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A Good Scotch Haggis

A traditional Scottish haggis made with sheep stomach, beef, liver, oatmeal, suet, onions, and spices, boiled in its own stock.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 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 Good Scotch Haggis

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Clean the haggis bag thoroughly.

  2. Parboil the draught (sheep's stomach).

  3. Boil the liver well and grate it.

  4. Dry the meal in front of the fire.

  5. Mince the draught and the beef finely.

  6. Make beef stock using scraps and water from boiling the draught.

Make the filling

  1. Mix the minced meats, grated liver, suet, onions, and dried meal together.

  2. Season the mixture with salt and mixed spices.

Fill and cook

  1. Put the haggis mixture into the bag along with the stock.

  2. Sew up the bag, ensuring to remove all air before sealing.

  3. If the bag is thin, place it in a cloth.

  4. 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

Dried meal (oatmeal)
Absorbs liquid and gives the filling its body and a grainy, crumbly texture.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich during long boiling.
Liver
Contributes savory depth and a firmer, rich texture to the filling.
Beef
Provides meaty flavor and substance to the filling.
Onions
Add sweetness and aromatic flavor to the filling as they cook.
Beef stock
Adds moisture and savory beef flavor that the meal absorbs during cooking.

The step that matters

Remove all air before sealing the bag. Trapped air can expand during boiling and cause the bag to burst, and it can leave pockets in the filling. Pressing out air before sewing keeps the haggis intact and evenly cooked.

“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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