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Haggis, English

A savory pudding made from sheep heart, tongue, kidneys, liver, optional head meat, bacon, bread crumbs, anchovies, lemon rind, pepper, salt, eggs, and wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Haggis, English

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Weigh the heart, tongue, kidneys, and liver of the sheep. If needed, add meat from the sheep's head.

  2. Mince all ingredients very finely and add half their weight in fat bacon.

  3. Mix in the grated roll, anchovies, lemon rind, pepper, and salt. Moisten the mixture with the beaten eggs and wine.

Cook and serve

  1. Transfer the mixture to a well-buttered mold.

  2. Plunge the mold into boiling water and boil for 2 hours.

  3. Turn the haggis out onto a hot dish before serving.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Lemon + winetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,157 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Pepper + winetop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,066 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Liver + meattop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together332 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together44,316 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

Lemon and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sheep heart, tongue, kidneys and liver
Provide the main meaty body and rich flavour of the filling.
Fat bacon
Adds fat that keeps the minced filling moist and tender as it cooks.
Eggs
Bind the mixture so it holds together when sliced.
Penny roll crumb
Absorbs moisture and adds body, helping the filling hold its shape.
Anchovies
Add a savoury, salty depth that enriches the overall flavour.

The step that matters

Mincing all ingredients very finely. Fine mincing gives an even, cohesive texture. Coarse pieces stay separate and can make the cooked haggis crumbly rather than firm and sliceable.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

More haggis recipes

Scotch 53Scottish 5Dundee 3Sheep's 3 See all 31 →

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