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Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey next to haggis
Scottish soccer fans have invaded Boston for the World Cup, and one of them got the chance to visit the Massachusetts State House for a meeting with Governor Maura Healey. However, she had to let residents know they are not, in fact, free to start making haggis after she signed an executive order to legalize the dish that’s been banned in the United States for over 50 years.
At this point, I feel like anyone who’s been keeping tabs on the World Cup is aware of the scenes fans from Scotland have been responsible for since descending upon Boston for the tournament.
Members of the Tartan Army have been welcomed by locals with open arms while doing everything in their power to drink the city dry while in town for the two games their country was scheduled to play at the Foxborough venue dubbed “Boston Stadium” for the World Cup, the second of which is a fixture with Morocco there on Friday night.
Earlier this week, a Scottish podcaster who made the trek to Beantown was granted an audience with the governor of Massachusetts, and she managed to cause more of a stir than she intended after jokingly signing an executive order involving the country’s signature culinary offering.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey stressed she did not actually legalize haggis after signing an executive order during the World Cup
Scotland is not exactly known for its cuisine, but there is one particular dish it has historically prided itself on: haggis.
Many people instinctively gag at the thought of eating haggis, which is traditionally made from the chopped-up heart, liver, and lungs of a sheep, which is mixed with fat harnessed from the kidneys and combined with oatmeal and spices before being cooked in its stomach.
Haggis is a staple of Burns Night, which is usually held to celebrate the birthday of Scottish poet Robert Burns on January 25th each year, and is usually served up alongside mashed potatoes and rutabaga and downed with a pour (or a few) of scotch.
It is a fairly divisive dish and one that has been theoretically illegal to make in the United States since 1971, which is the year the USDA declared sheep’s lungs unfit for human consumption over contamination concerns.
On Wednesday, David McIntosh Jr., the Scottish host of the Origin Story podcast, was invited to meet Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, and she agreed to sign an executive order legalizing haggis in the state 55 years after it was essentially banned at the federal level.
Healey seemed to be under the impression that people would know the executive order was supposed to be a harmless joke, but on Thursday, she issued a statement stressing that was indeed the case after receiving “countless messages” concerning what seemed to be a pretty major development on the haggis front.
Alas.