Some hae meat, and canna eat. And some wad eat that want it. But we have meat, and we can eat, and sae the Lord be thankit.” (Robert Burns)
Though if haggis be that meat, some dinna want to eat the dish celebrated by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in his eight-stanza ode “Address to A Haggis,” and featured at countless Burns celebrations throughout the world.
On the other hand, the Denver St. Andrews Society’s Annual Robert Burns Supper menu underplayed haggis — a sort of Scots pate made of oatmeal, spices and organ meats, cooked in a sheep’s stomach — to emphasize salmon, chicken, lamb and a vegeterian entree.
And so the Lord be thankit!
But hard-core Burns fans can relax, knowing that haggis remains on the menu at other Burns Suppers.
This Friday at 7 p.m., haggis plays a starring role at the Robert Burns Birthday Party in Denver, and again on Saturday at the annual Robert Burns Supper and Ball in Glenwood Springs.
The Friday event is a fundraiser for Denver School of the Arts, one of 40 U.S. schools chosen to perform this August at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The dinner takes place near the school at the Johnson & Wales University Event Center, 7150 Montview Blvd., Denver, to accommodate the Scotch-sampling seminar, Celtic music and a silent auction. Tickets are $60 per person, and the dress code is plaid.
Saturday’s Robert Burns Supper and Ball is the Hotel Colorado’s sixth annual celebratory tribute to Burns, held in its Devereux Grand Ball Room.
The Glenwood Burns fete starts at 6 p.m. and costs $29 per person, including cocktails, the “blessing of the meal and tartan” and, of course, the bagpipe-accompanied presentation of what Burns called “Great chieftain o’ the puddin’ race.”
Mmm haggis.
