Black pudding

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Black pudding
Stornoway Black Pudding.jpg
Cross section of a Stornoway black pudding
Alternative names Scottish Gaelic: Marag dhubh, Irish: putóg dhubh Welsh: poten waed, poten ddu, gwaedogen
Place of origin Great Britain and Ireland
Region or state England, Ireland, Scotland
Associated cuisine United Kingdom and Ireland
Serving temperatureHot, occasionally cold
Main ingredientsPork blood, fat, oats, or barley
Ingredients generally usedMint, thyme, marjoram, spices
Variations Drisheen, Sneem Black Pudding, Stornoway black pudding
Similar dishes Blodplättar , Slátur

Black pudding is a distinct regional type of blood sausage originating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is made from pork or occasionally beef blood, with pork fat or beef suet, and a cereal, usually oatmeal, oat groats, or barley groats. The high proportion of cereal, along with the use of certain herbs such as pennyroyal, serves to distinguish black pudding from blood sausages eaten in other parts of the world. [1]

Contents

Etymology

The word pudding is believed to derive from the French boudin , originally from the Latin botellus , meaning "small sausage". [2]

History and recipes

Blood puddings are often considered to be one of the oldest forms of sausage. Animals are generally bled at slaughter, and as blood rapidly spoils unless prepared in some way, making a pudding with it is one of the easiest ways of ensuring it does not go to waste. [1] While the majority of modern black pudding recipes involve pork blood, this has not always been the case. Sheep or cow blood was also used, and one 15th-century English recipe used that of a porpoise in a pudding eaten exclusively by the nobility. [1] Until at least the 19th century, cow or sheep blood was the usual basis for black puddings in Scotland; Jamieson's Scottish dictionary defined "black pudding" as "a pudding made of the blood of a cow or sheep". [3]

As a product of the slaughtering process, eating black puddings was historically associated with Martinmas, when the annual slaughter of livestock took place. By the 19th century black pudding manufacture was linked with towns known for their large markets for pork, such as Stretford, [4] [5] then in Lancashire, and Cork, Ireland. By this time, black puddings were generally omitted from recipe books aimed at urban housewives, as they no longer usually had access to home-killed pork, although recipes continued to appear in Scottish books until the 20th century. [6]

Sliced black pudding -2021-07-24 Sliced Black pudding sausage, Trimingham, Norfolk.JPG
Sliced black pudding
Black pudding ring -2021-08-25 Ring of Black Pudding, Trimingham, Norfolk (1).JPG
Black pudding ring

Most traditional recipes from the UK involve stirring the fresh blood, [7] adding fat and some form of rusk, and seasoning, before filling the mixture into a casing and boiling it. Natural casings of beef intestine were formerly used, though modern commercially made puddings use synthetic cellulose skins, and are usually produced from imported dried blood. The relatively limited range of ingredients and use of oats or barley to thicken and absorb the blood is typical of black pudding in comparison to Continental blood sausages. [1] Despite this, black pudding recipes still show more regional variation across the islands than other sausages, with many butchers having their own individual versions. [8] Breadcrumbs or flour are sometimes used to supplement the oats or barley, and the proportion and texture of the fat or suet used can also vary widely. Pennyroyal, marjoram, thyme, and mint are all traditional flavourings: pennyroyal was known as pudding-yerb in the North Riding of Yorkshire for its use in black puddings. [9] Other herbs and spices sometimes used in traditional black puddings include cumin, rue, and parsley. [10]

While the dish has been known as black pudding for centuries, blak podyngs having been recorded c.1450, [11] a number of dialect names have also been used for the dish, such as black pot (in Somerset), [12] and bloody pot. [13]

Regional popularity

In the United Kingdom, [14] black pudding is especially associated with the Black Country, the North West and Scotland; it is considered a particular delicacy in Stornoway and in Lancashire, notably in towns such as Bury, where it is traditionally boiled and served with malt vinegar out of a paper wrapping. [15] It was also found in Yorkshire, where black puddings were flavoured with lemon thyme and savory: [16] Barnsley black puddings were particularly well-known. [17] The Stornoway black pudding, made in the Western Isles of Scotland, has been granted Protected Geographical Indicator of Origin status. In the wake of this designation, butchers in Bury sought to demonstrate their history of manufacturing and selling the product. One such claim dates back to 1810. [18] Having been brought there by immigrants, black pudding is now part of the local cuisine of the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. [19]

In Ireland, in addition to the more general type of black pudding, there is a distinct regional variety called drisheen, which is particularly associated with Cork. [20] Drisheen is usually made from cow's blood, although until the recent past it was often also made with sheep blood, and was sometimes flavoured with tansy. [20] Sneem Black Pudding is a local variety produced in County Kerry; it has Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status. [21] [22] [23] [24]

Consumption

Black pudding (left) as part of a full breakfast Johns, Fitzrovia, London (6959378220).jpg
Black pudding (left) as part of a full breakfast

Black pudding can be grilled, fried, baked, or boiled in its skin. It can also be eaten cold, as it is cooked in production. [25]

In parts of north-western England and in the Black Country it was usual to serve a whole black pudding boiled as a complete meal, with bread or potatoes. [11] Elsewhere in the UK and Ireland, slices of fried or grilled black pudding are more usually served as part of a traditional full breakfast, [26] [27] a tradition that followed British and Irish emigrants around the world. [28] [29]

A single battered, deep-fried, chip shop, black pudding (approx. 20 cm or 8 in long), sliced open Wiki black battered.jpg
A single battered, deep-fried, chip shop, black pudding (approx. 20 cm or 8 in long), sliced open

Some chip shops, particularly in the north of England and Scotland, sell deep-fried, battered black pudding. [30]

Novel culinary uses for black pudding include black pudding ice cream, [31] while perhaps a more conventional modern recipe is using it as an accompaniment to scallops. [32] Scotch eggs made with black pudding, such as the "Manchester egg", [33] [34] have become common.

Nutrition

Black pudding is a good source of protein; it is low in carbohydrate and high in zinc and iron. [35] It has been described as a "superfood" because of these nutritional qualities, [36] although many recipes are also very high in saturated fat and salt.[ citation needed ]

Festivals

Since the 1980s, the World Black Pudding Throwing Championships has been held in Ramsbottom. [37] The humorous competition invokes the traditional Lancashire – Yorkshire rivalry, with participants throwing the black puddings at piles of Yorkshire puddings. [38] It takes place annually in September, and draws thousands of competitors and spectators to the town. [39]

In past years the Bacup Food and Black Pudding Festival has been held in Bacup. [40] [31]

There is an annual European Black Pudding competition held in the Halles de Boudin in Mortagne au Perches in Normandy.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sausage</span> Meat product

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pudding</span> Dessert or savory dish

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Drisheen is a type of blood pudding made in Ireland. It is distinguished from other forms of Irish black pudding by having a gelatinous consistency. It is made from a mixture of cow's, pig's or sheep's blood, milk, salt and fat, which is boiled and sieved and finally cooked using the main intestine of an animal as the sausage skin. The sausage may be flavoured with herbs, such as tansy, or served with tansy sauce. The recipe for drisheen varies widely from place to place and it also differs depending on the time of year. Drisheen is a cooked product but it usually requires further preparation before eating. How this is done varies widely from place to place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Full breakfast</span> Substantial British and Irish breakfast

A full breakfast is a substantial cooked breakfast meal, often served in Great Britain and Ireland. The typical ingredients are bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding, baked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast, fried bread and a beverage such as coffee or tea. Hash browns are a common contemporary but non-traditional inclusion. Ingredients may extend beyond these or include regional variants, which may often be referred to by different names depending on the area. While it is colloquially known as a "fry-up" in most areas of the United Kingdom and Ireland, it is usually referred to as a "full English", a "full Irish", "full Scottish", "full Welsh", and "Ulster fry", in England, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blood as food</span> Food, often in combination with meat

Blood as food is the usage of blood in food, religiously and culturally. Many cultures consume blood, often in combination with meat. The blood may be in the form of blood sausage, as a thickener for sauces, a cured salted form for times of food scarcity, or in a blood soup. This is a product from domesticated animals, obtained at a place and time where the blood can run into a container and be swiftly consumed or processed. In many cultures, the animal is slaughtered. In some cultures, blood is a taboo food.

Sneem Black Pudding is a variety of black pudding produced in Sneem, County Kerry, Ireland.

References

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