Today we took a trip into town to visit Crombies of Edinburgh, the award winning butcher on Broughton street. We had emailed to ask if we could visit and find out a bit more about our national dish, the haggis. Sandie Crombie very kindly agreed to talk us through the finer points of haggis, he's quite the expert having made haggis now for sixty years.
Haggis used to be made at the time that a sheep was slaughtered to use the pluck or offal quickly as it didn't keep. The lung, heart and liver would have been minced and then had oatmeal, salt, pepper, stock, suet and spices added before being packed into the stomach and boiled. These days they are more often made in an ox intestine casing.
Haggis used to be made at the time that a sheep was slaughtered to use the pluck or offal quickly as it didn't keep. The lung, heart and liver would have been minced and then had oatmeal, salt, pepper, stock, suet and spices added before being packed into the stomach and boiled. These days they are more often made in an ox intestine casing.
Over the weekend Iona practiced reading the first and last verse from The Address to The Haggis.
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 worthy o' a grace
As lang's my arm.
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
Sandie also treated us to his own recitation of the great poem, and explained that it gently poked fun at the upper crust. You can see Sandie giving the address on this page, including a translation!
Cola filmed Iona reading her verses (you can see the video here) and we sampled the haggis "Warm-reekin', rich!" which was everything a good haggis should aspire to be, spicy and delicious. We bought a couple of packets of Cola's own invention, haggis scones which you should definitely try making at home!
Cola filmed Iona reading her verses (you can see the video here) and we sampled the haggis "Warm-reekin', rich!" which was everything a good haggis should aspire to be, spicy and delicious. We bought a couple of packets of Cola's own invention, haggis scones which you should definitely try making at home!
Before we left Mr Crombie presented us with a gorgeous chieftain haggis to celebrate Burns night with (and a veggie haggis for the non carnivores in our tribe) which we are really looking forward to cooking.
St Giles Cathedral
After our stop at Crombies we made our way to the Royal Mile to visit St Giles Cathedral. The cathedral was founded in 1124 and has amazing architecture and stained glass. We were there to look at the Robert Burns window which was installed in 1985 after being designed by an Icelandic stained glass artist. Made in three sections the bottom represents Robert's love of nature and respect for the earth, which being a farmer he was deeply attuned to. The central section, his love of community, friends and his fellow man. The top panel is about love and charity.
No comments:
Post a Comment