Black Pudding
Pork or beef blood bound with oatmeal and diced fat, gently poached in casings until set, then pan-fried in thick slices for a crumbly-firm, not rubbery, texture. Among the oldest sausages in the world, referenced as far back as Homer's Odyssey; "blak podyngs" appear in English records by around 1450 as a way to use every part of the autumn-slaughtered family pig, and the tradition is genuinely shared across Britain and Ireland, with real regional variants like Scotland's protected Stornoway black pudding and Ireland's more gelatinous Cork drisheen.
Meat
⚠ Contains: Gluten. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
Ingredients
- 2 cups pork or beef blood (or reconstituted dried blood)
- 1 cup pinhead oatmeal or steel-cut oats
- 1 cup fresh pork back fat, diced small (or beef suet)
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- Natural sausage casings, or a loaf tin lined with parchment for a home version
Steps
- Soak the oatmeal in a little water for 30 minutes to soften slightly.
- Gently saute the diced onion until soft, then let cool.
- In a large bowl, combine the blood, softened oatmeal, diced fat, cooled onion, salt, pepper, allspice, and cloves, and mix thoroughly.
- If using casings, stuff the mixture into natural casings and tie off into links, leaving room for expansion. If using a loaf tin, pour the mixture in and cover tightly with foil.
- Poach gently in barely simmering water, without boiling hard, for 45-60 minutes, until set firm and no longer liquid in the center.
- Cool completely, then refrigerate.
- To serve, slice thickly and pan-fry in a little oil or bacon fat until crisp on both sides, about 3-4 minutes per side.