When my friend Del (aka @WeeRascal) came for his third visit to Sevilla last month he brought me not just a haggis but The McSween Haggis, which I was assured was the very best haggis in Scotland. The proper accompaniment to a haggis dinner is tatties & neeps and luckily I was able to find some small turnips at the market. And so last night was the night! I had been waiting for flatmate Jessica to be in town long enough to join Nog and me for dinner and so, although I’d spent a pleasant afternoon tapearing with Rebecca from Jaén and wasn’t sure if I was up for another meal, there was nothing for it. The time had come to finally cook The Haggis.

A traditional haggis consists of lamb, beef, oatmeal and onions, plus a special blend of spices and seasoning, which are all cooked together in a natural casing, so all that is needed is to wrap it in foil and heat it through in the oven for about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, the potatoes and turnips were put on to boil and afterwards were mashed with a bit of butter (didn’t know at the time that I was supposed to mash them together but they ended up being mixed on the plate anyhow). I had been “warned” by Del that I may want some ketchup or HP sauce as haggis tends to be a bit dry so, as I had no HP and can’t stand ketchup, I made up a batch of salsa az. Turns out it wasn’t necessary and most of it was left on my plate because the flavour and texture of The Haggis was simply wonderful and went perfectly with the mashed veg (and also with the excellent Ribera del Duero that Jessica had picked up that afternoon).

We all loved it and were reminded of Morcilla de Burgos, which is a delicious black pudding & rice Spanish sausage. And a big part of the fun was being able to share our first haggis experience with Del on Twitter, with other joining in too.

Thanks again Del – it was fabby!