Fantastic haggis of the MacSween variety
Originally uploaded by Manne.
Every year around this time my lovely friend Bethan organizes Burns Supper. Celebrating the birthday of Scotland's foremost bard Robert Burns has been a part of Scottish culture for over 200 years. Although Beth is Welsh, she has taken upon herself to keep this tradition alive and this is the third year running that I have had the joy to partake in the festivities.
Coming from Sweden where singing with each toast is a natural part of a good get together the format of a traditional Burns Supper is very appealing. There is poetry, singing, traditional music, speeches, toasts to old and lost friends and lots of whisky... Everything that makes a dinner lively, enjoyable and memorable.
Heck, I even like the bagpipes and I have the kilt to prove it.
Scotsman wannabe
Originally uploaded by Manne.
While the main course obviously is the mythical loved or hated haggis served with neeps and tattis (parsnips and potato mash...), the starter is always a nice soup (this year a lovely creamy vegetable soup). Rounding it all off we were also treated to a board with six different cheeses to enjoy with our three whiskys: from The Macallan a Fine Oak 15 year old and the 1824 Whisky Maker's Edition, then another 15 year old, this one from Dalwhinnie.
Whiskies of The Macallan variety
Originally uploaded by Manne.
Piping in the guests was this particular night done by Mr Sinatra, so not entirely traditional there. We saved the bagpipes for later. With all of us seated Beth went on to recite the Selkirk Grace (follow link to hear it read aloud), pointing out to us how lucky we are to be able to eat plenty of good food in the company of great friends:
Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.
Delicious soup was served and quickly devoured and then we moved on to the main event: piping in the haggis. To the sound of bagpipes Beth marched the haggis to the table, while we all stood up to welcome it.
The address to the haggis was recited and the skin swiftly cut!
Personally I am unable to understand why so many people discard haggis as icky offal food. It is so tasty and satisfying. The MacSween haggis (which in our case Beth hand caught herself in the jungles of Selfridges, but for a great and inspiring description on how to make your own, check out this and this from @Foodrambler...) was rich, spicy and perfectly moist. Unable to eat all of it I was envious of Beth who would wake up the next day to the haggis leftovers. Bet it would make a great participant in a proper fry-up to chase the hang over away!
Since there was only six of us present, we promptly skipped first and second entertainment moving straight on to the toast to the lassies delivered by myself. Last year I was taken completely by surprise when asked to do this, but this night I came prepared.
Ing then took care of the lassies' response.
Having followed tradition to the letter, we could finally move on to what I looked forward to most this night: a cheese board prepared by Ing with the help of the lovely people at Neal's Yard Dairy.
Most organized cheese board ever, regions on one side of flag and name of cheese on the other
Originally uploaded by Manne.
No less than six different cheeses which were carefully selected to match our bottles of whisky.
Milleens, from Co. Cork, Ireland. A cows milk soft cheese with a lovely creamy texture and tastes of mushrooms and herbs. Lovely. I am not a big fan of rind, but this particular one has a vivid orange colour making it look amazing. Wendy, who loves a good cheese rind, picked this as her favourite.
Strathdon Blue, from the far north, Tain in Scotland. Another cows milk cheese but this one veined with blue. Similar to a Stilton but much softer and creamier. A savoury salty taste, this one was my favourite. With the subtle peatiness and hints of grass in the Dalwhinnie a match made in heaven in my opinion.
Colston Bassett Stilton, from Nottinghamshire. With harder more butter like texture, this is a stronger blue cheese than the Strathdon. Not overpowering though, a nice fruity feel to it.
Golden Cross, from Greenacres Farm in Sussex. A goats cheese with a slightly sweet taste, ending with notes of citrus fruits.
Innes Log, from Highfields Farm in Staffordshire. Another goats cheese, but this one looks like no other goats cheese I have seen. Rather than a perfect white it is speckled with gray, black and even green colours. More compact than Golden Cross, the texture is firmer, the taste richer and more savoury. We all loved this cheese, it went particularly well with the 1824 Whisky Maker's Edition from The Macallan.
Isle of Mull, from... Isle of Mull (!) on the west coast of Scotland. No cheese board is complete without a good cheddar, and this cheddar is particularly remarkable. Moist, soft and light in colour the taste is fresh and strong. This also went down very well with all of us "ooh"-ing and "aah"-ing as we tried it with the Fine Oak 15 year old.
As the cheese disappeared, the bottles were emptied.
These bottles didn't stay this full for long...
Originally uploaded by Manne.
My memory may be clouded by all that whisky but now, the day after, I still think the Strathdon Blue was the most satisfying of the cheeses.
A lovely evening in lovely company, thank you Beth and Ing for pulling this together. Lovely haggis and without a doubt the most organized cheese board I have ever seen.
While it is a whole year to the next Burns Night I have made sure I won't have to wait another year to get me some haggis. Today at Waitrose we found MacSween one person servings, and a few of those now safely rest in the freezer.
