Burns’ Night is a great Scottish tradition that involves a tasty meal of sheeps’ pluck (heart, liver and lungs) combined with oatmeal, spices and seasoning traditionally presented in the animal’s stomach and (crucially) served with some tasty booze.
You should check out the boat scene in Highlander where Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez, the chief metallurgist to Charles V, the King of Spain (Sean Connery, a Scotsman playing an Egyptian) is asking Connor MacLeod (Chrisopher Lambert, a Frenchman playing a Scotsman) what haggis is. (JSV-LR: Haggis, what is haggis?!? CM: Sheep’s stomach stuffed with meat and barley. JSV-LR: And what do you do with it? CM: (incredulously) You eat it! JSV-LR: How revolting).
But what should you have in your glass to go alongside..?
You’ll definitely need something with character, depth and style…otherwise the dish will overpower the wine. In terms of concentration, Australian Shiraz is my go-to haggis match.
A great example is the Two Hands Angel’s Share McLaren Vale Shiraz 2017 (Majestic, 21.99). You’ll rarely come across a more concentrated Shiraz with this balance (and it’s all about the balance). It’s a super wine.
The old world (central European) alternative would be a decent red from the southern Rhone valley. M&S have a great value example, the Reserve de la Saurine 2016 (M&S, 6.99) which is a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Carignan. This incredibly versatile wine works with pasta, cassoulet and (of course) haggis…and all for under seven quid.
Of course, we can’t talk about Burns’ Night without mentioning whisky, but the spirit (in my opinion) should come at the end of the meal, as opposed to alongside the dish.
Why not mix up a Rob Roy after dinner, a cocktail which encapsulates a blended whisky with a sweet vermouth and angostura bitters to make the perfect Burns’ Night tipple. A great blended whisky and versatile cocktail ingredient is the J&B Rare (Waitrose, 22.50). This, combined with a top quality vermouth will undoubtedly make your Burns’ Night. Cheers!
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