Officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture are examining the decades-old ban on haggis, Scotland's national dish. For those of you not in the know, here's Wikipedia's description: "Haggis is a dish containing sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally simmered in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours." The ban was enacted during a breakout of Mad Cow Disease in the late '80s.
I'm pleading the gastronomic Fifth on this -- I resumed my vegetarian diet over a year ago -- but in all seriousness, I would happily gobble down some Scottish haggis over a slab of beef procured from a midwestern feedlot.
New blog post: USDA reconsiders ban on haggis http://hailbritannia.com/2010/02/04/usda-reconsiders-ban-on-haggis/
ReplyDeleteSince this was in response to Mad Cow Disease, I wonder if they will also finally allow kidneys to be sold so I can make my beloved steak and kidney pie. And do you think they'll ever let me donate blood in this country?
ReplyDeleteI saw steak and kidney pie at the international grocery store by my house. And also, canned haggis. I'm not 100% certain that they were produced in the UK, but since the store specializes in imported goods, I think they probably were. But maybe there's a difference between canned haggis and uh...whatever other form it comes in!
ReplyDeletePresumably you could make haggis -- or steak and kidney pie -- from entrails purchased here. Or is there a taste/quality difference?
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