Happy Burns Night!

[snail59]

Lidl seem to be having a Scottish theme.

Lomond Gold Blonde Beer £1.39 a bottle

Shepherd Neame Burns Ale 99p a bottle

William Wallace 80/- Export £1.29 a bottle

Crabbie's Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer £1.49 a bottle

McKechnie Jess Scottish Haggis 454g 99p

 

[Kyral210]

If it aint measured in shillings then it aint good Scotch beer. Im not complaining, Scotland has some of the best drinks in this nation, but get off the commercial and onto the 80/!

 

[R J Trotter]

Ye Gods, Och Aye, the noo.
You've really no idea what's going on????
Burns night approacheth. Burns. The poet.

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin'-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe or thairm;
Weel are ye wordy o' a grace
As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o' need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic labour dight,
An' cut you up wi' ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like any ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin', rich!

Then, horn for horn, they stretch an' strive,
Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive,
Till a' their well-swall'd kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
“Bethankit!” hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout,
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad make her spew
Wi' perfect sconner,
Looks down wi' sneerin', scornfu' view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank a guid whiplash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro' bluidy flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll mak it whissle;
An' legs, an' arms, an' heads will sned,
Like taps o' thrissle.

Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o' fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer,
Gie her a Haggis!

TO A HAGGIS – Robert Burns (25th January 1759 - 21st July 1796)


More to the point, has anyone ever tried McKechnie Jess Haggis? Is it any good. The general quality of haggis is very variable. Marks & Spencer does one which is made from PORK, and has never seen a sheep (and is pretty awful). The best I've ever had was made by Cockburns of Dingwall: pricey, but superb.
...and yes, I do have it with a pint or three of home-brewed bitter, sometimes, but for the sake of trdition it should be taken with a dram (or three).

 

[evanvine]

I find "Morrison's" Haggis is quite acceptable.

PS. You've got a "moleyism" in the title Snail

 

[Moley]

Welcome to the forum RJT, and thanks for that. Many of us were aware of the date, but it seems to have escaped Snail. Here's a previous discussion, but that price is no longer valid, they are top whack at the moment.

By the way folks, if you go to robertburns.org you can find his full works, and if you hover your cursor over any red underlined words you will get a translation (cancel any pop-up blocker). So here's Address to a Haggis with hoverable glossary.

Anyway, I bagged two brace of haggis a few weeks ago, ate one, froze the rest, and already have one defrosting for tonight. I imagine there will be some Scotch Drink in evidence too.

PS. You've got a "moleyism" in the title Snail

:lol: I had spotted it.

 

[Wez]

Enjoy your Haggis, Neeps and Tatties and Whisky!

 

[wildbrew]

Hope you :drink: lot's of malt whisky : :party: :drunk:

 

[Moley]

Snail's thread merged with Wez's, although I probably did it the wrong way around.


I hope you've all got your haggis cleaned and plucked, but how do you cook yours?
Steamed? Nuked?
How do you deep fry, just slice and batter, what batter?

 

[Moley]

Haggis is in the oven, tatties are peeled, we don't appear to have any neeps.

Starting off gently with (my 2nd) large Grouse and plenty of dry ginger, as I haven't eaten much so far today and dinner will be another hour.

The malts will come out later.

Leeze me on thee John Barleycorn, thou King o' grain :

Slainte mhath :drink:

 

[Vossy1]

Went to Tescos earlier on, picked up a haggis and a 4 pack of San Miguel ready for a nice night in.

Come to cook the Haggis and the words vegetarian jump out at me....oh s**t
Anyway, I'm not one to have prejudices (don't read above again :grin: ) so I thought give it a go
.
.
.
.
veggies don't kid yourself....bloody offal :sick: :sick: :sick: :lol: ...though not too bad as long as you ignore the fact it's meant to be haggis, you ain't never tasted anything quite so lurvely as a haggis :lol:

I console myself in the fact that many real haggis will be picked up for a bargain tomorrow

 

[Wez]

Late starter here - Haggis is 10 mins into its 1 hour steam. 2nd glass of Monkey Shoulder on the way down.

 

[Smod]

Just had a Lomond Gold and William Wallace from Lidl. :drink:

 

[jonewer]

Might just go and lift a modest sized glass of a'bunadh in recognition of out northern brothers/rivals/countrymen.

 

[Moley]

Permitted myself half a dram of 1972 Millburn (bottled '95) - that is pretty awesome, shame there will never be any more, about half an inch left in the bottom of the bottle now.

Also a thimbleful of '68 Macallan (bottled '87), less than half an inch remaining.

I am seriously contemplating opening a Dallas Dhu :hmm:

 

[Wez]

You should.

 

[R J Trotter]

No neaps???

There is a sort of substitute, for future reference. No as good as proper neaps, but acceptable and it's roughly the right colour. Peel some spuds and cut into chunks (mashable size), then ditto with carrots, and a small (emphasise small) amount of parsnip. Boil them together until soft, then mash. To improve the flavour (but moves it away from likeness to simple mashed neaps, unless you also do it to the neaps) add a little bit of pepper, and a bit of butter if you really want to.

Alternatively get your wife / girlfriend / sister / mother / someone else's sister / etc to do it.

I once attended a Burns supper in which the chap in charge (a Scot) after giving the address to the haggis (which he READ, to his eternal shame; takes a Sassenach to actually LEARN the damn thing), attempted to slice (as in "trench") the haggis, not knowing that the one he'd been given for the address was frozen. The knife slipped and went straight into his hand. Made the evening - we'd not seen anything so funny for years. (Sorry, Lawrence).