An offal shortage of haggis ingredients in the US

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The Scotsman Tue 7 Jan 2003

ANNETTE WITHERIDGE IN NEW YORK

IN less than a week he is expected to provide a Burns supper for 100 ravenous ex-pat Scotsmen. But New York’s leading haggis-maker has a major problem.

Bureaucrats have stopped Steve Smith from getting his hands on sheep lungs, his suppliers have failed to come up with kidneys, he hasn’t found a sheep’s stomach, and as for a lamb’s heart - forget about it.

The native Texan - who dons a cowboy hat and his own tartan kilt for Burns night - has spent years perfecting his recipe.

Normally Mr Smith slaughters his own sheep - the only way he can legally get his hands on sheeps’ lungs for the dish. But a terrible snowstorm prevented him from travelling to the Catskill mountains this year to select his sheep, forcing him to use butchers in the city - but not an ounce of sheep’s offal could be found.

"It turns out the government has banned sheep lungs due to a fear of tuberculosis. It’s ridiculous, you are more likely to get TB from the person next to you on a train than eating haggis," said a bemused Mr Smith.

"There appears to be a shortage of kidneys, for some reason, and every butcher I spoke to said there was no call for offal. I’m a purist. The ideal recipe for haggis is one sheep, with all of its offal cooked in its own stomach. This year I have had to make do with what I can get."

Quite what diners at the Bowery Poetry Club’s early Burns night supper this Sunday will make of the meal is anyone’s guess but Mr Smith admitted: "I have made some wretched haggis over the years. For a culture with no perceived cuisine I have had more criticism about my haggis than any other dish." more

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2003


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