Yes, at a Burns' Night party given by a Scottish friend, ages ago when we were living in Europe.

The old joke is that "haggis is offal", and it's worse than awful. The traditional preparation included a collection of mostly chopped organ meat (offal) and I think turnips and some other garbage, stuffed into a sheep's stomach and boiled. It's what a poor shepherd (having nothing else around) would eat and how it would be prepared. I found it to have a disgusting flavor, as did most of the others at this party (including the Scots present who proclaimed it to be authentic and unpalatable, as expected).

I'm glad you liked it. It does sound like maybe what you had was haggis-light?

Oh yes - much to my embarrassment because I couldn't eat it and had to use my napkin to discard it. It was authentic haggis and I wasn't predisposed against it since I didn't know what it was until I asked. Not too keen about blood pudding either.

Like SW, we had Haggis several times during Burns' Suppers that were major events during the years we lived there. And, it is exactly as he said. I tried it...pretty "offal", but OhMy were the 'tatties n neeps' wonderful. I mostly found the entertainment in our little villages was worth the taste of the proud 'entrey' that was "piped" in with great "honor" and pomp and circumstance. Those 'stories' told in their various dialects and "off-color" and hilarious humor was one of a kind. Mind you, these were years before TV..the great 'leveler' of the language.....and in the Highlands. I often think I would go back, but it would be so different now than it was, so I keep my memories.

Sometimes when we attend Highland Games here on the west coast, they have venders that claim to be serving many different items from the different parts of the UK as well as Scotland. Something is 'lost in the translation", so to speak. We always try them...they are good...but our taste-buds....may have developed in different ways.....as has language.

A friend is traveling through Scotland and took a picture of Haggis that she was served. She took a bite to be polite, but quickly turned her head and spit it into her napkin.

What a lovely diversion, Olychick, and Thank You for posting that addy. It 'took me back' again to hear ol' Robby's voice in his poems. And to remember what a privilege it was to have lived there. My DS (who was a Robby) went to school in Kincardineshire learning those poems and can speak the dialect. I must remind him to entertain us with them again.

Never, nor 'tatties and neeps', but I always think about the scene from the BBC series Monarch of the Glen, when
the haggis exploded all over the charming, but incompetent, matriarch
of the family. Evidently exploding is something that happens if it isn't
cooked properly.

I must be weird, because we all thought it was great. I don't know how authentic it was, it was sent to him by his sister who lives in London. The spices kind of tasted like there was some nutmeg and clove in it. But then I love organ meats and pate and liversausage.

I've eaten blood sausage in Ireland that made my tongue tingle. I did not opt for haggis in Scotland, but my DH did. I always thought it was oatmeal soaked in sheep's blood, stuffed into the animal's stomach and somehow made palatable. Wish I knew how to post photos here, but there was a pub menu in a small Scottish town that offered a slice of haggis on top of a hamburger, and a grocery store with haggis flavored potato chips lol.

Me - I'd rather eat fois gras.

I too love liverwurst, pate (of all kinds) and fois gras, but I don't think anyone would suggest that haggis is in the same league.

Blood sausage, also called Black Pudding in the UK and Boudin Noir in
French speaking Western Europe (France and Belgium) are hideous. Another
of those concoctions that I steer (unintentional double meaning) clear of is head cheese (not cheese at
all, figure out what it's made from).

My dad used to eat head cheese when I was a kid. I remember there was always a package of this hideous looking stuff in the fridge.

I was in Edinburgh, Scotland a few years ago for a conference and at one restaurant, my wife ordered the Haggis sample appetizer, which had approx 1/2 cup each of "neeps" "tatties" and "haggis" I was convinced it would be disgusting but my wife said when else would we get a chance to try it. I graciously let her try it first. :-) and when she pronounced it "actually pretty good" I tried some as well, and thought the same.

Just like there are differences in the taste of various cuts of meat, I'm sure that the differences in taste across the spectrum of "organ meat" is much larger. Given that the rest of the meal at that restaurant was outstanding I suspect the the haggis we had was perhaps at the top end of the bell curve, and was an example of what skilled chefs can do with a recipe when their goal is to make it taste good.

On a different trip, through Ireland, the B&B's all served the "Traditional Irish Breakfast" of greasy fried egg, bland flavorless sausage, warmed canned baked beans, fried underripe flavorless tomato, and toasted brown bread where the main ingredient seemingly was sawdust. One place also included something they called "Black Pudding" so I assumed it was the dessert portion of breakfast, and saved it for last. I took one bite, chewed a bit, and spat it into my hand. The worst part was that the awful taste of it lingered in my mouth for hours.

Another time we were visiting my wife's aunt in southern France, and she brought out pate fois gras, a specialty of the area, which I knew was expensive, and was made from the livers of force-fed geese, so I wasn't too interested in trying it. However as a guest I felt it would be impolite to simply refuse. I tried a little, and then a little more, and then some more, and decided "Sorry geese, but your tragic suffering is delicious."

I've never had haggis, but I would try one bite if the opportunity presented itself.

Living here I've had a little more exposure to the food of other cultures. My neighbor cooked and shared this with me. It's pig's feet.

The taste was actually quite good. It had a traditional pork taste and some spices I'm not familiar with, but liked. The texture is what got me. The chewiness of the skin was unfamiliar. You keep chewing and chewing.

There is a restaurant here named Peli Peli. It's South African food. They had a chicken liver dish and others that I would never have ordered on my own, but we had a gift certificate for a Taste of South Africa which was a several course meal. The food was absolutely delicious.

Yes, last year in Scotland. It was served as a kind of sausage pattie with breakfast. It was disgusting. However, the blood pudding was delicious!

OMG, that "Full Scottish Breakfast" was just the worst. Of course, it was worse in some places than others but one B&B where we stayed, it was particularly horrible.

If you want to send him something as a thank you, you might need to send him...something other than haggis.

No, but someday I hope to try it. We went to Spain this past month and my son and I shared a "pork" meal. It had some kind of pork stew with various meats, a plate of other meats, including what looked like some type of sausage. It wasn't. It was pig intestine and smelled and tasted like it hadn't been cleaned out before cooking. The rest of the meal was pretty good, though. There was also blood sausage on the plate, which wasn't too horrible.

It all sounds terrible to me! ::-) my brother is married to a lady from Scotland. I'll have to ask him if she makes any of these things.

Yep. It's disgusting. Even my Brit (but not Scottish) husband despises it.

Not only eaten it but I've made it!

I have!

I would absolutely try it if given the opportunity but I sure as HECK couldn't make it!

My mother was Scottish, haggis no thanks, yuck - sheeps liver, heart, lungs mixed with suet and oatmeal, it is the smell and texture I don't like. Grew up eating blood pudding, really good when fried until it is crispy around the edges. I wouldn't even know where to buy it any more. Head cheese, another big no. I remember my Grandfather boiling the head to make the gelatin for the head cheese. I can still smell it. Pigs trotters weren't bad if eaten cold. Neeps and tatties, my favourite especially when mixed together. I will stick to mince and tatties and you who like haggis can have it all.

Adellabedella....where is it that you live?

Yes I tried it when we went to Scotland years ago and didn't like it. Also didn't like Black Pudding. I didn't know it was what my mom called 'Blood Loaf' or I never would have tried it. My mom loved it. Also head cheese and pickled pigs feet. Gross!

I had Haggis at a Burns' night in Bulgaria. I think there's a lot of oats in the casing. Or some other grain. Barley?

I find it hard to imagine you can't get turnips in Bishkek. Have you asked for "repa" in the market? They could be seasonal and you couldn't get them out of season. Turnips come in different colors, you might have passed over yellow turnips.

Peli Peli is one of my favorite restaurants. In fact one of the KT get togethers I had it there. The owner chef is great he comes to the table and tells his story and takes pictures of every one which is played on the tvs through out the restaurant. It's very unique and beautiful inside. The food is fantastic. Every thing I have eaten is good. They have a sticky pudding type dessert that is great. The restaurant is located in the Vintage center which is a nice area.

Ihave never had haggis and don't care to. My father used to make a lot of dishes using organ meats and they would make head cheese when there was a butchering. I didn't partake. There's a Cajun name for the organ dish I think it is somewhat similar to haggis. They often used the gut or stomach to stuff the food into.

The boudin in Cajun country is a mix of cooked rice, onions, spices and a mix of ground meats stuffed into a casing like sausage. It's wonderful stuff. In some areas they do have a blood sausage and a blood boudin. I don't eat those.

http://www.pelipeli.com for those interested in the menu and restaurant

Rhizo, We live in the Houston area. We have people from all over the world as neighbors. It's pretty interesting. When we want to try a new restaurant or type of food, we get the scoop from them on which are the best places or what to try.

We ate at the Vintage Park Peli Peli location, but we didn't get to meet the chef. He may not have been there that night.

You can get haggis at Ackroyd's Scottish Bakery in Redford, MI and they ship!

ackroydsbakery.com