Mollag (Manx Christmas Haggis)
Mollag (Manx Christmas Haggis) is a traditional Manx recipe (from the Isle of Man) for a classic haggis of liver, onions, potatoes, lard and oat groats cooked in a pig's stomach that was traditionally served for Christmas. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Manx version of: Manx Christmas Haggis (Mollag).
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
280 minutes
Total Time:
300 minutes
Serves:
6–8
Rating: 
Tags : Vegetable RecipesBritish RecipesManx Recipes
Leaf lard is the highest grade of lard, comes from the soft, visceral fat from around the pig's kidneys and loin. As such, it has a very delicate, super spreadable consistency at room temperature. It also has a clean, un-porky flavour. Groats (or in some cases, "berries") are the hulled kernels of various cereal grains, such as oat, wheat, rye, and barley. Groats are whole grains that include the cereal germ and fibre-rich bran portion of the grain, as well as the endosperm (which is the usual product of milling). Sliced oat groats are known as steel-cut oats, pinhead oats, coarse or Irish oatmeal. Coarse barley flour is made by milling barley groats. Traditionally barley was the commonest grain on the Isle of Man, so barley groats would have been traditional, though oat groats might be used on special occasions. Typically pigs would be used for this dish, often the household pig that was fed on household scraps.
Ingredients:
1kg (2 lb) potatoes
500g (1 lb) onions
225g (1/2 lb) liver
115g (1/2 lb) leaf lard
115g (1/4 lb) groats
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
freshly-grated nutmeg, to taste
one pig’s stomach
Method:
Bring a pan of lightly-salted water to a boil (use only just enough water to cover the liver). Add the liver and cook for about 20 minutes, until tender. Drain (reserve the cooking stock) then mince, removing any sinews, blood vessels and tubing.
Dice the potatoes and onions then render the leaf lard. If there is any cracking, chop this finely.
Combine the minced liver, potatoes, onions, lard and chopped cracking in a bowl. Stir in the groats then add just enough of the liver cooking liquid to moisten.
Wash the pig's liver thoroughly, place in a pan of boiling salted water and cook for 20 minutes to soften. Drain and wash again. Sew or clamp one end of the stomach closed then fill with the stuffing mixture. Sew the opening in the stomach closed.
Bring a large pan of lightly-salted water to a boil. Add the stuffed pig's stomach and boil for 4 hours, topping up the water as needed.
Drain the mollag and place on a serving dish. Slice open and serve the stuffing with potatoes and vegetables.
Alternatively, allow to cool then, the following day, slice into thick rounds and fry.
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