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A Scotch Haggis

A boiled mixture of calf sheep heart, lights, suet, French roll, spices, wine, raisins, flour, egg yolks, salt, and chitterlings, stuffed in a sheep's stomach.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

A Scotch Haggis

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Blanch and finely chop the heart and livers.

  2. Mix with shredded beef suet, soaked French roll, spices, sweet wine, raisins, flour, egg yolks, salt, and chitterlings.

Stuff and cook

  1. Stuff the mixture into a cleaned sheep's stomach or bag and tie it tightly.

  2. Boil for three 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. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Sheep heart and lights
Provide the main meaty body and texture of the filling.
Beef suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich as it cooks.
French roll
Soaked in cream, it binds the filling and softens its texture.
Egg yolks
Help bind the filling so it holds together when sliced.
Raisins
Add sweetness and chewy pockets that contrast the savoury meat.
Flour
Thickens the mixture and helps it set firmly during boiling.

The step that matters

Tying the stuffed casing. The casing must be filled and tied tightly so it does not burst or let water in while boiling. Trapped air can also expand and split the skin, so pressing out air before tying helps the haggis hold its shape.

“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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