Business
Crafting a Haggis for American Tastes (and Import Restrictions)
When Scottish Americans and Scottish expats sit down on Saturday night to celebrate the birthday of the 18th-century poet Robert Burns, the traditional haggis will probably not be up to purist standards.
Haggis, the savory Scottish dish of boiled sheep innards, oatmeal and spices, can be a real haggis, many argue, only if it includes a key ingredient: sheep lung, which is used in the stuffing. In the United States, which bans imports of haggis with sheep lung, some Americans of Scottish heritage have turned to the black market to get their hands on the real thing.
Now Macsween, one of the more popular makers of haggis in Scotland, has developed a recipe that would meet U.S. import guidelines by replacing sheep lung with lamb heart. It’s not the first modification that Macsween, which was founded in Edinburgh in 1953, has made to its haggis. In a nod to modern tastes, it has swapped the sheep stomach that has traditionally been used as a haggis casing for a beef casing, like those used in some sausages.
“Do I think there’s something to be said for textural difference that the lung adds to it? Yes,” said Greg Brockman, a butcher in Brooklyn who has made his own version of haggis for years. “Do I think the average consumer is going to notice? Probably not.”
The new take on the delicacy is slated to arrive in the United States by this time next year, in time to be the centerpiece at Burns Night celebrations.
Burns helped turn haggis, which was traditionally consumed by peasants, into Scotland’s national dish with lines like “Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face / Great chieftain o’ the pudding-race!” in his poem “Address to a Haggis,” which is read as part of the celebrations.
While a mere mention of the delicacy can draw winces from Americans, James Macsween, the managing director of his family business, sees possibility far beyond Burns Night.
“A lot of people eat this on a week-by-week basis,” he said. “We have done all the hard work: We have ground it, blended it, mixed it, seasoned it and made it into a very nutritious and tasty meat protein ingredient.”
Take the casing off, Mr. Macsween said, and add the stuffing as a topping or ingredient in haggis pizza, haggis lasagna or haggis poutine.
“You can make hundreds of menu suggestions,” he said. “It’s the versatility.”
Macsween sells about eight million pounds of haggis every year in Britain, where the recipe includes sheep lung. Its biggest client is the grocery and department store chain Marks & Spencer. Mr. Macsween said the haggis market is worth about 14 million pounds, or about $17.5 million.
Breaking into the U.S. market has been a challenge. Haggis was banned in the United States in the 1970s because of the ban on lung sales. In 1989, the United States banned lamb and beef imports from Britain after an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, otherwise known as mad cow disease.
Mr. Macsween said he had been trying to enter the North American market since 2015, when he began representing the Scottish haggis and meat manufacturing industry in talks with the Canadian and U.S. governments to try to put Scottish lamb and beef back on menus across the Atlantic.
The United States relaxed its restrictions on lamb and beef imports in 2022, but because of the ban on lung sales, one thing was clear: If Macsween’s haggis were to be sold in America, it would have to substitute lamb heart.
American-made haggis is “perfectly acceptable,” Mr. Macsween said. But now, he says, it’s time to “finally get genuine Scottish haggis into the United States.”
Macsween will use the same recipe for American-sold haggis as it does in Canada, now one of its biggest markets. That includes lamb heart and fat, oatmeal, white and black pepper, aromatic herbs, salt, onion and broth.
“We know it works,” Mr. Macsween said. “It’s a tasty product, and it’s the most authentic haggis we can make within the legislation.”
Anne Robinson, the founder of Scottish Gourmet USA in Greensboro, N.C., isn’t so sure. Her company is one of the largest purveyors of domestically made haggis in America (made with ground lamb and beef liver, venison or vegetables), and she questioned whether Macsween would be able to get around the U.S. regulations. Still, she welcomed the company to what she described as “a highly specialized market.”
Mr. Brockman, the butcher in Brooklyn, lived in Scotland for four years and remembered having Macsween haggis for Burns Night celebrations with friends. Now he makes his own at Prospect Butcher Company, using uses sheep heart and liver. He usually sells about 20 pounds of it around Burns Night.
“Everyone fears it as this emblematic weird food,” he said. “But it has a wonderful mix of warm spices and there is some of that iron tang to it from the heart and liver. I don’t think it’s at all overpowering. It’s just a nice mound of food, man. It’s not appealing in shape or color, but it tastes really good and smells really good.”
As Hollywood has fractured over the proposed merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery, AMC Entertainment Holdings Chief Executive Adam Aron is throwing his support behind David Ellison.
The movie theater chief said he trusts that Ellison, Paramount’s CEO, will hold to his promise that the combined company will release 30 films a year — 15 each from Paramount and Warner Bros.
Many industry executives and other theater operators have questioned whether that goal is realistic, particularly given the cost cuts that are expected to commence after the deal closes. Exhibitors in particular fear that a decline in film releases will erase some of the progress made at the box office since the pandemic.
“Adam Aron and AMC are big fans of David Ellison,” Aron said during an interview Wednesday afternoon in Las Vegas, where he was attending the CinemaCon trade convention. “We respect his talent as a filmmaker and a movie executive, and we believe in the promises that he has made to increase the number of movies being made by Paramount and Warner Bros.”
Aron added that he trusts Ellison will respect calls to keep films in theaters for 45 days before they’re available for premium purchase at home and much later, on streaming services.
That strategy, known as windowing, became a more contentious issue after the pandemic when some studios began to reduce the amount of time films were in cinemas before audiences could view them at home.
“We’re enthusiastic that David will fulfill his promises,” Aron said. “And that in the end, this will prove to be a good thing for our company and our industry.”
He added that he hopes current Warner Bros. film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy “continue to have the opportunity to do great work” at that studio. The pair led Warner Bros. to 30 Oscar nominations — more than any other studio this year — and 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
After a difficult last few years, Aron said he feels like the theatrical business has “finally turned a corner.”
So far this year, domestic box office revenue is up more than 20% compared with the same time period last year, bolstering hopes across the industry that 2026 will mark a rebound from the downturn of the pandemic.
Last year, AMC saw a 2.1% decrease in attendance compared to 2024. But this year’s strong lineup of films has given Aron confidence that the company‘s revenue and earnings will rise this year.
The company is also working to pay down the debt it took on during the pandemic. The company had as much as $6 billion in debt in 2020 and is now down to $4 billion, Aron said.
“The big news of 2026 for us, in light of the rising box office, in light of rising EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization], and in paying down debt and extending maturities, I think we will have dramatically strengthened our balance sheet,” he said.
Aron also confirmed reports that Netflix Co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos met with a group of movie theater chiefs in Las Vegas, a discussion he described as “introductory in nature” rather than about dealmaking since it was in a large group forum.
Netflix and AMC previously had a complicated relationship over the streaming service’s long-standing resistance to traditional theatrical releases.
But the two companies have recently partnered on several projects, including a Halloween weekend showing of the animated hit “KPop Demon Hunters,” New Year’s Eve screenings of the “Stranger Things” series finale and the first two episodes of the Netflix show “One Piece.”
Aron said AMC thoroughly embraced all three projects, and that both companies were pleased with the results.
“Both AMC and Netflix have individually said publicly that we hope this is the beginning of collaboration, and that we each expected more good joint projects to come in the future,” he said. “What those will be, I don’t even know yet, but I’m optimistic that we’ll be doing more things together with Netflix in the months and years ahead.”
Paramount Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison made his case directly to theater owners Thursday, pledging to release a minimum of 30 films a year from the combined Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery company during a speech at the CinemaCon trade convention in Las Vegas.
“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison said in a brief on-stage speech, adding that Paramount has already nearly doubled its film lineup for this year with 15 planned releases, up from eight in 2025.
He also said all films will remain in theaters exclusively for 45 days, starting Thursday. Films will then go to streaming platforms in 90 days. The amount of time that films stay in theaters — known as windowing — has been a controversial topic for theater owners, as some studios reduced that period during the pandemic. Theater operators have said the shortened window has trained audiences to wait to watch films at home and cuts into theater revenues.
“I have dedicated the last 20 years of my life to elevating and preserving film,” said Ellison, clad in a dark jacket and shirt with blue jeans. “And at Paramount, we want to tell even more great stories on the big screen — stories that make people think, laugh, dream, wonder and feel — and we want to share them with as broad an audience as possible.”
Ellison’s CinemaCon appearance comes as more than 1,000 Hollywood actors and creatives have signed a letter opposing Paramount’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Supporters of the letter have said the deal would reduce competition in the industry and “further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape.”
Some theater operators have also questioned whether the combined company could achieve its goal of releasing 30 films a year, particularly after the cost cuts that are expected after the merger closes.
“People can speculate all they want — but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment,” Ellison said. “And we’ll show you we mean it.”
The speech came after a star-studded video directed by “Wicked: For Good” director Jon M. Chu that was shot on the Paramount lot on Melrose Avenue and showcased directors and actors including Issa Rae, Will Smith, Chris Pratt, James Cameron and Timothée Chalamet that are working with the company.
The video closed with “Top Gun” actor Tom Cruise perched atop the Paramount water tower.
“As you saw, the Paramount lot is alive again,” Ellison said after the video. “And we could not be more excited.”
new video loaded: Why Your Paycheck Feels Smaller
By Ben Casselman, Nour Idriss, Sutton Raphael and Stephanie Swart
April 18, 2026
-
Culture26 minutes agoWhat America’s Main Characters Tell Us
-
Lifestyle32 minutes agoWe beef with the Pope and admire the Stanley Cup : Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!
-
Technology44 minutes agoThis pasta sauce wants to record your family
-
World50 minutes agoMassive 7.5-magnitude earthquake hits off Japanese coast, tsunami alert issued
-
Politics56 minutes agoUS military announces another deadly strike against ‘narco-terrorists’
-
Health1 hour agoCancer tied to woman’s vaping habit since age 15 as she’s now given just months to live
-
Sports1 hour agoPolice report details Zachariah Branch’s arrest days before NFL Draft over sidewalk incident
-
Technology1 hour agoBMW puts humanoid robots to work building EVs