Haggis is the national dish of Scotland, and today people up and down the country will be tucking in to the delicacy. It's Burns Night, and while many celebrate the life and poetry of Robert Burns, they will be tucking into a Burns Supper – and haggis will be the crowning glory.
The sausage-like food item is one of Scotland's most famous dishes, but it turns out some people are only just realising what it's made of.
One shocked foodie took to Twitter to say: "I just found out what haggis are made of and now I need between 3-5 business days to process this." After saying they had tucked into the dish without realising what it was, they added: "I don't think I’ll eat haggis again. I can't."
Another person shared: "I only found out today what haggis is made out of and I just want to question how the hell people can eat it."
A third added: "Oh My Word I have just found out what Haggis is made of blurh."
One person shared some wisdom with those who still don't know: "For those who don't know, haggis is made by putting the internal organs of a sheep inside of its stomach."
Haggis is a savoury pudding made with oatmeal, onions, salt and spices. It's traditionally cooked in a sheep's stomach and includes minced heart, liver and lungs.
It's definitely not the most elegant sounding dish in the planet, but many people think it's delicious. It's traditionally served as a main meal with neeps and tatties, which are mashed potatoes and turnips.
Sometimes people also eat it as part of a cooked breakfast, and there are also more modern takes on it – like putting it in a toastie or on nachos.
Despite this, a survey from 2020 carried out by Miso Tasty named haggis as the food Brits hate the most – despite most of those asked having never tried it.
The dish was popularised by Robert Burns in his 1786 poem Address to a Haggis, where he called it a "great chieftain o' the puddin-race". On the fifth anniversary of his death, in 1801, his friends came together to eat haggis in his memory.
In the early days, people ate haggis out of necessity, because it was a cheap and hearty meal, but the dish is still eaten all year-round.
Despite being Scotland's national dish, it's not clear where the haggis originated, as many countries have their own, similar recipes. For example, the ancient romans also stuffed offal inside animals' stomachs.
Did you know what haggis was made of, and have you tried it? Let us know in the comments below.
