We celebrate Burns night every year, hosting a supper with friends. As dinner parties go, it’s an easy meal to prepare. I toss a Macsween haggis in the oven, peel a big bag of potatoes and a couple of swede (much tastier than turnips), make with the potato ricer and that’s about it.
We usually start with mackerel paté and oatcakes – homemade this year as the local shop was out. Before tucking in, we stumble through a reading of Burns’ “Address to a Haggis” – delivered in a range of appalling Scottish accents – before toasting the “chieftain o’ the puddin’ race” with a shot of whisky.
At least once during the meal someone is guaranteed to say, “haggis is so delicious – why don’t we eat it all year round?”
I’ve learned from experience that people tuck away a surprising quantity of haggis – I’ve never known a haggis to feed as many people as it says on the package, so I always buy a bit extra. Leftover haggis reheats beautifully, and uncooked haggis freezes well.
Haggis, neeps and tatties
- a Macsween haggis
- potatoes
- swede
- milk, butter, salt and pepper
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (170°C).
- Remove the plastic wrap from the haggis, prick the skin in several places with a fork, and wrap tightly in two layers of tinfoil.
- Place the haggis in a roasting tin, fill with a good inch of water, and cook for the length of time specified on the package, topping up the water half way through.
- Peel the potatoes, cut into large chunks and boil in salted water until cooked through.
- While the potatoes are cooking, peel the swede, cut into chunks and boil in salted water until cooked through.
- Mash the potatoes with milk and butter, and season with salt and pepper.
- Mash the swede with butter and season with salt and pepper.
- When the haggis is cooked, unwrap the tinfoil, slice open the casing and scoop out the filling.
- Serve with the mashed swede (neeps) and mashed potato (tatties).
Ten More Bites 
And today is Burns night. Yea!