Fake Haggis

[Carolina Kiltman]

At Triad games last year I met a gentleman who makes haggis commercially. He informed me that for some weird and unfathomable reason, the FDA will not allow the use of a sheep's stomach! He uses large size bologna casing which is allowed. He claimed to use all of the other traditional ingredients though.

I find it strange in that here in E. Carolina, there is a thing called a "Tom Thumb" sausage that is essentially the haggis recipe but using pork instead. It is made in a pig's stomach. That is apparently ok with the FDA. (strange folk, govt. bureaucrats.)

[Old Hippie]

At Triad games last year I met a gentleman who makes haggis commercially. He informed me that for some weird and unfathomable reason, the FDA will not allow the use of a sheep's stomach!

Daft, they are. If you slaughter your own you can use what you want. I guess that may be too much of a "haggis kit" for those not sure if they'll like it. :mrgreen: Some years ago I heard that you can get what's called a "Blind Stump" from a meat-packer's. It's a cow stomach with only one opening to sew up.

I discovered that the availability of various things normally considered offal varies from state to state. When I lived in the cattle country of South Dakota you couldn't get stomachs for love or money, but in downtown Portland Oregon they'd sell them over the counter in the butcher shops. Go figure.

My old standby is the (non-edible) casing for a large summer sausage. Trenchin' the haggis warm reekin' rich requires a set of kitchen shears, but you can carry them in your hose and pull them out with a flourish.

I find more and more often I make "bowl haggis" by steaming it (rather than boiling) in a greased bowl covered with a tent of foil. Certainly for those evenings when nothing else fits my mood it's easy.

:ootd: