Burns night is a traditional Scottish dinner, held on or near January 25th, to celebrate the life of Robert Burns, a famous Scottish poet from the 1700s. He wrote Auld Lang Syne, among other things, and is a cultural icon.
One of Pat's Scottish co-workers, Duncan, and his wife, Jane, invited us to their home on Sunday for a Burns Night celebration. Duncan was the only Scot among us, so only one kilt in attendance and just a little bagpipe-playing on CD. A traditional dinner is filled with ceremony, speeches to the lasses and laddies, poetry, singing, and even dancing. Our dinner was a little more laid back.
After a soup appetizer, Duncan did the ceremonial presentation of the main course, haggis. This includes a Burns poem, Address to a Haggis, and the ritual slitting of the sheep stomach casing. Traditionally, neeps (mashed turnips) and tatties (mashed potatoes) accompany the main course.
It looks a little like this (picture courtesy of the internet—I draw the line at whipping out a camera at a private dinner).
There was also a pasta alternative to Haggis incorporating some Scottish salmon. I surprised myself by liking the haggis and neeps. Haggis is not as much like sausage as I expected. The sheep stomach casing is used to contain the rather loose contents while it's cooked. Once you cut it open, you scoop out the insides to eat and leave the stomach. I thought it had a lot more flavor than I would have expected and was actually quite good. Pat liked it at first, but his enthusiasm went down as dinner progressed. I surmise that was because he was sitting next to the slit stomachs and I wasn't.
Dinner was followed by scotch (of course) and desert—one was a rhubarb crumble with a shortbread topping and the other a chocolate pear cake. Both were quite good. During dinner you're suppose to read Burns poetry, but, with the exception of Duncan, we were all more than a little intimidated by the Scotisms—I certainly wouldn't know where to begin from a pronunciation standpoint. We all weaseled our way out of it. For example, I was suppose to read To A Mouse, a poem Burns wrote after uncovering the nest of a field mouse with his plough. Even if I could say it, there's little chance of me understanding it. Here's the first stanza...
Wee, sleekit, cowran, tim'rous beastie,
O, what panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murd'ring pattle!
It was a good night. Everyone was very nice which made it pretty comfortable. We even drove through a town called "Friendly" on the way there that had Friendly Fish & Chips and The Friendly Hotel. Guess that says it all.
In case you desire your own haggis, we did discover the best brand is MacSweens—you'll just have to come over here to have it. I found out that the US has banned real haggis due to potential health risks associated with some of the ingredients. The haggis you find in the US isn't a traditional recipe and has been altered to comply.
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