Photo Via Pollok Williamson - pollokwilliamson.co.uk
Haggis
Haggis is the traditional dish of Scotland, made from the offal (organ meat like hearts, liver and lungs) of lamb, venison or beef, along with oats, fat and spices. The mixture has historically been boiled in a sheep’s stomach, which acts as a casing to contain the mixture, akin to a sausage casing.
Some people might lump haggis into the “acquired taste” category, along with old-world European foods like lutefisk, a Scandinavian specialty of whitefish cured in lye, or czernina, a Polish soup made from duck blood. But Morganne MacDonald and Vince Milewski of Macski’s Highland Foods & Gear, based in Kansasville, Wis., are out to change that with their small-batch meat and vegetarian haggis, pasties and other traditional European foods.
The husband-and-wife team of MacDonald and Milewski founded Macski’s in 2012 after they had been providing haggis to friends and to their Scottish community. MacDonald, a lawyer, is of Scottish descent; the MacDonald clan is one of the largest in Scotland. Milewski is of Polish descent.
MacDonald had visited Scotland many times. She took Milewski for his first visit in 1991, shortly after she graduated from law school. He fell in love with not only Scotland but also with all the foods, namely haggis. Upon return to the U.S., Milewski began experimenting with making his own haggis.
“The internet was in its infancy at that time. If you were to Google haggis recipes, they consisted of lamb, oats, and just ‘spices.’ What does that mean?” he reflects. “Nobody would tell you what the spices are. There’s a reason for that; every haggis tastes a little different, depending on the region, but there’s some common ground between them.”
The Scottish community loved their haggis. When the couple decided to turn their haggis production into a business, MacDonald recalls how the lawyer in her said “we have to do this right.” She and Milewski consulted UW-Madison’s Meat Science & Animal Biologics Discovery academic department for guidance on food safety, along with the food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
MacDonald and Milewski, whose business name “Macski’s” reflect both of their surnames, partnered with a USDA-inspected manufacturing facility to produce their haggis. The sell haggis online and at O’Malley’s European Foods, on 54th and Vliet streets in Milwaukee. Their lamb and vegetarian pasties are made in Florence, Wis., near the Upper Peninsula, “where the best pasties outside of Cornwall, United Kingdom, are made,” MacDonald enthuses.
Haggis, Then and Now
Humans have a complex history with the consumption of organ meats. Historically offal has been considered “scraps” tossed to peasants and slaves. Today, some home cooks to top chefs are using these nutritionally dense meats and see offal consumption as resourceful by using an entire slaughtered animal.
“Haggis was developed when the peasants would slaughter the lamb, and the best parts would go to lord. Peasants couldn’t eat the ‘good’ parts, so they took the hearts and livers, and mixed that with onion, oatmeal and spices. They needed something to contain it. Traditionally that would have been the sheep’s stomach,” MacDonald explains.
These days, she says even in Scotland, fibrous casings have replaced stomach lining. The haggis delicacy is found all over Scotland, from restaurants to gas stations. “Even gourmet chefs are cooking with it; it’s not just a peasant food but commonplace.”
She emphasizes that Macski’s toured the lambery in Colorado from where they source to be sure the lambs are humanely raised.
As “haggis ambassadors,” MacDonald and Milewski have endured their share of naysayers; those that aren’t familiar with haggis, or traditionalists that think their haggis isn’t “real.”
“People are under the impression that it’s not real haggis, but the only difference between ours and what you get from Scotland is that they also use lungs. Here, the USDA does not allow the use of lungs in products in America,” Milewski explains. “The lungs are just a chewy filler. We use organic gluten-free oats, which adds a nice consistency.”
A Versatile Food
Haggis has been traditionally eaten with eggs, potatoes, or mashed neeps or turnips. Online searches show endless possibilities for this versatile protein: skillet breakfasts, shepherd’s pie, pork and sausage rolls, haggis and pork scotch eggs, and haggis Yorkshire pudding.
MacDonald says chefs have used their haggis in national competitions: chefs from the American Club, in Kohler, Wis., used their haggis in a beautifully stacked presentation with different types of potatoes and leeks for a Scottish themed night.
With MacDonald being a vegetarian, they crafted a meatless substitute with green beans, black beans, garbanzo beans, portobello mushrooms, spices and steel cut oats. The vegetarian haggis has a meaty texture with zesty, peppery hints that go well in various vegetarian dishes.
“Many meat eaters in the Scottish community told us they really like our vegetarian version,” MacDonald says.
In addition, Macski’s crafts pasties, a baked hand pastry filled with meat and vegetables. Being of Polish descent, Milewski grew up eating kiszka, a sausage made with pig's blood. Polish blood sausage is like Scottish black pudding, a moist sausage made from pork jowls, buckwheat groats, beef blood, pork liver, and spices.
MacDonald and Milewski enjoy getting out into the community and introducing people to haggis via samples at area events. As “the haggis people,” they strive to exemplify the warmth within the Scottish community and bring different groups and cultures together over food.
“We’re having a good time doing this,” MacDonald enthuses. “We will do for rest of lives, or until we’re too old.”
For more information, visit thehaggisshop.com.
