Scots ask US to lift haggis ban

The BBC ^ | January 20, 2008

[Stoat]

Scots ask US to lift haggis ban

 

Haggis, traditionally eaten on Burns night, is banned in the US

The Scottish Government is considering asking the United States to rethink its ban on haggis imports.

Imports of Scotland's iconic dish were banned by the US in 1989 in the wake of the BSE scare because it contains offal ingredients such as sheep lungs.

Only an offal-free version of haggis is available in the US.

The move would be backed by renowned haggis maker Macsween, which believes the American market could be a very lucrative one.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said it "will consider engaging the US government on its haggis export ban, if there is popular support for such a move from within our world famous haggis producers".

Expat Scots

Jo Macsween, a co-director of family company Macsween, said she hoped to see the ban overturned.

"The market is massive because there are so many expat Scots there and once Americans try a good quality haggis, they can't get enough of it," she added.

The dish, traditionally served with tatties and neeps on Burns' night, usually contains a sheeps lungs, liver and heart minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices and salt mixed with stock.

It is then boiled in the animal's stomach for around three hours.

A spokesman for the US Department of Agriculture said: "We do not allow importation because of the UK's BSE status."

We see no reason at all why people cannot eat haggis safely, so long as manufacturers follow hygiene legislation   Food Standards Agency

"Sheep are susceptible to TSE's and thus the US takes precautions on importing those ruminants from BSE-affected countries."

However, a spokesman for Britain's Food Standards Agency said: "We see no reason at all why people cannot eat haggis safely, so long as manufacturers follow hygiene legislation.

"We have the strictest BSE controls in the world."

[darkangel82]

*snfff* Thanks.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

If true, we have strong, revolting, evidence of the decline of intelligence in the American voter.

As if we needed anymore after yesterday!

[Rudder]

Thank you for making me snort carbonated soda through my sinuses.

All the better to purge out those wee bits o' haggis.

[Stoat]

Also please note this line from the posted article:

Only an offal-free version of haggis is available in the US.

I'm guessing that for a Scotsman, an offal-free haggis is not the same thing and for some could be considered an Insult To Scotland much like a Fourth of July without fireworks would be to us here in the USA.

 

[Stoat]

*snfff* Thanks.

You're quite welcome  :-)

All of our olfactory senses, passages and orifices need to be in perfect working order for Burns Night  :-)

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

I still consider that lutefish is the worst, sorry I ever asked what it was. To confirm this I would have to Google ‘balut’, and I frankly don’t care to look.

[yarddog]

My Daughter gave me that book around a year ago. I am only about half way through it. It is tough going but it is interesing how much of the modern world owes it's roots to Scotland.

My ancestors on both sides are about 95% Scottish. The only two I have found who aren't are Irish. Although I love much of Scottish culture such as bagpipes, I will admit Scottish food doesn't appeal to me.

[Sir Gawain]

Balut is an 18 day old incubated duck egg. The Philipinos eat them like crazy. Peel the shell, add salt and vinegar, and eat it all, even the feathers and the head. Type in balut in youtube and you can see videos of people trying to eat it.

[Bernard Marx]

When I visited Edinburgh a few years ago I saw a blatant attempt to win American tourists over to haggis. A stand on the Royal Mile was selling haggis burgers. Sorry, no sale. I had a fine non-haggis lunch at the World’s End pub instead.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

More information than I really wanted, though it sounds a bit like the Chinese ‘Thousand year Old Eggs’, a hyperbolic name.

[Larry Lucido]

Burns night?

[decal]

The local Scottish society makes a passable haggis - equal parts beef, lamb and liver, I think.

One of the members of the pipe band I’m in always brings flour tortillas to Burns Nicht.

Haggis fajitas, mmmmmmmmmmm...

[rottndog]

Haggis in America!!! Great Scot!

[KarenMarie]

Tatties are mashed potatoes. Neeps are turnips. Burns night is a celebration of the poet Robert Burns.

I had eaten Haggis loads of times and thought it was excellent. Then I found out what it was made of and never ate it again.

;)

[Rb ver. 2.0]

I like Bad Haggis.

[Ditter]

I didn’t say that Scotland was a poor country now this thread said it HAD been poor. I said the mentality of being frugal was still there. I was mistaken about the 20 years it was 40 years ago that this happened. It was not porn, it was a picture book of castles but she didn’t know what it was because it was wrapped for mailing. Her reason for not taking it was because it would be too expensive not because her postoffice didn’t take packages. That is funny because it was my money. She was concerned that it would cost *me* too much, she told me that.

[NewJerseyJoe]

> Balut is an 18 day old incubated duck egg. The Philipinos eat them like crazy.

My ship (Navy, 1985-1991) went to the Philippines a number of times in the late 1980s. We called balut "the egg with legs"....

From http://www.deependdining.com/2005/09/balut-egg-of-darkness-pinoy-pinay.html 

Balut is the culinary heart of darkness. If you eat it, you have reservations about doing so. If you know about it, you have strong opinions regarding it. Ask for it in a restaurant and the clerk will visibly react. Devour it at a table with others who aren’t eating it and you’re guaranteed to dine solo. Explain balut to the uninitiated and be prepared for your audience to run away from you as quickly as possible while seeking sanctuary in something comforting like a Ding Dong. I know all this because I’ve had these things happen to me whenever balut is present, physically or conversationally. I have struggled and continue to struggle with eating balut. Superman has his kryptonite and I have balut. It is probably one of the (if not THE) exotic foods I fear most. In fact, I have been putting off reviewing balut for almost a year now for this reason. Why am I so freaked out by balut? Well, how much time do you have? For starters, balut will haunt you after you ingest it. It stays with you forever. I’m not suggesting that I believe in the ghost stories about being possessed after eating balut. I’m speaking more to the traumatic imprinting that might occur when you consume this culturally complex cuisine. Even when I try hard not to think about what I’m eating, somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind I’m aware that I’m eating a fetus, life that is yet to be, something unborn, taboo food. Also, this awareness has nothing to do with political-religious beliefs. It is simply the unappealing idea of eating a fetus.

Other entries on my Top 10 list include Casu Marzu, Baby mice wine, Rocky Mountain oysters, and any kind of brain.

[sionnsar]

Haggis in America!!! Great Scot!

Pipes and Drums of FreeRepublic ping!

This is an ultra-low-volume ping list (typically weeks to months between pings).
FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this list.

Going to the Games? Organize a Clan FReeper get-together

Och aye. We have to cross over into CND (C-eh N-eh D-eh) to get haggis here. Burns' Night coming up, time to warm up those pipes...

[NewJerseyJoe]

> will admit Scottish food doesn't appeal to me

...I will admit that, a few weeks ago, I tried St. Andrews cheese for the first time. It was one of the most delicious cheeses I ever tasted.

[giotto]

Macsween, which believes the American market could be a very lucrative one.

Somehow I don't see McHaggis replacing Chicken McNuggets in the Happy Meal.