Haggis and kilts? No Yanks

**skauwt** · 25th January 10, 03:58 PM

since this topic was posted i just found out tonight that most the sheep stomachs used for haggis in scotland actually comes from south america ,so another good reason why i`ll never be eating haggis

**socalferg** · 25th January 10, 09:36 PM

Disappointing and not a very good show. At a minimum explore the traditions of your adoptive home country. It sounds like a lack of understanding of the tradition.

Try something new. You might just be missing out.

**Drac** · 26th January 10, 11:27 AM

Let me ask this, if I go to a Burns dinner I wouldn't be in a kilt and I wouldn't be eating the haggis. The kilt is because all I have is a Sport Kilt which is not good enough for that sort of event and I have tried haggis before and it's not to my taste.

Would I be a bad American because of this? I will say that I have no real problems eating a wide variety of stuff, except eggplant, and enjoyed my way around Europe three times when I was active duty Navy but would be judged by looks?

Jim

**Old Hippie** · 26th January 10, 02:42 PM

Originally Posted by Drac

Let me ask this, if I go to a Burns dinner I wouldn't be in a kilt and I wouldn't be eating the haggis. The kilt is because all I have is a Sport Kilt which is not good enough for that sort of event and I have tried haggis before and it's not to my taste.

The very first Burns supper I went to a few years ago, I wore a Utilikilts Mocker, because it was all I had. I zooted it up a little with a nice shirt and a tie, and bought a pair of cream-coloured kilt hose and some inexpensive wingtips to wear with it. It wasn't fancy but I was surprised that a lot of the folks there had so many questions about the kilt:

"A kilt with pockets? That must be very practical."

"Is that a military or police kilt?" (Mine is black)

"Wow! It's not wool! I always hate wearing my kilt because wool irritates my skin. Where did you get that?"

"You could wear that every day, couldn't you?"

"Machine washable, is it? God, I can spill coffee on ANYTHING."

It was an interesting lesson -- a lot of people consider kilts to be "costume" and just what you wear for playing dress-up on Robbie Burns Day or at a Highland Games. They've never really encountered people who wear kilts of any sort as a practical garment, and seeing it blows their minds a little. We tend to approach it a little differently here.

I'm generally a vegetarian so I'll nibble a little of the haggis to be polite but at least here there's a pretty full spread of food and nobody's standing there judging you by the size of your haggis.

(I broke over this year and ate a little roast beef because it looked so good. It was better than the haggis...) I'll be having my own recipe vegetarian haggis at home.

Although my kilting wardrobe still tilts strongly to the casual side, nobody gave me the cold shoulder because I didn't have a PC and a fly plaid, yellow hose and green ties, a sporran made from an animal so rare that it's not on the Endangered Species list because that was the last one, right there, and 18 different items of antique weaponry hung about my person.

Although some may have reason to act snooty, they're easy to ignore. The overwhelming majority of people at a Burns supper are pleased to see new faces coming in, and glad to see you make an effort.

My mother raised me to consider what would be "polite" in any social situation. I'll be the first to admit I don't always meet that mark and probably never will. Attending and acting respectful of people and customs will take you a long way, however. That's all anyone has the right to expect of you.

:ootd:

**Ian.MacAllan** · 26th January 10, 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by Chas

Seems rather pointless to me to go to a Burns Dinner and then not partake of a Burns Dinner. . . .

Travelling to other countries at considerable expense for no apparent reason but to complain that they're not like home is an established tradition in the USA. Mark Twain, among others, described several instances of it in the 19th century.

Originally Posted by Tobus

. . . Apparently, kilts at a Burns supper are not mandatory by any means and indeed (so I'm told by many on this board) lots of people wear pants. Including Scots. . . .

I've seen several pictures and statues of Burns in breeches, but none in a kilt. Considering the effects of the acts of proscription it seems likely to me that he may never have worn a kilt.

As for haggis, I have eaten it only once and I did not enjoy it. Like country cooking in general, it was overdone and overspiced. But I'm willing to try it again, at the hands of a different chef. Like composite dishes in general (e.g., hash, stew, soup, salad) the merits of a particular instance depend much more on the skills of the chef than upon the name or even the recipe of the dish.

.

**Drac** · 26th January 10, 07:33 PM

Charles,

I would just like to do the kilt the honor it deserves. Now that I'm learning ways to wear kilt (not just historically) to pay it the proper respect I would like to do so. It's not just the kilt, I wouldn't wear chinos with a tuxedo. In many ways the Sport kilt is a lot like chinos. It worked at the Navy Ball were they didn't know the differance but I would feel like I stand out at Burn's dinner.

On the haggis I think sometimes us Yanks get a bad name on not trying new things, not that we don't need any help looking bad at times. God have you seen how some of our tourists dress?!?!? Many of us will try almost anything put in front of us. By the same token you should have seen the faces of some of the people I've know from other countries look at our foods. Fried gizzards (one of my favorites), sucking heads on crawfish, and we even have our own blood sausage (boudin noir) to name a few.

Jim

**macwilkin** · 26th January 10, 07:42 PM

By the same token you should have seen the faces of some of the people I've know from other countries look at our foods. Fried gizzards (one of my favorites), sucking heads on crawfish, and we even have our own blood sausage (boudin noir) to name a few.

Boudin Blanc is very similar to Haggis, the major difference being the seasonings and rice instead of oatmeal.

T.

**Drac** · 26th January 10, 07:52 PM

Originally Posted by cajunscot

Boudin Blanc is very similar to Haggis, the major difference being the seasonings and rice instead of oatmeal.

T.

Very true. I forget that NOLA boudin blanc is very different from French boudin blanc.

Jim

**joecool** · 26th January 10, 08:26 PM

I would have at least tried the haggis. Honestly, it doesn't sound all that appetizing, but hey, you never know if you don't try... As for the lack of kilts, I am sure this forum will still be around when they change their minds

**macwilkin** · 26th January 10, 08:29 PM

Originally Posted by Drac

Very true. I forget that NOLA boudin blanc is very different from French boudin blanc.

Jim

Boudin isn't traditionally New Orleans though; it is Cajun. Most folks think New Orleans is Cajun, which isn't the case; it is Creole in culture. As my mother-in-law (who is half Cajun, half Creole) explains it, Cajun is rural, Creole is urban.

That being said, you'll find boudin in NOLA today, but the old Creole families wouldn't have known it.

T.