LNER Runs Haggis Cooking Class To Celebrate Burns Night At Home

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is sharing an online cooking class ahead of Burns Night on Monday (25 January) to help people create their own dish of traditional haggis, neeps and tatties.

The online cooking masterclass is designed to provide help and inspiration in cooking the popular dish, as lockdown restrictions see people staying at home this Burns Night, the annual celebration of Scotland’s National Bard, Robert Burns.

Kate McFerran, LNER Director of Communications, said: “Burns Night is always something we look forward to celebrating, and at LNER we want to keep that spirit alive during lockdown. As we can’t celebrate in the usual way this year, we’re helping people make their own Burns Night supper, and what better way to do that than with haggis.

“Celebrated chef Mark Greenaway kindly agreed to help by creating a modern, sophisticated take on preparing haggis, and worked alongside one of our LNER chefs Chris Murphy who whipped up a delicious, traditional version with neeps and tatties. They’ve both created inspired dishes that are sure to warm and comfort, and we think the hardest part will be deciding which one to make.”

Launched last month, the LNER cookbook Cooking for CALM contains an eclectic collection of recipes that were created by LNER chefs and colleagues throughout the pandemic, when ingredients were at times hard to come by. Sales from the cookbook are raising vital funds for LNER’s charity partner, Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), in support of suicide prevention. Each recipe has been donated by LNER colleagues or from communities along the East Coast route.

The positive response to the cookbook inspired this latest initiative to help people celebrate Burns Night at home with online help to guide followers through each stage of preparing the Burns Night dish.

Popular Edinburgh chef Mark Greenaway, who is known for creating Scottish fine dining dishes at his restaurant at Edinburgh’s Waldorf Astoria – The Caledonian, said: “Haggis is a well-known traditional dish for Scotland, and typically eaten at Burns Suppers across the country. The recipe can vary from butcher to butcher and it’s a great ingredient to add a twist to a dish. As a champion of Scottish cuisine, it was fantastic to be a part of this LNER video and to have Chris in the kitchen cooking alongside me for the day.”

Chris Murphy, LNER Chef from Edinburgh, said: “I am delighted to be involved in this video celebrating Burns Night and to work alongside Mark for the day, sharing tips and techniques, and getting to know different methods of cooking haggis.”

The Burns Night video will be shared online from today (Saturday 23 January) on LNER’s YouTube, Twitter and Facebook channels to help people check they have all the vital ingredients ahead of Burns Night on Monday 25 January.

Visit https://www.lnermerchandise.co.uk/product/lner-cooking-for-calm-cookbook for more information and to purchase LNER’s cookbook Cooking for CALM.