Is Haggis a superfood?

I’ve always liked a good fry-up breakfast, especially before exercise. Mostly for the eggs — they’re a great energy food.

One Saturday, my youngest son and I were going cycling and I noticed Haggis near the bacon in our local M&S Food. I decided to give it a try.

Dense is an understatement, especially fried. Even my son, who eats like a horse, didn’t fancy lunch afterwards.

That got me wondering what Haggis really is.

Traditionally, it’s made from sheep’s heart, liver, and lungs mixed with oats, suet, and spices, originally cooked in a sheep’s stomach casing. I expect they drop the casing for the mass market version.

Whenever I’ve come across an animal carcass in the wild, there’s a clear ‘pecking order’ in how nature disassembles it. The internal organs aren’t first, but they’re not far behind.

I used to think that was just convenience or accessibility. Now that I’m more interested in nutrition, I realise organs like liver and heart are among the most nutrient-dense parts of the animal. Wild animals know what they need to do to survive.

These days we mostly eat muscle meat and ignore the rest. Maybe that’s an own goal?

Perhaps it’s time to rediscover the ancestral diet — using more of the whole animal, not less?