St. Andrew's Day Dinner

Haggis, white pudding, potato, and turnip dinner, originally uploaded by zuctronic.

November 28th, 2009

While we were hiking around in Jamison Valley our phones had no reception. On our way back into civilization, my phone alerted me to the fact that I had missed a call from Cheryl. I called her back and she invited us to dinner with some friends in the city. "I'm told there will be a haggis there," she said. That sealed the deal.

This traditional Scottish dish is a type of sausage of savory pudding made by mincing the "pluck" of a sheep (heart, lungs, liver) with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt ... then stuffing it all into the sheep's stomach. This preparation is then boiled in stock for a few hours and then served. In our case it was served with mashed potato, mashed turnip, and white pudding -- another savory pudding made with suet, oatmeal, salt, and spices.

I was the only one at the table who cleaned my plate. This was interesting because I am a notoriously picky eater. Well first of all I was really hungry... I also liked the haggis, but it was a little dry. Ian (our host) said it was overcooked, but I wouldn't have known the difference. I will definitely try it again if I come across it, but I won't go searching for it.

Thank you Ian for a great meal! Thank you Cheryl for introducing me to new friends! This made two non-Australian holidays I had celebrated in Australia in less than a week!