Haggis, Turnip and Potatoes

A variation on haggis, neeps and potatoes, the Scottish national dish eaten on the 25th of January (Robert Burns' birthday), and any other time you feel like it. Haggis was a favourite dish of Serge Gainsbourg, which he sought out nearly every time he visited London. He found it exotic. It is.

I've never made an actual haggis, largely because it is easy to get ready made in both traditional and vegetarian forms. Essentially it is made with minced sheep lungs, oatmeal, pepper and spices, and used to be sold in the form of a large sausage made from sheep offal.

Traditionally served with boiled potato and boiled turnip or swede. It is fine just like that, but I prefer to serve the combo with the turnip leavened with mashed carrot, which makes it a sweeter dish.

Preparation is straightforward. The potatoes should be boiled for twenty minutes, and the same for the chopped turnip and carrot. Mash the turnip and the carrot together in a bowl, with a knob of butter, The potatoes can be mashed also (separately), but I prefer to mash them as the meal proceeds. Traditionally the haggis is boiled for forty-five to fifty minutes, but these days I tend to cook it in a steamer for fifty minutes to an hour, at a low heat.

I lived for years in London, and eating haggis there was a reminder of home. A cosmopolitan friend lived close by, with an enormous collection of cookery books and a fabulous kitchen, and sometimes cooked haggis.  She once served (without warning) a heretical variation of the dish, which involved substituting the turnip with baked beans, with a little red wine mixed in. It worked. I did some cat-sitting for her, which was a great opportunity to explore her books. I've been riffing on some of those recipes ever since.