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Scotch Haggis

A traditional Scottish dish made by stuffing a cleaned haggis bag with minced beef, liver, oatmeal, onion, salt, and pepper, then boiling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Scotch Haggis

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare

  1. Parboil the cleaned haggis bag.

  2. Boil the sheep's liver until well cooked.

  3. Grate the boiled liver.

  4. Dry the oatmeal in front of the fire.

  5. Mince the boiled liver and the large piece of beef.

Fill and cook

  1. Mix the minced meat with the grated liver, oatmeal, chopped onion, salt, and pepper.

  2. Stuff the mixture into the haggis bag.

  3. Sew the haggis bag closed.

  4. Boil the haggis in water for about 2 hours.

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. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

  2. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

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

  3. Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

  4. Liver + oniontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,420 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  5. Liver + beeftop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together431 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Sheep's liver
Adds rich, savoury flavour and a dense, crumbly texture to the filling.
Large piece of beef
Adds meaty body and substance to the filling.
Oatmeal
Absorbs moisture and fat, giving the filling a firm, crumbly texture.
Onion
Adds sweetness and aromatic depth to the filling.

The step that matters

Sew the haggis bag closed. If the bag is not sealed well, filling can escape or water can enter during boiling, so the haggis may break apart or taste watery.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (liver, beef, pepper):

  1. Onionthe original
  2. Tomatofits about as well
  3. Capsicumfits about as well
  4. Carrotfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against liver, beef, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

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