What is Scottish and burns in the night?

Before I met my husband, I met a Scotsman.  And his French-American wife.  And their Argentinian friend.  They stayed in my remote ranch house, 50 miles from anything, in the midst of  late winter.  There was snow, though not much.  There was wind - too much. There was laughter, along with good food, and new friendships in the making.

The "cottage", fireplace and all.  Picturesque, yes.  Freezing in the winter?  Yes!

Months passed.  I met my now-husband, and learned he also knew said Scotsman, sa femme (his wife), and Argentine friend.  Eventually, my beau moved into the room vacated by the Argentinian gal, joining Scotsman and femme in a former dairy barn repurposed as a Bavarian cottage.

Ingredients for a feast
Credit: Magnus McCaffery, 2012

In that cottage-barn, during the darkness and chill of the following winter, an ornery rooster and a rangy old sheep became a feast.  Scotsman and femme introduced a great gathering to the mysterious rituals of haggis, neeps and tatties, and cock-a-leekie soup.

If you've never had haggis, try it.  You'll never forget it.  Though, I don't recommend it as leftovers, which is the only version I've enjoyed.  Evidently, haggis - a sheep's stomach stuffed with offal, herbs, and whatnot - has been in cookbooks since the 1400s.  Some food historians suggest it dates at least as far back as 8th-century B.C., and others think perhaps even earlier.

Haggis from scratch, chez McCaffery
Credit: Magnus McCaffery, 2012

If one tastes haggis outside Scotland, it is likely a special occasion.  Haggis is Scotland's national dish, and there's a night reserved for it.  Tonight's the night - January 25th.  Burns Night.  

Haggis shares the stage on these evenings with 18th-century Scottish poet and cultural icon Robert Burns.  Burns was born 25 January 1759, and friends and countrymen have remembered him for more than two centuries.  Since 1802, Burns Night or Burns supper has been an opportunity to celebrate his poetry, and the humor and Scottish culinary traditions which were his source of inspiration.  There is a proscribed formula to the evening, including the reading of specific Burns poems, ceremonial toasts, and even a procession to bring in the haggis.

Soda bread - a cinch to make, much harder to stop eating.
Slather with butter, load up with sharp cheese, or spoon on some jam.

There will be such a party in countless homes, halls, and hearts tonight.  If you can't stomach the thought of haggis, try cock-a-leekie soup, neeps and tatties, or this soda bread.  We made the soda bread this week for a Burns celebration.  Look out - it's addicting.  

Don't forget a dram or two of whisky to wash it down, and give a "vote of thanks" at the end to those who've joined you, helped prepare the meal, and attempted reading Burns' work in Scottish.