A Scottish delicacy leads me to think about thinking about the world around us

On a recent family holiday in Scotland, I took the opportunity to review how my own personal concept of “haggis” has evolved in my mind. Based on extensive research watching food and travel shows on TV, I first learned that haggis is a traditional Scottish (in)delicacy composed of a mixture of finely chopped sheep offal (heart, lungs, liver, etc.), oatmeal, onions, and other seasonings and binders, all stuffed into a sheep’s stomach and boiled. After cooking, according to television, the haggis is served by kilted waiters in a grand dining room, who present it to the person sitting at the head of a long table. With a large knife, he stabs it ceremoniously right through the sheep stomach wall, exposing the grainy contents within, while reciting poetry by Robert Burns.Read more…