Food review: Burns Supper from Vaughan's Kitchen, Devizes

January 25 marks the birthday of Robbie Burns, Scotland’s celebrated poet and author of A Red Red Rose, a Man’s a Man for a’ That and the widely known Auld Lang Syne.

This was my first ever Burns Night outside Scotland, and I was eager, even without the traditional swinging ceilidh accompaniment, to show my housemates how tasty a delectable mush of spices, oats and sheep organs could really be.

I’m told there is a multitude of Burns Night evenings usually in Wiltshire. In recent years, thousands have been raised at Potterne Village Hall for the local youth centre as a result of Burns Night suppers.

And restaurants, including the recently Michelin-starred Whatley Manor in Malmesbury, typically hold their own, slightly swankier, events.

However, it was a lockdown-friendly trip to the Hopton industrial estate in Devizes this year.

We picked up a DIY Burns Supper from Vaughan’s Kitchen’s unit, which in pre-Covid times runs cooking classes using recipes devised by top chef Peter Vaughan.

Its Facebook advert had promised a Burns Supper that oozed so much class that it could “be served at the Royal Residence of Balmoral Castle”.

I picked up my meal from Peter himself, who worked across the UK before founding The Bistro and, subsequently, Vaughan’s Kitchen and Vaughan’s Cookery School.

He handed me two bags of food – labelled with dietary requirements – and we discussed how best it should be cooked.

A small A3 sheet of instructions – the longest food option was the neeps and tatties rather than the haggis, with 30- and 20-minutes cooking time each – also reminded me of cooking times once home.

We started off with bacon Scottish scones and some warming cock-a-leekie soup. Then, the main affair came in the form of Balmoral haggis wrapped in ham with savoy cabbage. It was a far more regal main than I was used to.

The food came with instructions and took a total of 30 minutes

At a traditional Burns Supper, the arrival of the Haggis would be accompanied by the Address to a Haggis.

The instruction sheet from Vaughan's Kitchen did include an excerpt from the piece, which was met with blank faces upon recitation. Perhaps it was my sober delivery.

After an explanation of Burns Night and its history, my bemused housemate simply asked “So… it’s a haggis festival?”

It was indeed a lovely meal, although nearly too rich for me on occasion, but when chomping on sheep innards in a draughty kitchen, you can’t help but miss the usual hubbub of a Burns Night party.

Traditionally, the evening would end with a rousing (or simply rowdy) rendition of Auld Lang Syne, sweetly bellowed in tune.

Almost intoxicated by the vast amount of food we had consumed, we instead headed to bed. We forgot the best-laid schemes o’ our two four-legged-friends in the household, who then proceeded to inhale every last drop of whisky sauce and every ounce of tattie.

The UK has now marked nearly every holiday against the backdrop of coronavirus – Valentine’s Day appears to be the final victim – but fingers crossed with the positive roll-out of vaccines that this is the final stretch.

But as Robert Burns says himself… There Is No Such Uncertainty As A Sure Thing.

Vaughan’s Kitchen

White Horse Business Centre, Hopton Industrial Estate

Devizes

Website: www.vaughanskitchen.co.uk

Opening hours:

(Lockdown) Pre-order ahead of weekend pick-ups, ample car parking and room for social distancing

Food: 8/10