HAGGIS

Do you know what haggis is?

I didn't used to, when I was a kid. Not completely. I just knew that it was a Scottish dish, and that maybe once or twice a year my dad would ask my mom to make it and DAMN WAS IT GOOD.

Eventually, though, through my various readings and such I became aware of more than I ever wanted to know about haggis. Let me and Wikipedia help you now, if you need it:

Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish.

There are many recipes, most of which have in common the following ingredients: sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours.

Haggis somewhat resembles stuffed intestines (pig intestines otherwise known as chitterlings or the kokoretsi of traditional Balkan cuisine), sausages and savoury puddings of which it is among the largest types. As the 2001 English edition of the Larousse Gastronomique puts it, "Although its description is not immediately appealing, haggis has an excellent nutty texture and delicious savoury flavour."

Sigh.

I never asked my mother just how seriously she took her haggis ingredients or preparation, and I think I never shall. I will prefer to remember that it was delicious, and that also it is probably served in Hell by creepy whiskey-sodden Scottish farmers, followed by tiny fire-breathing black lambs.