Pet Forum / Mammals / Rats / December 2004

Oh my, you too have been bamboozled about what the "real thing"
is regarding haggis if you think sheep are involved.  Here offered
are two sites (though still somewhat conflicting) regarding such:
http://haggishunt.scotsman.com/haggisclopedia.cfm
http://www.robertthebruce.com/haggis.html

I have a lovely postcard that some friends who were once visiting
Scotland sent me, showing an artistic rendering of Haggi on a hill--
such charming little creatures (I tend to be of the "two legs shorter"
school, meaning that they can only run around the hill in one
clockwise direction, thus making them easier to capture since
they'll roll down the hill if they try to go the other way, and hence
why they're nearly extinct and so elusive.)  <g>  I'm sure that some
of our friends across the Pond could fill us in a little more on this.

Didn't some here find that their ratties quite enjoyed Durian fruit,
which is reputed to be one of the most "acquired taste" deals in the
world?  http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~durian

I'll have to go sometime to see if I can find some of that in the
speciality stores near me in Berkeley (where you can find simply
anything that's available anywhere else in the world, truly, if you
just know where to go for what you're looking for).

'Blood pudding' and 'blood sausages' are made just down the road from me,
around here they're called black pudding, the black is from congealed blood,
they also contain lumps of fat (like the inner bit of pork rind) and
seasonings...we slice them like thick salami and grill or fry them with eggs
and bacon, I always put a dollop of English mustard (very hot) or ketchup on
mine but it's rare that we eat them....they are very filling and two small
slices are the most I can manage.

Real haggis must be got from Scotland, I only live 200 miles away and we
can't get the proper stuff - I've just come back from a fishing trip up
there but didn't remember to pick any up like I did last time.
It's quite delicious but obviously some people don't like it because they
know what's in it - it has a weird texture and is crumbly like cake, but
rougher as it contains quite a lot of oats.
It's flavour is unique and is a bit peppery, but with other flavours and
spices distinctive too....the tourist type shops sell various flavours and
some with added whisky etc but these all seem a bit gimicky to me and so I
bought mine from a village butchers  - one of them was unsliced, IE: just an
elongated ball shape - I took it home, sliced it into burger sized slices
and then froze the lot, again it is very filling and you'd be hard pushed to
eat more than a couple of pieces with your meal.

Is blood sausage the same as black pudding?

Believe it or not they sell a vegetarian haggis at a local farm shop near
here.

The thing that grosses me out the most is lamb - I cannot even abide the
smell of it cooking, bleurgh!  Even when I used to eat meat I couldn't stand
it.  Oh and snails... they look so icky.  And celery - yuk!

Tracey

Well ours enjoyed a delightful meal of shrimp cocktail,
turduchen, seafood stuffing, fresh rolls...couldn't let them
have any of the SE Australian Chardonnay though.