OUR BELOVED HAGGIS!
The National Dish of Scotland
Haggis is one of those national dishes that is both beloved and reviled by natives, and sometimes horrifies people who hear it described for the first time. It even horrifies native Scots -- my teacher and graduate advisor Ian Conner, a Glaswegian, was appalled that I had actually eaten this stuff whilst in Scotland. "I hope you had lots of whisky with it, at least!" he said.
I had my haggis in Edinburgh at a lovely little restaurant near the train station off of Princes Street. It was not unlike a Scottish version of boudin, with oats instead of rice, or perhaps more like a Cajun dish called paunce, which is stuffed pork stomach. It was actually pretty tasty, particularly when I zinged it up with a little Tabasco (I always carry a little bottle when I travel), and washed down with a pint of McEwan's Export and a wee dram of single malt Scots whisky.
So, for your Robbie Burns Day celebration, you might have a hard time finding a haggis here in the States (it's difficult to get them imported too; I understand that the USDA has declared them "unfit for human consumption" ...). Now you can make haggis yourself! Here's a recipe I picked up, as posted to the Usenet newsgroup rec.food.recipes by Don Reid <don_reid@ccnet.com>, and reproduced with his kind permission:
Sandy Lyle served this at the Masters' Champions dinner the year after he won, to mixed reviews!