Haggis..."It tastes like a Christmas candle"

This past Tuesday night was the celebration of Burns Night, in honor of a famous Scottish poet named Robert Burns.  A couple friends and I attended the Burns Supper and "indulged" in the traditional Scottish meal of haggis, neeps, and tatties.  For those who aren't familiar with these foods, neeps refers to mashed turnips and tatties are mashed potatoes.  Haggis is very popular in Scotland and is known as the leftovers mashed together.  A typical recipe is as follows:  

• 1 sheep's lung (illegal in the U.S.; may be omitted if not available)
• 1 sheep's stomach
• 1 sheep heart
• 1 sheep liver
• 1/2 lb fresh suet (kidney leaf fat is preferred)
• 3/4 cup oatmeal (the ground type, NOT the Quaker Oats type!)
• 3 onions, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3/4 cup stock

After you've read the first few ingredients I'm sure you can imagine how awful it tasted.  I only managed to get through a few fork fulls, with the help of the neeps and tatties killing the repulsive taste.  Fortunately the scotch broth and bread beforehand was delicious!  Also it helped that the table was given a bottle of red and white wine to wash the haggis down (typically I don't enjoy wine but when your eating something that gross anything tastes better).  

Just to clarify the title of this post, my friend Abby was served the vegetarian haggis and described it as tasting like a Christmas candle (not sure if she has ever actually tried one before).

We did enjoy the night overall, as it was a great cultural experience.  The whole dinner was conducted in the traditional manner, with bagpipes and readings/singings of Burns' poems.  There was also a cheers to the lads and lassies, in which the lassies cheer ended quite humorously:  "so up with the kilts and down with the trousers!"

There was a benefit to attending the Burns supper...there was a raffle at the end of the meal.  My luck continues here abroad; I won a nice University of Edinburgh sweatshirt!  There were probably about 75 - 100 people at the dinner.