Burns Night Healthy Oriental Haggis Recipe

Burns night is a heartily celebrated occasion to honour the Bard (Poet) Robert Burns. Born in Scotland on January 25th 1759 he was also known as the ‘Bard of Ayrshire’. Burns night was originally celebrated on the anniversary of his death, July 21st 1796 by his close acquaintances, but was later moved to celebrate the Bard’s birthday. Robert ‘Rabbie’ Burns wrote many poems, lyrics and many other pieces that addressed political and civil issues at that time but probably his best known work and still used today is ‘Auld Lang Syne’ sung at New Year’s Eve in Scotland, the United Kingdom and many other places around the world. A traditional Burns Night for many people with Scottish origins can include a night of readings of some of Robert Burns’ poems and writings. Many still fly the blue and white Scottish Saltire flag and traditionally the men wear kilts made from their family tartan. Women wear shawls or dresses made with the same family tartan. Burns Night is a great evening for getting together with friends and family and especially for those with Scottish connections. It can also be an evening for testing out some traditional culinary skills for some of the traditional dishes. Food is a big part of Burns Night and there are many dishes associated with this tradition. Cock-a-leekie soup, which is a chicken and leek soup. Haggis, Neeps and Tatties - Haggis is a type of sausage prepared in a sheep’s stomach, neeps are mashed turnips or swede and tatties are mashed potatoes. Bannocks are also eaten which are a type of bread prepared on a griddle and of course the traditional drink is Whisky.

Dorset Demo Chef Mark Hartstone owner of Dorset’s award winning La Fosse at Cranborne gives his take on a classic Scottish dish.

Haggis tastes fantastic and should be on the menu more often than the annual celebration of Robert Burns. A way of serving this that is appealing to all is to create bread crumbed mini balls. This dish is a slight nod to another life when I worked in Scotland. Deep fried battered haggis was a favourite late night snack returning home from jovial nights imbibing the odd 80 shilling or wee cask strength dram! Battering and deep frying haggis although tasty is at odds to efforts of a healthy New Year start. So baking the balls is a healthy alternative, though still producing the satisfying crunch casing to the spiced delights within. The dish is still rich so requires a foil. A sweet vinegary brown sauce may well have done the job last century. A kimchi style salad is a great accompaniment to this rich meaty delight and may either be a Korean lacto fermented style or this Japanese influenced salad described below.

Serves 4

1 Macsweens Haggis

1 loaf of old sour dough, for tasty breadcrumbs

3 eggs

100g plain flour

Seasoning

600g mixed root vegetables (neeps and tatties)

500ml vinegar, white wine, cider or plain vinegar are suitable, but not malted

150ml sugar

¼ tsp coriander seeds

¼ tsp cardamom

1 star anise

1 pinch of chilli flakes

Remove the crusts off bread, cut into inch squares and pulse in a food processor until uniformly coarse crumbs. Always try to use homemade breadcrumbs, as they are better.

Cut the haggis in two and roll the contents into equal size balls, not too big.

Coat balls in flour and immerse into egg yolk then roll in bread crumbs, for these, one layer is sufficient. Place the balls on a greased tray in a preheated oven to 180°C. Bake until the crumbs are golden brown and interior is steaming.

Simmer the vinegar with the spices and sugar for a few minutes to infuse whilst peeling and finely dice the vegetables. Cook the vegetable until al dente then leave to marinate in a plastic container overnight. You may keep the flavoured sousing liquid in a bottle in the fridge as it can be used for other dishes or a base for tasty vinaigrette's or sauces.

Finally place the Haggis balls in the middle of the plate, the soused vegetables can be tossed with salad leaves and then scattered around the plate.

A food processor is useful for blitzing that bread into manageable breadcrumbs. Grab a non-stick baking tray for baking your ingredients for a healthy alternative. Use a saute pan for sousing your sugar and spices for a delicious sauce.

If this recipe has tantalised your taste buds and you would like to experience more of Mark's cooking, go to La Fosse at Cranborne, winner of Dorset restaurant of the year.