats, stir the oats into the butter and cook briefly. Add the stock, bring back to a boil. Add the lard or suet, heat just till melted. Add the salt and the spices and stir to combine. Set this to one side to cool while you move on to the grinding.

Grind the lamb on coarse grind into a large bowl. Once all the lamb is ground, add the ground beef into the bowl. Pour the mixed oats, stock, and spices into the same bowl. Mix thoroughly with your hands until it all comes together in a sticky mess.

Transfer the sticky mess to a vacuum sealer bag. Vacuum seal according to instructions.

Set your sous vide to 180F / 82C. Cook on sous vide for 3 hours. If you don’t have sous vide, use a large pot on the stove, bring the water to a simmer (180F to 190F, 82C / 87C). Simmer for 3 hours, topping up the water as needed.

Allow the haggis to sit at room temperature for the duration of the Ode To A Haggis and serve with mashed potatoes and neeps (mashed, boiled turnips, or if you prefer, roast parsnips instead if you don’t like turnips).

If you would like to add some of the offal flavour you can substitute 1lb calf’s liver for the ground beef. You should be aware that some people might prefer to not know about this addition…!

Don’t forget the whisky!