Baked Haggis Filo Parcels with Plum Sauce

Back in about 2002 I ended up living in Edinburgh on expenses for about 6 months.  It should've been a brief spell implementing software for the company I worked but we weren't the most organised of organisations and so it turned into a mammoth trip of fine dining discovery for me.  Expenses were set at £40 a day but as I flew back Friday afternoon I basically had £200 a week to spend on 4 evening meals.  Outside of the lone diner aspect, with the plethora of restaurants Edinburgh has to offer I was in a la carte heaven.

For 6 months I lived off scallops, venison, fillet steak, foie gras, sea bass, local salmon, lobster, wild mushrooms and whatever else I fancied, all washed down with a couple of glasses of fine wine a night.  I ate in Iggs , The Witchery , The Tower, Martins, Duck at La Marche Noir, Creelers, The Atrium, Stac Polly and anywhere else that got good reviews in Edinburgh Restaurant guides.  At first I was very apprehensive of eating out alone but I refused to look a gift horse in the mouth and resort to hotel restaurants or room service so I bit the bullet, grabbed a book to read and asked if they had any secluded tables.  Sometimes, on a busy night or a small restaurant with one big group, I felt like I was at someone else's party but for the most part I was in gastronomic nirvana.  Considering I also ate a hotel fry up each morning and a couple of subsidised courses in the office canteen at lunch I don't know how I didn't end up a porker.  I guess I should just be thankful I was 25 with the metabolism to go with it.  

What a delightful adventure it was.

One restaurant of the aforementioned restaurants called Stac Polly, the reason I recall this tale, did (and still does) have a signature starter of Baked Haggis Filo Parcels with Plum sauce.  After Burn's Night reawakened my taste buds to the delight of haggis I decided to give it a go.  The haggis and filo bit was easy enough to mimic and after a few searches on Google I put a few recipes together and ended up with the plum sauce recipe below.  This time around I didn't have the luxury of a MacSween's Haggis and resorted to a Simon Howie Haggis from Sainsbury, as nice as the parcels were I'll try and stick to the MacSween's from now on.  The seasoning was far nicer, more of a pepper kick, and the texture looser, distinct grains of oats and pluck rather than an overworked paste.  Even so breaking through the crisp case to the meaty, peppered middle was a delight.  The spiced plum sauce was sharp enough to cut through the rich haggis and pastry and the ginger and spices added a welcome dimension.

Baked Haggis Filo Parcels with Plum Sauce

1 haggis, skinned and broken up (vegetarian haggis would work well too)
1 pack filo pastry
100gr butter, melted

500gr plums
125ml water
60ml cider vinegar
2cm piece ginger, peeled and finely diced
2 TB sugar (I used natural caster sugar)
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
1 ts light soy sauce

Method

For the plum sauce stone the plums and roughly chop the flesh.

Put the plum flesh into a saucepan with all the other ingredients, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove the cinnamon and star anise and blend till smooth.

If it's looking a bit thick still then reduce.  This makes quite a bit, probably double what you need, so you can put the rest into a sterilised jar.

For the haggis lay out a sheet of filo, brush with butter and put another on top, brushing with butter again and putting on a third sheet.  If your filo is like mine the sheets are about 24cm by 12cm so cut in half into two squares.  Place a squash ball sized ball of haggis onto each square, bring the sides up and twist into a money bag shape.  You should be able to get 10-12, depending on how much haggis you put in each one.

To cook, heat an oven to 200C/180C (fan), place on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes, till golden brown and heated through.

Serve with the plum sauce.  I manged to eat 5 of them, but then I'm a glutton.  With something on the side (a salad maybe) 3 per person should suffice.

They'd also be great made a lot smaller, like dim sum size, and served as canapes.

Comments

[Ros]

A lovely idea. The problem I normally have with haggis is that it can be a bit too rich and heavy. I've tried lightening it by layering it with veg in a moussaka or just using it as a stuffing but this is true genius.

My favourite haggis used to be one I got from Borough- ~I don't know the name but I know exactly where to find it! perhaps it was McSweens....?

I had veggie haggis at school for the first time last week. Nice but nothing compared to the real thing!

[Joshua Armstrong]

The veggie stuff seems to be a nut roast in a bag, nice and peppery but, like you say, it isn't the real thing. I was pleasantly surprised by it though.

I bought an award-winning (not sure what award) haggis from a Borough market stall one year and upon inspection noticed the most prevalent ingredient was beef liver. MacSweens seems to be in nice butchers and supermarkets alike so may well be at Borough too.

I know what you mean about richness, it's good to have something to cut through it. I find a nice peaty single malt works well.

[How to Cook Haggis]

nice idea...
i always prepare haggis with traditional recipe..

the last time i prepare veg haggis was not up to the expectation. but i think this recipe will help me to prepare a delicious dish..

[Martin]

Just thought I'd let you know I tried this (using small quantities) as a starter for a New Years Eve meal, and extremely successful it was - even with the 4 kids present, one of whom is quite a picky eater. Followed up with a rosemary sorbet, then lamb fillet on cabbage/carrots with mashed potato sauce, a al Gary Rhodes. All very nice.

Thank you very much for the idea.

[Joshua Armstrong]

Hi Martin

Glad it went down well.

Did you tell the kids what was in it? I imagine if they didn't know it would be pretty tasty for them.

Meal sounds great.