What is Haggis?
Haggis, the national dish of Scotland, a type of pudding composed of the liver, heart, and lungs of a sheep (or other animal), minced and mixed with beef or mutton suet and oatmeal and seasoned with onion, cayenne pepper, and other spices. The mixture is packed into a sheep’s stomach and boiled.
Though regarded since the mid-18th century as a distinctively Scottish dish, it was long popular in England, as English writer Gervase Markham (c. 1568–1637) testified in The English Huswife (1615). Its origin, however, is still more ancient, for Marcus Apicius, Aristophanes, and even Homer allude to dishes of similar composition. The derivation of the term haggis, first attested in the 15th century, is unknown.
Haggis is inexpensive, savory, and nourishing. In Scotland it formerly was considered a rustic dish and was so celebrated in Robert Burns's lines “To a Haggis” (1786), but in the 21st century haggis is served with some ceremony, even bagpipes, particularly on Burns Night (held annually on January 25, Burns’s birthday) and Hogamany, as the Scots call their New Year’s celebrations.
Haggis is usually accompanied by turnips (called “swedes” or “neeps”) and mashed potatoes (“tatties”).
Task: Find 5 interesting or difficult words in the text. For each word: Write down the translation (e.g. with help of a dictionary). Use the word in a sentence
1) What are the main ingredients of Haggis?
2) How is Haggis made and cooked?
3) Since when is Haggis a Scottish dish?
4) Which old writers talked about food like Haggis?
5) When do people in Scotland eat Haggis now?
6) What food is often consumed together with Haggis?
7) What is the origin of the word ''Haggis''?
