Out to raise an offal lot for charity

A mixture of beef boiled in a sheep's stomach and infused with one of the rarest whiskies in the world is an unlikely source of fund-raising for victims of the Asian tsunami.

The world's most expensive haggis was conjured up by a Scottish chef to sell at a Burns Night celebration being held last night in London.

The GBP2,850 ($41,800) gourmet dish may not be quite the poor man's staple feted by Scottish poet Robert Burns, but its cause no doubt would have met approval.

John Paul McLachlan, the head chef at the new Albannach Scottish restaurant in London, told Britain's Daily Telegraph the taste would astonish sceptics.

Traditional haggis is made from heart, lungs and other offal minced with onions, oatmeal, spices and seasoning.

The cost of the haggis stems from the whisky used in the concoction - a Balvenie cask 191, which costs about GBP6,000 a bottle.