A family recipe used by a North Lanarkshire butcher has taken the crown at what is believed to be the first Haggis World Championship.
Laura Black, the owner of Coopers of Bellshill, won at the inaugural event which took place in Perth on Sunday.
The recipe had been tweaked by the hard-working team at the butcher and the winning haggis was described as "near perfection" by head judge John Wilkin.
Ms Black described the moment as a career highlight and added: "The world title is coming to North Lanarkshire, coming to Bellshill and coming to Coopers.”
Almost 70 other entrants from Scotland joined the bid to take the title.
George Jarron, president of Scottish Craft Butchers (SCB) which hosted the new competition, said the event had proved a showcase for the best in the business.
READ MORE: Scots farmers criticise Braverman's 'naïve' call for local workers to pick fruit
“We have been running a Scottish Haggis Championship for the past 30 years, but this is the first-ever world championship,” he said.
“We decided that haggis was such an iconic dish the world over that it was deserving of a global championship title to let the world know we had recognised and rewarded the very best.
"And it was only fitting that the first world title for a product so quintessentially Scottish should be staged in Scotland."
Coopers of Bellshill took the trophy at the SCR Trade Fair which was held at the weekend.
Head judge Mr Wilkin added: "If there's better haggis out there somewhere in the world then I want to taste it.
“Laura’s haggis is worthy of the World Championship title – it’s absolutely superb.”
But Ms Black is dedicated to keeping the family recipe a well-kept secret.
“Let’s just say we only use fresh ingredients and a secret combination of spices that brings it to life,” she said.
“I’ve never entered it in competition before and I’m so proud and pleased. I inherited the recipe from my parents when I joined the business in 2017 and every time I taste it I think – ‘that’s a damn good haggis’.
"Now the world thinks so too.”
READ MORE: New owner to refurbish landmark North Coast 500 hotel
The North Lanarkshire trader is now preparing for a surge in demand after their award success.
Sponsors Hamlyns of Scotland congratulated Ms Black an the rest of the team.
Managing director Alan Meikle added: “It's always exciting to see talented butchers being recognised for their hard work and dedication to their craft and this win is a testament to the team's skill and expertise. Well done!”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel