Risks associated with Greek Haggis

The City Observatory - William Henry Playfair - 1818

Benjamin Dann Walsh’s edition of The Comedies of Aristophanes 1 (3 vols, 1837) furnished his readers with a practical note on the safety requirements for the cooking of the Greek and the Scottish haggis. 

He pointed out that specific precautions must be taken during this risky process:

STREPSIADES.

I’ve been treated myself in the very same way,

By Apollo, on many occasions!
I neglected to nick a haggis one day

I was roasting to dine my relations;
When it puffed up, and suddenly to my surprise

Burst open in tatters, and nearly

Deprived me of sight by a spurt in my eyes,

And scalded my face most severely.

In his footnote, Walsh remarked:

The Greek haggis was roasted instead of being boiled, but in other respects is appears to have resembled its Caledonian successor very closely. There was the same necessity in both for “nicking,” or “pricking,” in order to let out the expanding air, as may be seen from the eloquent receipt in Meg Dod’s Cookery Book, for making

The Scotch Haggis. “Parboil a sheep’s pluck, and a piece of good lean beef. Grate the half of the liver, and mince the beef, the lights, and the remaining half of the liver. Take of good beef suet half the weight of this mixture, and mince it with a dozen small firm onions. Toast some oatmeal before the fire for hours, till it is of a light brown colour, and perfectly dry. Less than two teacupfuls of meal will do for this meat. Spread the mince on a board, and strew the meal lightly over it, with a high seasoning of pepper, salt, and a little Cayenne, well mixed. Have a haggis bag perfectly clean, and see that there be no thin part in it, else your whole labour will be lost by its bursting. Put in the meat, with as much good beef-gravy, or strong broth, as will make it a thick stew. Be careful not to fill the bag too full, but allow the meat room to swell; add the juice of a lemon, or a little good vinegar; press out the air, and sew up the bag; prick it with a large needle, when it first swells in the pot, to prevent bursting; let it boil, but not violently, for three hours.” [pp. 315-16]

Margaret Dods continues:

Put in the meat with as much good beef-gravy, or strong broth, as will make it a thick stew. Be careful not to fill the bag too full, but allow the meat room to swell; add the juice of a lemon, or a little good vinegar; press out the air, and sew up the bag; prick it with a large needle, when it first swells in the pot, to prevent bursting; let it boil, but not violently, for three hours.

Obs.—This is a genuine Scotch haggis; there are, however, sundry modern refinements on the above receipt,—such as eggs, milk, pounded biscuit, &c. &c.,—but these, by good judges, are not deemed improvements.

A Lamb's Haggis.

Slit up all the little fat tripes with scissors, and clean them. Clean the kernels also; and parboil the whole, and cut them into little bits. Clean and shred the web and kidney-fat, and mix it with the tripes. Season with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg. Make a thin batter with two eggs, a halfpint of milk, and the necessary quantity of flour. Season with chopped chives or young onions. Mix the whole together. Sew up the bag, which must be very clean, and boil for an hour and a half.

Margaret Dods, The Cook and Housewife's Manual  (Edinburgh 1826), pp. 48-9.