Monday, 3 August 2009

Haggis was invented by the English


Haggis was invented by the English before being hijacked by Scottish nationalists, a leading food historian has claimed.

Catherine Brown has discovered references to the dish in a recipe book dated 1615, The English Hus-wife by Gervase Markham.

This was published at least 171 years before Robert Burns penned his poem Address to a Haggis, which made the delicacy famous.

The first mention she could find of Scottish haggis was in 1747, indicating that the dish originated south of the Border and was later copied from English books.

Ms Brown, whose findings feature in a TV documentary broadcast this week, said: "It was originally an English dish. In 1615, Gervase Markham says that it is very popular among all people in England.

"By the middle of the 18th century another English cookery writer, Hannah Glasse, has a recipe that she calls Scotch haggis, the haggis that we know today."


Nope sorry!!
You need more info than that please.
Just because all you find is an English reference do not say then that it did not exist in Scotland.

However there is a delicious (excuse the pun) twist to this. The English for years have said, its disgusting, its foul, its unhealthy, yada yada yada. A symbol of Scotlands unhealth.
BUT YOU MIGHT HAVE INVENTED IT.

2 comments:

  1. Aye I read that this morning LotF. They'll be highjacking Irn Bru next!

    ReplyDelete
  2. They already have.
    It is the sponsor for the English Rugby Super League.

    ReplyDelete