Haggis in demand down under
Scots-born chef Gordon Coutts put his faith in a traditional haggis to serve his wedding guests - and ended up feeding the neighbourhood as well.
The New Plymouth chef cooked up 12 kilograms of the chopped offal and toasted oats husks ‘puddin’, or sausage mixture, for 90 guests and found there was enough left over to give away.
‘‘I hate seeing food thrown away and the best option was to give it to someone who would eat it,’’ he said.
A post on the Neighbourly website drew a hearty response mostly from New Zealanders who had never tasted haggis before.
‘‘I was expecting ex-pat Scots to be knocking on the door but the people who have arrived to collect have been those who have never eaten haggis and wanted to try it.’’
Coutts, a trained chef originally from Ayrshire, the home of poet Robbie Burns, first cooked haggis when he worked at Salt Restaurant in New Plymouth after his manager, also a Scot, suggested guests might like to try it for breakfast.
Before the wedding to his Filipino bride, Honey, last weekend, Coutts spent almost a day preparing the haggis at his work kitchen at the Pacific International Hotel Management School where he is a tutor.
Because of health regulations, the mixture of chopped sheep’s heart, liver, kidney and tongue, with toasted kibble, onions, nutmeg, dripping and seasoning was served up wrapped in chicken and bacon, instead of the traditional sheep’s stomach, he said.
‘‘It’s what we call a Balmoral chicken back home.’’
After two to three hours boiling the offal, Coutts added the remainder of the ingredients and finished off steam roasting the haggis for four to five hours to produce the coarse texture.
A rustic pairing of mashed parsnips, and potatoes, or ‘neeps’ and ‘tatties’, were added, and a Drambuie-based cream poured over.
Coutts addressed the haggis to his guests reciting the Burns’ poem ‘Ode to a Haggis.’
‘‘It’s definitely not a healthy dish, there’s too much fat and carbs, but it was what we ate to fill our bellies and beat the English,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s an acquired taste but it seemed right to serve at a wedding where half the guests were Scot and half were Filipino. I had no complaints, even my mother, who has tasted her share of haggis, liked it.’’
Scots normally eat haggis for breakfast, or lunch, he said. ‘‘It’s an ideal dish for a cold climate.’’
Coutts said he intended to make more haggis for those who want to try it after the response on Neighbourly.