Express deal adds taste of the Orient to a very Scottish dish

Published on Wednesday 3 January 2007 11:57

EVERYONE knows it goes well with neeps and tatties or even in a chip supper.

But Scotland's national dish is to be blended with Yorkshire pudding and served on a bed of salad for its debut on the Orient Express.

The world's most glamorous train service is introducing haggis to its menu after being impressed by a dish made by Macsween of Edinburgh.

But it will be virtually unrecognisable until passengers on the luxurious train bite into chef Matthew Smith's haggis herb cake.

The Macsween family, though, are delighted by what they see as a great chance to "sell haggis to the English".

They also see it as an ideal tribute to their late father, who died of cancer last year, after celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary in style with a trip on the Orient Express to Venice.

Co-director Jo Macsween, who runs the company with her brother James, said their father, John, would have been extremely proud to have his brand served on the world-renowned train.

But the Edinburgh haggis makers had to convince the Orient Express's executive chefs there was more to haggis than Burns Suppers before clinching the deal.

Miss Macsween, 38, said: "At first they all kept saying to me, 'I thought you only ate haggis on Burns Day'.

"They had a lot of pre-conceived ideas, so it was good to get the chance to show people that haggis can be used in things like lasagna and canapes.

"As soon as they tasted it they changed their minds.

"This is going to be a great opportunity to allow people to taste a Scottish food product. It might just make them take it again when they go out for dinner."

The haggis produced at the family-run company's Loanhead factory is the main ingredient in the Orient Express's new haggis herb cake starter.

Both meat and vegetarian varieties will be mixed with Yorkshire pudding, mashed potato and fresh herbs, baked in the oven and served with a winter leaf salad and spicy dressing.

It will initially be served to passengers travelling on the restored 1920s and 1930s carriages on day-trips across Britain until the end of the month.

The family firm was founded in 1953 by the present owners' grandparents, Charlie and Jean.

But the Macsween name became known worldwide after John Macsween created a vegetarian haggis in 1984.

Miss Macsween said: "My dad was the most staunch meat-eater, and first made the veggie haggis for the opening of the Scottish Poetry Library.

"But then people started writing to him asking him to make it commercially and he realised how popular it was.

"Now 25 per cent of our turnover is veggie haggis."

Getting the Edinburgh-made haggis on the Orient Express menu has been hailed as a coup for the family firm.

Nigel Duncan, vice chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said Macsween's success should give hope to other local companies.

He said: "When someone who's an Edinburgh entrepreneur takes an idea, develops it, has a product which becomes a premium brand and gets taken up by a world-renowned company, then I'm just delighted.

"They have worked hard and deserve all the success they have been getting.

"This is a good thing for Scotland as a brand and I hope all small businesses take inspiration from this."