Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish. It is basically a weighty sausage. Although there are many recipes, some of which use deer offal, it is normally made with the following ingredients: sheep's heart, liver, and lungs (or "lights"), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for several hours.

In some ways, the northeastern U.S. dish scrapple resembles haggis, however haggis differs in the following ways: it uses sheep offal instead of pig offal and oatmeal instead of cornmeal (maize); it is a sausage rather than a meat loaf; and it is boiled instead of being baked. As a result, the appearance and the flavour vary significantly. Another similar dish is the Dutch balkenbrij.

Haggis Recipe

Major Ingredients

• 1 pound beef heart, cut into 2-inch-wide strips.
• 1 pound beef liver.
• 1/2 pound lamb stew meat, cut in 1-inch cubes.
• 1 1/2 cups peeled and finely chopped yellow onion.
• 4 tablespoons Scots whisky.
• 2 cups oatmeal, toasted on a cookie sheet in a 375F oven for 10 minutes).

Seasonings

• 2 teaspoons salt.
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme, whole.
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary.
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg.

Casing

• 3 beef CAPS (Talk to a sausage shop about these).
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar.
• 1/2 tablespoon salt for soaking.

Place the beef heart in a 4-quart covered pot and just cover with cold water. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Add the beef liver and lamb stew meat, and cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the contents of the pot and cool. Reserve 1 cup of the liquid. Grind everything coarsely. In a large bowl mix all of the ingredients, except for the beef caps, vinegar, and salt for soaking. Mix well and set aside. Rinse the beef caps in cold water. Turn them inside out and soak them in 2 quarts of cold water with the salt and vinegar for 1/2 hour. Drain them and rinse very well, inside and out. Divide the meat mixture into three parts. Fill the beef caps with the meat mixture and tie the ends off with string. Two will have to be tied on just one end, but the third piece will be tied on both ends. Prick the Haggis all over with corn holders or a sharp fork. Place in a steamer and steam for 1 hour and 20 minutes.