In 2009, the world of haggis was rocked by controversy. While most of us might think of it as the quintessentially Scottish dish, Catherine Brown, a Glasgow-born food historian, claimed to have discovered a cookery book from 1615 ‘proving’ that the ‘great chieftain o the puddin’ race’ was actually an English invention. Her fellow Scots were outraged. There was no way a Sassenach could have come up with such braw fid, they growled. As one Edinburgh haggis-maker scowled: ‘I didn’t hear of Shakespeare writing a poem about haggis.’
So who is right? It’s hard to say. Haggis’ origins are shrouded in mystery. There is no telling where – or when – it came into being. Some believe that it was brought over by the Romans. Although evidence is scarce, their version – made from pork – probably began as a rudimentary means of preserving meat during hunts. Whenever an animal was killed, the offal had to be eaten straight away, or preserved.
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