Liven up a dreigh January day and celebrate the birth of Robert Burns

Burns was born fortuitously on the 25th of January 1759 and Scottish or not his arrival in the world is an excuse to liven up a potentially dreigh January day.

The first Burn’s supper was held at the family cottage, in the village of Alloway near Ayr, by Burns’s friends, on 21 July 1801, the fifth anniversary of his death.

It has been a regular occurrence ever since across the globe.

On Burn’s night in 1859 an event was held in Belfast to celebrate his hundredth birthday. Two hundred and fifty men attended a banquet in the Music Hall in Belfast and were treated to a lavish feast. The next day the dinner was reported in the Newsletter.

The meal itself consisted of soups, platters of meat, oysters, desserts and of course the obligatory haggis.

There was poetry, music and recitals and it must have gone into the wee small hours.

The banquet is the subject of a television show tomorrow night on BBC2 NI at 10pm, presented by me. It was my job to recreate the supper and serve it at Montalto House in Ballynahinch. Lady Moira who lived in the house had been a benefactor of Rabbie Burns so it was fitting to host the evening in its beautiful surroundings. Thankfully I only had to cook for 12 people and not 250. This time women attended unlike in 1859….

At the centre of any Burn’s night supper is the Haggis. You could make your own Haggis if you want by boiling lamb’s pluck ( heart, lungs and liver), chopping it and mixing it with oats, suet and spices. Press this mixture into an ox stomach lining, tie and simmer for a couple of hours.

Don’t fancy this? There are many butchers in Northern Ireland who will do all the hard work for you.

Tom’s butchers in Portstewart make them every year using a traditional recipe and they’re as good as anything you’d get in Scotland. Haggis was in no way a luxury item – it was borne out of the necessity to use the readily available cheaper cuts and offal.

Here it’s served with a humble but delicious dish of rumbledethumps. Potatoes are mashed with turnip and cabbage and baked with a cheese topping.

To add a bit of luxury to the haggis, I’ve added a recipe for whiskey gravy.

Whiskey also plays a part in a twist on a traditional Scottish dessert.

Cranachan is cream, toasted oats, raspberry, honey and a toot of this elixir.

Here a cheesecake cream of raspberries and whiskey is topped with an oat crumble and served with shortcake.

Keep a wee toot of whiskey to toast the haggis or just Rabbie Burns himself.