Burn's Night Supper

Somewhere along the line I have Scottish blood, with the surname Armstrong that must be the case, but I'm not a big fan of poetry and so the main reason I celebrate Burn's night is for two of Scotland's finest inventions (and there's quite a list) - haggis and whisky.  I can't see how anyone, taking it purely on taste and not being a wuss due to contents, can't love haggis - moist, meaty and spicy as it is.  I can see how whisky, especially a peaty single malt drank straight, might be a bit much for some but haggis - never.

This Burn's Night I decided to go the whole hog with three courses.  In years gone by I've made the wonderfully smokey and rich haddock soup, cullen skink, but thought we were having a vegetarian around so decided on scotch broth.  Not too veggie friendly with it's lamb but easy enough to get a meat-free pot going alongside.  The guest ended up not making it but the soup was tasty anyway.  I used this recipe as a traditional Scottish recipe was what I was after.  For me the interesting thing about this soup is how whilst laden with root vegetables, dried peas and barley it still remains light tasting.  I doubt very much it would if you blended it but whilst there's lots of sweet broth with chunks in it still feels light to me.

For main there was no other choice than Haggis, Neeps and Tatties.  I had popped into the wonderful flagship John Lewis Food Hall on Oxford Street on Saturday and was delighted to find they were getting into the spirit with both haggis and whisky samples on offer.  Who was I to say no so two haggis (McSween's meat and McSween's vegetarian) and three whisky samples later I left with my haggis and a warm, slightly tipsy feeling.  I was happy to have a McSween's Haggis too as whilst they're probably not up to local Scottish butcher standards they're by far the tastiest of the prepackaged ones I've tried.

Now everyone knows that whilst it may sound like the end of turnip the Scots have their veg the wrong way around and so neeps are the orange swede and not the white turnip.  Well everyone bar one of the stallholders on Islington Farmer's Market whose turnips' label said about getting your turNEEPS for Burn's Night.  I'll let them off though as all the veg I bought from them was very tasty. 

The neeps were simply mashed and given a big lump of butter and a few grinds of black pepper and salt.  I was given a potato ricer for Christmas and the mashed potato here was its first run out.  It did make for lovely smooth mash and a big knob of butter and the leftover 25ml of double cream from the dessert gave us a beautifully rich side to the haggis.  Folk talk of a sauce or gravy for this dish but with all that butter and cream, not to mention the suety moistness of the haggis, I don't think you need one.  A wee dram of Ardbeg single malt - rich, smokey and peaty - was the perfect foil for the peppery haggis and rich sides.

Just in case we'd not had enough dairy fat with the neeps and tatties we finished of with Crannachan.  I'd read of this dish before but had never got around to it, mainly because I didn't think raspberries, cream, oats and whisky sounded too good.  How wrong was I?  I used this recipe and the flavour was divine:  nutty toasted oatmeal and smoky whisky (a Talisker this time) adding so much depth to the - slightly over whipped by me - double cream.  Rich, make no mistake, but with the sharpness of raspberries to cut through it still very eatable in large quantities.  I'm thinking that a slight fiddle with the recipe and some freezer time could make for a very nice Scottish Italian fusion Crannachan Semifreddo - an experiment in waiting.

All in all it was a very nice meal and dishes I'd be happy to repeat without the occasion. 

Comments

[Lizzie]

I'm a quarter Scottish (my surname is also Scottish, like yours) and I've never had haggis. Oh, the shame!

[Joshua Armstrong]

You need to rectify that situation pronto Lizzie. My Burn's night meal made me question why I don't eat it more often. They're only about £3 in John Lewis.