Care For Some Haggis?

The faint-hearted and the uninitiated will not touch it with a 10-foot pole!  It’s unsightly and doesn’t look appetising, but don’t let appearances deceive you.  There’s a reason why it’s the national dish of Scotland.  By the way, it’s also very popular and delicious!  

                                                            Wikimedia Commons

Thanks to the eight-verse poem Robert Burns wrote, ‘Address to a Haggis’, he unwittingly elevated haggis from its humble origins to something iconic.  After his death in 1796 his friends organised a Burns Supper in his honour.  Now, every 25th January (his birthday) is Burns Supper Day!

What is the haggis?  Its origin is a big question mark but it is an ancient dish believed to go as far back as the 15th century.  The word haggis may have originated from the Scandinavian 'hag', meaning to hack or chop, or the Anglo-Saxon 'haecan', to hack into pieces.  It may also come from the French 'hachis', or the Icelandic 'hoggva', also meaning to hack or chop.

Whatever its origins, it’s a savoury pudding.  Yes, pudding!  The main ingredients are sheep's heart, liver, lungs, and stomach (or sausage casing); onion, oatmeal, suet, and spices.  That’s a lot of yummy stuff in it and it looks very much like minced meat!

  

                                                              Wikimedia Commons

So what is its nutritional value?  

Liver

High in vitamin A, vitamin B12 and copper

Substantial quantities of riboflavin, folate, selenium, chromium, pantothenic acid, niacin, protein, vitamin B6 & niacin

Lung

Great source of selenium, protein and iron 

Moderate amount of vitamin C, vitamin B12, niacin, riboflavin & phosphorus

Heart

Not healthy - low in protein & the only substantial nutrient is vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is found in all animal products

Liver and lung are high in cholesterol so haggis should be eaten in moderation. A side salad or perhaps some green beans would be a great nutritional addition to this meal.

Here’s the nutrition summary (according to brand names):

Haggis (Halls)

per 100g - Calories: 240kcal | Fat: 13.70g | Carbs: 15.30g | Protein: 13.60g 

Haggis Original (Simon Howie)    

per 100g - Calories: 192kcal | Fat: 8.30g | Carbs: 17.10g | Protein: 11 

Haggis (Macsween)

per 100g - Calories: 270kcal | Fat: 17.60g | Carbs: 20.40g | Protein: 10.40g 

Haggis Round (Bells)   

per 100g - Calories: 286kcal | Fat: 16.70g | Carbs: 27.20g | Protein: 6.80g     

By the way, there’s also the vegetarian version.

Vegetarian Haggis (Macsween)

per 100g - Calories: 208kcal | Fat: 11.50g | Carbs: 25.90g | Protein: 5.90g     

[Source: https://www.fatsecret.co.uk/calories-nutrition/search?q=Haggis]

Game to make your own haggis?  Let’s make something that the vegetarians can partake – Vegetarian Haggis!  Checkout the recipes below:

1. Vegan Haggis (Emma's Little Kitchen)

http://www.emmaslittlekitchen.com/vegan-haggis/

2. Janet Henderson’s Vegetarian Haggis

http://www.theedinburghreporter.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Janet-Hendersons-Vegetarian-Haggis.pdf

Bon appetit!

Shared by Azni Zainal Abidin
Guest Blogger

Food Preservation

Food plays an important role in our lives. Without food, we will not be able to survive. Living in Malaysia is definitely a blessing to us Malaysians. This is because we are able to enjoy different types of foods due to our multi-racial heritage. Thanks to our tropical climate, we are able to produce an abundance of crops and so far our country has not experienced a disastrous food shortage. However, other countries are not as lucky as us. To overcome this problem, humans have invented smart ways to preserve food.

Food preservation is actually the activity of preventing the growth of bacteria or microorganisms from spoiling the food. There are different ways to preserve foods.

The first way is by using heat such as drying and smoking. By introducing sufficient heat, the microorganisms will die since it cannot withstand the high temperature surroundings. Excess water is also removed to slow down the growth of bacteria.

Another way is by curing the food. The food can be cured by either pickling them in vinegar or candying them in sugar. Candying is the process of cooking the food e.g. ginger in sugar till the point of crystallization. Another way is to preserve them in salt such as salted fish or placing them in a heavy sugar syrup solution. Either way, moisture is removed and makes it unsuitable for microorganisms to grow.

Preservatives are also added to mainly increase the food’s shelf life. Canning and bottling involves cooking food and then placing them in sterile cans or jars. The cans or jars are sterilized by boiling them to weaken the growth of bacteria.
Refrigeration and freezing are probably the most popular forms of food preservation in use today. In the case of refrigeration, the idea is to slow bacterial action to a crawl so that it takes food much longer (perhaps a week or two, rather than half a day) to spoil.

One of the advantages of food preservation is mainly that by preserving food, the foods are prevented from being spoiled by the action of enzymes such as ethane and microorganisms. Refrigeration and freezing are probably the most popular forms of food preservation in use today. It allows the food to be stored for a longer period of time. It also increases the availability of certain foods and makes the transportation of foods easier. 

However, the disadvantages of food preservation is that sometimes the nutrients found in fresh foods cannot be found in the foods preserved but this depends on how it is preserved. Besides that, food preserved in jars, cans or etc. cost more due to the packaging. The taste may also differ from fresh foods. Food preservation also requires a long time to process and ready for consumption.

Food preservation has definitely helped us in our daily lives. Not only has it made life easier for those who are busy, but food preservation has helped to overcome a major issues in countries where fresh food is scarce. However, like all things, foods that are preserved are best consumed in moderation.

This blog-post is from Claire Richard, a member of the 2014 Petrosains Science Action Team (SAT) and is one of a series of blog-posts by SAT members to share and communicate science with the general public. 

Your Brain - Use it or Lose it!

HotScience │Petrosains

Cow's brain

The brain is the microprocessor of your body, controlling almost everything that you do.

It’s a complex organ with responsibilities that belies its weight, which is a mere 1.5kg!

The brain is the crown jewel of the human body - without it we cease to exist.

How it works  

The 3 basic units of the brain:

The nervous system is a complex, sophisticated system that regulates and coordinates the body's basic functions and activities. It is made up of two major divisions - central nervous system (consisting of the brain and spinal cord) & peripheral nervous system (consisting of all other neural elements).  

The Science Engagement at HotScience

Neurological disorders & treatment

There are over 600 known neurological disorders & conditions - treatment options for many of them are very limited.  A neurological disorder is a disease or injury of the central nervous system that causes paralysis of any part of the body.  It may be due to physical injury to the brain, spinal cord or nerves, or biochemical causes.  Sometimes the cause may be unknown and only the effects are seen.  Neurological disorders are common and can be life-threatening.

Some disorders:

Epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease & other dementias, cerebrovascular diseases including stroke, migraine & other headache disorders, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, neuroinfections, brain tumours, traumatic disorders of the nervous system such as brain trauma, and neurological disorders as a result of malnutrition.

Diseases that attack the nervous system: 

Infections (bacterial, viral or fungal), cancers (malignant or benign), degenerative conditions (such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease), and disorders of function (e.g. epilepsy, Tourette's syndrome).

Food which can make our brain healthier  

Many scientists the world over have done researches on ‘food for the brain’.  However studies on the effects of food on the brain are relatively young. Scientists know that certain foods and diets are better for the brain, but figuring out why is still in progress. 

Explore brains

Research suggests that four different types of chemicals and nutrients interact with the brain positively.

1. Glucose

The brain draws nearly all its energy from glucose. 

2. Fatty Acids

Polyunsaturated fatty acids, aka omega-3 and omega-6 help strengthen the synapses in our brain related to memory.

3. Amino Acids

Amino acids come from protein-rich foods and help connect the neurotransmitters which are essential for keeping your brain sharp. 

4. Antioxidants

Antioxidants help regulate the oxidative stress that destroys brain cells. The stress is caused when our body is converting glucose to energy and extra oxygen is created called free radicals. Antioxidants block them so our brain doesn't have to work as hard.

The Science Engagement at HotScienc

Science Engagement Session at HotScience Petrosains

The two days session focused on brain basics – the different parts and how it works.  Some interesting interactive activities were also prepared by the University to help the public understand better this complex topic. On-going research on Alzheimer’s disease was also shared in the form of a mice which is afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease and how certain foods help alleviate the disease.  Those brave and not squeamish were invited to touch the cow, rabbit & rat brains – a rare opportunity for many! 

The Science Engagement at HotScience

This article is written in conjunction with Science Engagement Session at HotScience, Petrosains from 29-30 June 2013 with scientists from UiTM –

1. Prof. Dr. Abu Bakar Abdul Majeed, pharmacist-cum-neuroscientist & Assistant Vice-chancellor (Research), UiTM

2. Prof. Dr. Kalavathy Ramasamy, head of the Collaborative Drug Discovery Research (CDDR) Group at the Faculty of Pharmacy, UiTM

3. Dr Lim Siong Meng, a senior researcher, UiTM