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A Scotch Haggis

A traditional Scottish dish made from sheep's draught, beef, liver, suet, onions, dried meal, salt, spices, and gravy, cooked in a bag.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 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 ↓

A Scotch Haggis

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Clean the bag thoroughly.

  2. Parboil the sheep's draught.

  3. Mince the sheep's draught.

  4. Parboil the beef.

  5. Mince the beef.

  6. Boil the liver well.

  7. Grate half of the liver.

  8. Mince the suet.

  9. Mince some onions.

Make the filling

  1. Mix all ingredients together with dried meal.

  2. Season with salt and spices.

  3. Add the gravy to the mixture in the bag.

  4. Press out the air before sealing.

  5. Dab the bag with a pin to prevent bursting.

Cook

  1. Boil the haggis for at least 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. Liver + oniontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,420 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Beef + livertop 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

Beef
Provides the main bulk and meaty texture of the filling.
Liver
Adds a rich, savoury depth of flavour to the filling.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and tender as it cooks.
Dried meal
Absorbs liquid and helps bind the mixture together.
Gravy
Adds moisture and savoury flavour throughout the filling.
Onions
Contribute sweetness and aroma as they soften during cooking.

The step that matters

Dab the bag with a pin before boiling. Air and steam trapped inside expand as the haggis heats. Without small vents, pressure can build and split the bag during the long boil.

“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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