Tonight is Burns Night, where Scottish culture is celebrated across the world. There's a quite interesting Wikipedia page on the ceremony.
The centerpiece of the feast, of course, is haggis. It sounds gross - heart, lungs, and other "parts" in a sheep's stomach - but is actually really tasty. Maybe it's the onions. Twenty-five years ago I flew into Glasgow for a business meeting and asked the cabbie where I could go for a good haggis. "To a butcher", he replied (although it sounded more like "boot-cher") is his native Glaswegian. It's been a long time since I've had haggis. Long time since I've worn my kilt, too.
The haggis is really the centerpiece of the feast, and is brought to the table with great ceremony. And bagpipes.
If you (like me) are of Scottish extraction, tonight is a fine time to hoist a wee dram an hum Auld Land Syne in honor of Robbie Burns.
7 comments:
It sounds awful, but I'd try anything once. Especially since I've got about a half-drop of Scottish blood in me too.
Lang may yer lum reek.
I like Haggis, black pudding too. Celebrate away.
It is not ONLY Burns night, it is also Chinese New Year.
In Vancouver Canada this conjunction of holidays is celebrated with Gung Haggis Fat Choy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gung_Haggis_Fat_Choy
A London paper reports hearing of a reader who was invited to a dual-celebration being described as "Chinese Burns Day". He reported that he hadn't planned to participate, but "they twisted his arm"
Unknown, I'd never heard that. I wonder if they do this in Hong Kong, too.
I also find that a good Scotch based sauce makes the haggis better.
Haggis is good. However, a man in Edinburgh (Scots history/culture presentation at the conference I was at) told us they don't use the stomach as a casing for commercially sold haggis nowadays owing to EU regulations.
He also had Laphroaig for sampling, the junkie pusher. :-)
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