Vegetarian Haggis, Neeps And Tatties
The Haggis origin story doesn’t begin in merry England, Homer actually eludes to a very similar dish in his classic The Odyssey, back in 800 BC. So how did it become Scotland’s national dish? When times were tough (and they often were in Scotland) then it was essential to eat as much of an animal as possible. Internal organs perish faster than other parts and so using them in haggis meant avoiding wastage. It was served as a meal on to go and thus fuelled travel around Scotland. It’s now a celebrated dish, with poems written about it and special days like St Andrew’s Day and Burns Night, where it is as cherished as a turkey at Christmas.
Vegetarian Haggis only became available in shops in the 80s, a blip in time considering the age of the traditional recipe, haggis was first mentioned back in the 15th Century! Since then it has gained popularity both in Scotland and further afield, particularly in places where meat-based haggis can’t be bought. Macsween’s Haggis, a favourite of Scottish Scran, claims to have introduced the vegetarian haggis recipe back in 1984 and they’ve stated that the veggie haggis now makes up to 25% of their sales.
The rise in popularity of vegetarian and vegan diets is deemed the reason for this huge increase and it shows no sign of slowing down.
Ingredients
- 2 Large Portobello Mushrooms (approx 200g or ¾ cup + 2 tbsp) roughly chopped
- 1 Medium Sized Brown Onion, finely chopped
- 1 Large Carrot, grated
- 50g Salted Butter – replace to make the haggis vegan (¼ cup + 1 tbsp) – Split this in half.
- 100g Pinhead Oatmeal (1 cup + 1 tbsp)
- 55g Split Peas (¼ cup)
- 55g Pearl Barley (¼ cup)
- ½ tsp Mace
- ½ tsp Black Pepper
- ½ tsp Table Salt
- ½ tsp Nutmeg
- 600ml Vegetable Stock (1 cups + ½ cup + 3 tbsp) made from 3 stock cubes
- 1 ½ tsp Marmite (Heaped)
- 1 ½ tsp Black Treacle (Heaped)
Method
- Place the split peas and pearl barley into two separate saucepans and boil. Split peas for 25 mins and barley for 20 mins.
- Grease a loaf tin thoroughly.
- Once the split peas and barley are boiling Heat the frying pan and, once hot, add 25g of butter.
- Fry the finely chopped onions in the butter until they begin to soften.
- Roughly chop the mushrooms and add to the pan.
- Once the mushrooms and onion are soft, stir in the grated carrot.
- Stir the mix together over a low heat until well mixed.
- Make the stock crumble 3 stock cubes into a measuring jug, then, carefully add 600ml boiling water and stirred until the cubes were fully dissolved.
- Stir in the Marmite and Black Treacle until they both dissolve fully into the stock.
- Add 400ml of the stock to the frying pan.
- Add the Oats to the frying pan.
- Add the salt, nutmeg, pepper and mace.
- Continue to stir while gently heating.
- Drain the Split Peas and Pearl Barley and add both to the frying pan.
- Allow the stock to reduce down, stirring gently.
- Add 25g of Butter and the remaining 200ml of stock.
- Turn up the stove to a medium heat and cook the mix until the stock has reduced completely, stirring often to avoid it catching on the bottom of the frying pan.
- Heat your oven to 180 degrees C.
- When the mix is cooked through, and the stock has reduced, taste to make sure the flavour is balanced, adding more spices, marmite or treacle as required. The flavour should be warming and peppery with an earthy undertone and a little sweetness.
- Spoon the mix into the well-greased loaf tin and place into the preheated oven for 20-30mins, or until the top of the mix is crispy and darkened.
- Once the haggis is cooked, take it out of the oven
- Place a length of tinfoil over the top of the haggis and then an upturned baking tray. Then, being careful not to burn your hands, hold the tray, foil and tin and gently turn it upside down so you end up with your haggis, out of the tin. on the foil on the baking tray.
- Place this back in the oven for 2-5 mins to crisp the outside of the haggis.
- Slice and Serve with mashed swede [neeps] and mashed potato. [tatties]
