Celebrating Burns Night: Taste & Tour Edinburgh Insider Tips

As January unfolds, bringing with it a crisp chill in the air and all urgency to hibernate, the time-honoured tradition of Burns Night beckons and festivities emerge once again. For those uninitiated, Burns Night is a cherished Scottish tradition dedicated to honouring the life and works of the legendary poet Robert Burns. This annual affair, often celebrated on or around January 25th, is a delightful fusion of poetry, feasting, and camaraderie, making it a cultural extravaganza with a prime position in all of our calendars here at Taste & Tour but especially that of our Edinburgh Food Tour expert, Cameron Ritchie. 

From understanding the significance of Robert Burns to crafting the perfect evening filled with poetry, feasting and camaraderie, we caught up with Cameron to dive into the heart of Burns Night traditions. Whether you’re a seasoned Burns Night enthusiast or a newcomer curious to partake in the festivities, Cameron’s insights and top tips will ensure your celebration is nothing short of memorable!

Describe your ideal Burns Night celebration

With Burns Night, it’s best to lean into the time of year so you want to find yourself somewhere that’s cosy and warm with dimmed lighting that lends itself to poetry from the time of Burns. I think more than anything you want to be relaxed. This is a set-piece dinner and you’re meant to enjoy the various bits and pieces of it so you absolutely want to feel like you can relax in your seat during the recitals and speeches. 

The menu speaks for itself and has to be centred around the ‘puddin’ which frankly, you cannot be stingy with. Ordinarily, you’d get a soup to start but because the main attraction is a heavy meal, I’m normally delighted if you get something a bit lighter to start like a bit of pate and oatcakes. Finishing with Cranachan is a must but make sure you don’t go stingy with that whisky you whip through the cream.

Tell us about some of your favourite Burns Night traditions

Obviously, the food is the focus here but it is Burns’ night so the whole pageantry around the recitals is great. I love seeing what people manage to find in the vast pantheon of his works that they can make contemporary and relevant to now. The part that normally creates the most hilarity is the Lassie’s reply which gives the ladies a chance to point out, hopefully in a loving way, the failings and annoyances of their menfolk in response to the good-natured ribbing they get from the Toast to the Lassies.

Favourite local Edinburgh spots for stocking up on Burns Night must-haves if hosting at home? 

This is really personal because everyone will have their favourite haggis producer so I’m not going to even touch that but I think you need to have a few things other than the haggis.

Get yourself a good whisky. Something a bit pricier that’ll really hit the flavour you’re looking for. I’m a sucker for extremely peaty Bunnahabhain but that’s not to everyone’s taste. A Macallan or Highland Park might suit others more. Nothing wrong with buying lots! I’ve often said to people to forgo bringing bottles of wine for their host and chip together to get a few good bottles from different regions so you can get the different flavour profiles.

I think you should also have a really good cheese board to sit on the table for snacking on later. Obviously, everything needs to be Scottish so I’d make sure I had a classic Isle of Mull Cheddar, maybe a good blue cheese like Hebridean Blue. Also get a goat’s cheese because that’s a nice creamy change in most cases and I've been really enjoying Elrick Log, from the guys at Errington Cheese.

Favourite Edinburgh restaurants to celebrate Burns Night in?
Anywhere you can be warm with access to a bar and kitchen! I’ve been to many places but the one at Monteiths is great. It’s a great, atmospheric location and a huge whisky selection.

What are the key elements that make a Burns Night Celebration truly authentic? 

There’s a temptation to say deck the place in tartan but I don’t think you need to do that. The Edinburgh of Burns’ time wouldn’t have tartan draped everywhere! Get good quality produce, get great whisky, do some readings of Burns’ works and get good people. If you’ve got a piper to hand, all the better!

If you could invite 3 Scottish historical figures to your Burns Night celebration who would they be and why?

Toughy. You have to start with Burns himself because he’s a man known for a good time. He’d get the party started and who would be better to deliver the address to the Haggis than the man himself? 

A man close to where I’m from, John Muir would be next up. A famed naturalist and responsible for the first national parks in the United States would have a thing or two to say. Frankly, though, he was reputedly never that happy indoors so he might take some gentle persuasion to open up. 

There are dozens from now I could name that I’d want to chat to like Billy Connolly, Finn Russell, Craig Gordon but I’ll go with Jenny Geddes. A little-known but very angry market stall woman who threw a chair at the minister of St Giles in protest and sparked a riot that led to the War of the Three Kingdoms across the British Isles. As a further nod to the night, Burns named his horse after her.

Haggis can be controversial - tips for those trying it for the first time? 

There’s a lot of myth-making and exaggeration with regard to haggis. The modern haggis is made with high-quality ingredients and all sorts of herbs and spices. Just jump in. Once you taste it, you’ll love it. 

If the idea is still too much, vegetarian haggis these days is absolutely amazing as well. In fact, I’d rather have good veggie haggis than poor normal haggis.

Do you have a favourite Burns Night recipe? 

Haggis is pretty much always cooked the same so play about with that at your own risk but I think the important thing is the sauce you choose to go with it. A good whisky sauce is the best in my opinion but don’t ignore a good pepper sauce. Haggis is already spicy but mix your potatoes, turnips and haggis with a firey pepper sauce and you're in for a real treat.

What are some must-try dishes and drinks to include in the ideal Burns Night celebrations? 

I’ve mentioned cranachan already so get that for a start. If you want a proper heavy treat then make your starter a good thick Cullen Skink. There's a trick to Cullen Skink but the good news is you can get a really good takeaway one from Cafe Edinburgh in the Canongate on the Royal Mile. Trust me.

For someone attending Burns Night celebrations for the first time, what can they expect in terms of flavours, ambience and overall experience? 

You should be willing to come and try everything and prepare yourself for some poetry in Old Scots. You might struggle with the vernacular to begin with but don’t worry, you’re fine. Be ready to eat. Probably don’t grab a pre-dinner snack because this is about the food as much as it’s about Burns. Also, depending on where you are going, be prepared for whisky. Just please remember that whisky is an acquired taste. You need to put the work in to acquire it!

What advice would you give someone who wants to host their own Burns Night celebration? 

Don’t worry too much about the pomp and ceremony. Keep it simple. There’s loads of information on what to do and how to host it properly but frankly, as long as you’re with friends, you buy into the poetry and you end up well-fed at the end of it while celebrating Burns, you’ve done all you need to do.

Maybe plan to take it easy the next day.

And for Cameron’s closing piece of advice, “These nights can, and often, get out of hand. It’s a meal based on a man for whom the next drink was never that far away. My only piece of advice is to keep the speeches snappy. The man was able to speak for himself so let Burns do the talking and you do the jokes.”

Find out more about the Edinburgh Old Town Food Tour here.