Traditional Burns Night menu (2024)

FAQs

Traditional Burns Night menu? ›

Take your tastebuds on a Highland fling with classic Burns Night dishes including haggis, neeps and tatties and cranachan, plus other Scottish-inspired dishes.

Take your tastebuds on a Highland fling with classic Burns Night dishes including haggis, neeps and tatties and cranachan, plus other Scottish-inspired dishes.

Our modern Burns Night menu from chef Roberta Hall-McCarron is a little bit different but equally delicious. One thing's for sure, the traditional Scottish dessert cranachan is the pudding for the job, and a wee dram of whisky is non-negotiable.

Speaking of drinks, it wouldn't be a proper Scottish celebration or Burns Night without the mention of whisky. A staple part of Scottish culture, having a glass or two of whisky to celebrate is a must.

WHAT HAPPENS AT A BURNS SUPPER? Everyone enjoys a hearty Burns Night meal (which includes haggis, neeps and tatties, rounded off with drams of whisky), some of Burns' poems and songs are recited and tributes are made to the great Bard.

Serve up a Scottish supper to remember with a classic smoked fish soup and the essential haggis, neeps and tatties - all rounded off with a traditional clootie dumpling. Delicious!

If you are thinking of having a Burn's Night celebration then you can't do it without roast haggis. Luckily you can buy haggis ready made but do try and make the traditional accompaniment, mash swede or neeps. Serve a shot of whisky with this.

Our traditional cullen skink recipe (a Scottish fish-based soup) is a great way to kick things off. You simply can't celebrate Burns Night without the classic haggis, 'neeps and tatties', aka mashed potatoes and swede. A rich whisky sauce is an ideal accompaniment to this flavourful dish too.

It's super easy to whip up Mary Berry's classic Scottish cranachan. Hold back some of the crunchy oats and raspberries for a pretty topping, but don't hold back on the whisky!

A cooked haggis Haggis, neeps and tatties on a plate. At the end of the poem, a whisky toast will be proposed to the haggis, and the company will sit down to the meal. The haggis is traditionally served with mashed potatoes (tatties) and mashed swede turnip (neeps).

What do you toast on Burns Night? ›

The menu will be haggis, neeps and tatties (neeps=turnip of the large yellow variety, tatties=potatoes) washed down with whisky in many cases. The proceedings will follow a set pattern. There will be speeches and toasts – one to the haggis, one to Burns' Immortal Memory and one Tae the Lassies (to the ladies).

Burns Night

Traditionally these celebrations involve eating haggis (a traditional savoury pudding, a bit like a big round sausage), neeps and tatties (turnips and potatoes), lots of singing, dancing, bagpipe music, and sharing poems and stories late into the night.

Burns Night itself marks the anniversary of Robert Burns' birth on 25 January 1759 and the traditional Burns supper is an evening event that celebrates his life and work. History can trace its origins back to nine of Burns' close friends who decided to get together to mark the fifth anniversary of their friend's death.

While there is no formal greeting for Burns Night, people generally say “Sláinte Mhath” to one another. This is pronounced “slanj'-uh va” and translates as “Good Health!”. You can also say “Oidhche Bhlas Burns”, which means “Happy Burns Night”.

Neeps and tatties are a classic Scottish dish – the 'neeps' means swede or turnip and the 'tatties' refer to potatoes. Traditionally they're served mashed separately alongside haggis, although some recipes suggest mashing them together with some butter, salt and pepper.

haggis, the national dish of Scotland, a type of pudding composed of the liver, heart, and lungs of a sheep (or other animal), minced and mixed with beef or mutton suet and oatmeal and seasoned with onion, cayenne pepper, and other spices. The mixture is packed into a sheep's stomach and boiled.

Many suppers now include a whisky sauce to accompany the haggis. If haggis is the intermediate course, it's often followed by a main of Scottish salmon, Scottish beef, a steak pie or game such as grouse or pheasant. This would be accompanied by potatoes and seasonal vegetables.