On Burns Night in the Scottish Highlands, it is a sackable offence not to tuck into some haggis, neeps (aka swede) and tatties (mashed potatoes) – or to say this properly, “haggis wi’ bashit neeps an’ champit tatties”.

Vegan Burns Night

But for those entering the final furlong of Veganuary, and Scotland’s sizeable population of pre-existing veggies, the prospect of chowing down on sheep’s stomach is just as uncomfortable as it is for the fussiest, most enervated Sassenach.

ADVERTISEMENT

Step forward: The vegan haggis, a botanical dinner dish that looks and tastes a lot like haggis, without a hint of entrails or offal.

There is some conjecture as to whether vegan haggis would sate the appetite of Robbie Burns himself (his poem ‘Address To A Haggis’ takes a more red-blooded tone), but Tesco have reported that sales in Scotland have rocketed by 120% over the past year. But the question is, where to buy vegan haggis – and what’s actually in it?

So dust off your tartan and brush up on your reels: It’s time to give Burns’ ‘great chieftain o’ the pudding race’ a modern, plant-based makeover.

What’s in vegan haggis?

As with traditional haggis (most Scottish butchers have ‘secret ingredients’ up their sleeve, and they will never tell you what they are) vegan haggis comes in a range of recipes.

Oatmeal forms the foundation (as it does for the meat dish), and carrot and swede are near ever-presents. Past that, expect a range of pulses, seeds and other vegetables, and these will vary from label to label. Popular options include: onions, leeks, chickpeas, celery, kidney beans, lentils, pumpkin seeds and mushrooms.

Throw in a few spices and seasonings and that’s your lot. How this adds up to the taste and texture of haggis we’ll never know, but the result is an impressively full-bodied feast which, though it might not recapture the myriad aromas of its carnivorous cousin, tastes more like haggis than you may expect.

Where to buy vegan haggis

The main point is this: Not just in Scotland.

Demand has been so unprecedented that market leaders Simon Howie and Macsween – both recently approved by The Vegan Society – have been rolled out in supermarkets south of the border.

Waitrose stocks the ‘Macsween Vegetarian Haggis’, and Sainsbury’s the ‘Simon Howie Vegetarian Haggis’, which are both also suitable for vegans, while Tesco have begun trialling the products in several of their English supermarkets in 2019.

Once purchased, serve with neeps and tatties, and as many drams of Scotch as you can handle.

Not vegan or looking for where to buy vegan haggis? Read the Wise Living guide to the classic dishes you may be eating on Burns Night.

ADVERTISEMENT

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.