Burns Night is a celebration of the life and works of famed Scottish poet Robert Burns, and is held on his birthday, January 25th. The first Burns Night supper was held by Burns’ friends on the fifth anniversary of the poet’s death, July 21st 1801. The second supper was held the next year on January 29th, or what they thought was Burns’ birthday, until they discovered that their friend had actually been born on January 25th – from 1803 onwards therefore, suppers have been held every year on this day, in memory of the beloved Scottish bard.
The ways in which Burns Night is celebrated varies immensely, and certainly the occasion will look much different this year. You may be facing a more low-key affair than usual, which under normal circumstances would involve poetry readings, dancing, and piped music. Central to Burns Night however, is the delicious supper; and that can be enjoyed alone or within your household fairly easily.
You only need three things to properly celebrate this Scottish holiday: haggis, neeps and tatties, and the northern nation’s favourite drink, whisky. Read on to find out more about these Burns Night staples.
Haggis
Haggis may not be the prettiest-looking or even the tastiest-sounding dish, but this classic Scottish offering rightfully takes centre stage on Burns Night. The hearty and versatile haggis is brought in on a platter, as the supper’s host performs a recitation of Burns’ Address to a Haggis.
Minced heart, liver and lungs are mixed with oatmeal, onions, suet, spices, and a lot of seasoning before being boiled or baked in the animal’s cleaned stomach; the animal in question is usually sheep, though there are many variations that use lamb, pork, venison, beef, and other meats. In recent years, vegetarian and vegan alternatives have also gained in popularity, keeping the grain and spices but substituting meat for vegetables and pulses. For anyone still wary of traditional haggis, vegetarian haggis may be the place to start.
Neeps and Tatties
Otherwise known as mashed turnips (or swedes) and potatoes, neeps and tatties are served alongside haggis as Scottish cuisine’s power trio. Equally warming and filling, these root vegetable mashes offer delicious support to the divalicious haggis. Exactly what you need to get through the remainder of the cold Scottish winter.
Whisky
No dry January for the Scots, for how could one toast to Burns’ life without whisky? As the last ingredient to complete your pre-hibernation diet, a single malt is also regarded as the perfect companion to traditional haggis, enhancing its depth of flavour. For non-drinkers, haggis can also be served with a whisky-flavoured gravy or sauce.
And since everyone is celebrating at home and therefore not driving, all those who wish to do so can treat themselves to a cheeky dram or two this Burns Night. It’s what Rabbie would have wanted, and after all, who can deny the birthday boy?
Should you wish to properly honour your haggis this year, recite Burns’ poem before digging in.
“Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o the puddin’-race!
Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o’ a grace
As lang’s my arm.
The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o need,
While thro your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.
His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An cut you up wi ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!
Then, horn for horn, they stretch an strive:
Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,
Till a’ their weel-swall’d kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
The auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
‘Bethankit’ hums.
Is there that owre his French ragout,
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi perfect scunner,
Looks down wi sneering, scornfu view
On sic a dinner?
Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither’d rash,
His spindle shank a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!
But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He’ll make it whissle;
An legs an arms, an heads will sned,
Like taps o thrissle.
Ye Pow’rs, wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies:
But, if ye wish her gratefu prayer,
Gie her a Haggis.”
