Some hae meat and canna eat,
An' some wad eat that want it,
We hae meat an' we can eat,
An' sae the Lord be thankit.
Vegetarians wouldn't want the meat whether we had it or not. However, we understand the sentiment.
A Burns Night supper normally constitutes a starter of Cullen Skink or Cock-a-leekie soup, neither of which are vegetarian. However, a thick vegetable or leek and potato would work just as well. Then comes the haggis, probably the most off-putting food for a vegetarian, given the offal (awful) ingredients (thankfully most are encased in a synthetic sleeve rather than the sheep's stomach these days). This is accompanied by neeps and tatties (turnip/swede and potatoes) mashed together to make clapshot. This is totally acceptable and can be baked in the oven with a sprinkling of grated cheese on top. And yes, we can drink the whisky and we can eat cranachan, a lovely dessert of raspberries, honey, cream and oatmeal, oh and whisky!
However, that leaves us without a main to go with our clapshot. Luckily many good supermarkets now sell vegetarian haggis and it is very good. Or, you can have a go at making your own and there are many recipes to try. The main ingredients are pulses in the form of split peas or lentils, oatmeal and/or pearl barley, assorted nuts, carrots, onions and mushrooms plus pepper, spices, herbs and flavouring from soy sauce, vegetarian worcestershire sauce or marmite. Black treacle is sometimes added to bind and give sweetness.
We once hosted a Burns Night Party and labelled the food "Scottish Salmon", "Aberdeen Angus Beef", "Scots Porridge Flapjack", "Loch Ness Jelly" etc. We even had an empty plate which said "Scotch Mist"!
If you can't find a vegetarian dish to eat on Burns Night you can always deep fry a Mars Bar - delicious!
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