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Haggis

A savory mixture of liver, heart, lungs, suet, onions, oatmeal, and spices boiled in a bag.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 68,474 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Haggis

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Parboil the liver, lungs, and heart.

  2. Grate the liver and mince the other parts finely.

  3. Mince the suet and onions.

  4. Toast the oatmeal cakes and pound them into a powder.

  5. Mix all ingredients well and season with pepper and coarse sea salt.

Fill and boil

  1. Fill a bag with the mixture and add 1 cup of broth or gravy before sealing it.

  2. Place the bag in a pan with boiling water, covering it completely, and add a small plate underneath.

  3. Prick the bag with a needle to prevent bursting and boil for 4 to 5 hours, keeping it covered with boiling water.

Serve

  1. Serve hot without sauce or gravy.

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. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Liver + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,375 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

Liver
Forms the dense, savoury meaty base that gives the haggis its body.
Heart
Adds firm, meaty texture and depth of flavour to the filling.
Lights
Contributes a soft, light texture that loosens the dense meat mixture.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich as it cooks.
Oatmeal cakes
Absorbs fat and liquid, binding the filling and giving it a crumbly texture.
Onions
Contribute sharp aroma and savoury sweetness to the mixture.

The step that matters

Prick the bag and keep it submerged in boiling water. Pricking lets steam escape so the bag does not burst under pressure. Keeping it fully covered with boiling water ensures even, steady heat for the long cook.

Swap the onion

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against liver, 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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