THINK Scottish food and the first thought is probably a deep fried Mars Bar and a pint of heavy. But as it's Burns' Night, let us be a mite more traditional...

We have a strange attitude to our neighbours north of the border. Supermarket shelves groan with food from France, Italy, China, India, America, Greece. As for Scottish delicacies, the main offerings seem to be whisky, shortbread, beef and porridge - a very sustaining sort of a diet.

But in honour of Burns' Night, this is the time of year when the shy haggis peeps out of its winter hibernation, along with a selection of strange and unusual dishes with exotic names.

Haggis is, of course, a peasant food. Not that much different, really from sausages or faggots and found in all countries and in all ages. They ate something very like haggis in ancient Greece. The name probably comes from Scandinavia where they still eat something very similar.

But then Burns wrote a poem to it and it was elevated from basic food to glory, great chieftain of the pudding race. Unfortunately for the haggis, it also became the butt of a lot of anti-Scottish jokes. Still, all over the world tonight, people will be listening to various renditions of the poem before tucking into their haggis and neeps.

Recipes for haggis vary enormously but all are strong on lamb, suet and oatmeal and are traditionally cooked in a sheep's stomach - possibly because when you're out hunting, raiding or travelling in wild country, it's the nearest thing to a cooking pot you're likely to get.

These days, you can even get vegetarian haggises. (Goodness knows what Burns would have thought of that). One haggis manufacturer, McKeans, has a splendid list of haggises, ranging from the 2.5kg Chieftain, through The Warrior to a venison haggis called The Monarch.

They also produce a veggie haggis. It's called Jessies.

We tried three of those widely available here. The good news these days is that they are all microwaveable, so no longer do you have to simmer them and watch the water cloud over with globules of grey fat.

* Halls, £1.39 for 454g

This is actually made with pork - lungs, liver and heart among other bits - and comes in an artificial casing. It tasted quite pleasant but was a bit bland and greasy.

* Macsweens, £1.99

This is a hand-made, traditional haggis with a very authentic-looking casing. Made with lamb and beef and lots of pepper and spices, this was a very tasty haggis.

For a generation raised on curries, chillies and other spicy foods, this could be the best bet. It also reminded you that there was more to it than greasy meat.

* Vegetarian haggis from the Haggis Company, £1.99 for 454g

Our meat-eating haggis expert spotted this one immediately as a vegetarian imposter. It was strong on oatmeal, vegetables and spices and, of course, came in an artificial casing but it tasted very good. Without the oomph of meat, it still had a very good haggisy flavour - all that oatmeal - with none of the greasiness and was one of the better veggie versions of a meat-based meal.

It's a great shame that haggis has become a bit of a joke in England, because it's actually very good. The trend-setters adore peasant food - as long as it's from far away, which rules out Scotland.

But the Scots have long been close to France, so maybe they could re-brand their national dish into something vaguely French - l'agisse, perhaps - and then it would become instantly fashionable.

Very few supermarkets carry much of a range of Scottish meals.

Marks & Spencer have potato-topped haggis, neeps and tatties - a thin layer of haggis with mashed swede and potato, £2.09 for 300g. It was alright, but fairly bland.

Sainsbury's have a new range, A Taste of Regional Scotland, which has some interesting dishes in it.

Beef Collops and Whisky £3.29, were a disappointment, "a poor excuse to pick a man's pocket every January 25" said our unimpressed tester, misquoting Dickens.

Hotchpotch with Stovies £2.99, was a better bet. Lamb in a light vegetable broth tasted very good, though the stovie potatoes turned to mush. Maybe they would have been better done in the oven rather than microwaved

But we liked Rumbldethumps. (Are these names really traditional or has some bright spark at Sainbury's made them all up?) £1.69 for mashed potato, swede, cabbage and cheese. When we had this for Sunday supper in my Welsh childhood, we just called it "leftovers", but still, it tasted good.

Will Scottish cuisine take the world by storm? Probably not. Best keep to the Scotch, salmon and shortbread...

Happy Burns Night.

Published: Friday 25th, January, 2002