VICTORY!!!
I have just stopped jumping up and down. Out of 8 competitors that
included some of the absolute LEGENDS of Scottish Haggis making, we
finished FIFTH. The Judges included 3 professional Scottish Chefs, two
of which were the Executive Chef and the other the Head Chef of the Old
Course Hotel at St. Andrews. The others were writers of various gourmet
and food magazines throughout the UK. A very tough, knowledgeable, and
august panel. They all agreed on 2 points and those are the two points
that Gay and I ALSO agree on. First it was too moist in texture and
second....it tasted good! Our next production run will address that
problem by cutting back the water a bit. I never dreamed that I would
have such a panel of experts critique my haggis for me and to compare
our haggis with the finest Scotland has to offer. All offered their
fresh in the casing versions for judging, while I only had my canned
version to offer. Needless to say we are absolutely delighted and feel
very fortunate to have had an opportunity to compete in such an
event. In order of finishing, the top winner was made by Watson's of
Leven on a family run farm and butcher shop who scored a 9.0, next at
8.0 was McSweens, the Scottish legend, third was McSweens Vegetarian
Haggis at 7.75, Fourth was Crombie's Traditional Haggis at 7.0, and
then US in 5th at 6.25. The others were McKeans,
another legend at 5.5, Carmichael's Venison Haggis at 5.50, and
Rutland's Haggis at 5.50. The things that counted off for us was the
lack of a casing, it coming in a can, and the overly moist texture. The
positives for us are the most important things to us....the taste! Yaaaaa-Hoooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!
