Scotland, Haggis

In Scotland they say:"He who has contempt for food is a fool".
The inhabitans of the barren country in the north of Great Britain have learned to make the best of the meagre gifts of nature. These tenacious, strong-willed mountain and farming people preserve their traditions. Here a strong sense of loyalty exists ans the clans hand their family recipes down from generation to generation. One of the recipes is legendary Haggis, which cinsists of sheep's intestines cooked in a sheep's stomach.
haggis is made and sold all the year round by butchers all over Scotland. Howevere, it has two points in the year, both on special days: at Hogmanay, or New Year's Eve; and on Burn's Night on January 25, when tribute is paid to Robert Burns, the greates Scottish poet.

Haggis

ingredients

• 1 sheep stomach, washed, turned inside out and scraped
  
• 250 g lamb suet
• sheep offal( liver, heart, lung)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 onions, peeled and choped finely
  
• 500 g coarse oatmeal

Place stomach in cold salted water and leave to soak overnight. Wash the offal and suet, place in boiling salted water and leave to simmer for 2 hours. Remove from the water, remove the windpipe and gristle and chop everything up finely or put it through the meat grinder.
Cook the oatmeal until becomes crisp. Mix with the other ingredients and knead with some cooking water into a smooth moxture. Fill the sheep stomach with it so that is about two thirds full, expel the air, sew it up - binding it in the middle if necessary- and prick the haggis several times so that it does not burst during cooking. Cover and cook in lightly boiling water fot 4 hours. Afterwards keep hot and remove the threads. Once it has been cut serve with a lot of butter and clapshot- a puree of swedes and potatoes.