Black pudding

Black puddingis a distinct national type ofblood sausageoriginating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is made fromporkor occasionally beefblood, withpork fatorbeef suet, and a cereal, usuallyoatmeal,oatgroats, orbarleygroats. The high proportion of cereal, along with the use of certain herbs such aspennyroyal, serves to distinguish black pudding from blood sausages eaten in other parts of the world.
The wordpuddingis believed to derive from the Frenchboudin, originally from the Latinbotellus, meaning "smallsausage".
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.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 aporpoisein a pudding eaten exclusively by the nobility.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".
As a product of the slaughtering process, eating black puddings was historically associated withMartinmas, 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 asStretford,then inLancashire, andCork, 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.
Most traditional recipes from the UK involve stirring the fresh blood,adding fat and some form ofrusk, 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 syntheticcelluloseskins, 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.Despite this, black pudding recipes still show more regional variation across the islands than other sausages, with many butchers having their own individual versions.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, andmintare all traditional flavourings: pennyroyal was known aspudding-yerbin theNorth Riding of Yorkshirefor its use in black puddings.Other herbs and spices sometimes used in traditional black puddings includecumin,rue, andparsley.
While the dish has been known asblack puddingfor centuries,blak podyngshaving been recordedc.1450,a number of dialect names have also been used for the dish, such asblack pot(inSomerset),andbloody pot.
In the United Kingdom,black pudding is especially associated with theBlack Country, theNorth Westand Scotland; it is considered a particular delicacy inStornowayand inLancashire, notably in towns such asBury, where it is traditionally boiled and served withmalt vinegarout of a paper wrapping.It was also found inYorkshire, where black puddings were flavoured withlemon thymeandsavory:Barnsleyblack puddings were particularly well-known.TheStornoway black pudding, made in theWestern Islesof Scotland, has been grantedProtected Geographical Indicator of Originstatus. 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.Having been brought there by immigrants, black pudding is now part of the local cuisine of the Canadian provinces ofNova ScotiaandNewfoundland and Labrador.
In Ireland, in addition to the more general type of black pudding, there is a distinct regional variety calleddrisheen, which is particularly associated with Cork.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 withtansy.Sneem Black Puddingis a local variety produced inCounty Kerry; it hasProtected Geographical Indication(PGI) status.
Black pudding can be grilled, fried, baked, or boiled in its skin. It can also be eaten cold, as it is cooked in production.
In parts of north-western England and in theBlack Country, it was usual to serve a whole black pudding boiled as a complete meal, with bread or potatoes.Elsewhere in the UK and Ireland, slices of fried or grilled black pudding are more usually served as part of a traditionalfull breakfast,a tradition that followed British and Irish emigrants around the world.
Somechip shops, particularly in Scotland (and the north of England) sell deep-fried, battered black pudding.
Novel culinary uses for black pudding include black pudding ice cream,while perhaps a more conventional modern recipe is using it as an accompaniment toscallops.Scotch eggsmade with black pudding, such as the "Manchester egg",have become common.
Black pudding is a good source ofprotein; it is low incarbohydratesand high inzincandiron.It has been described as a "superfood" because of these nutritional qualities,although many recipes are also very high insaturated fatand salt.
Since the 1980s, theWorld Black Pudding Throwing Championshipshas been held annually inRamsbottom, Bury, Greater Manchester.The humorous competition invokes the traditionalLancashire – Yorkshire rivalry, with participants throwing the black puddings at piles ofYorkshire puddings.It takes place in September, and draws thousands of competitors and spectators.
In past years, the Bacup Food and Black Pudding Festival has been held inBacup, Lancashire.
There is an annual European Black Pudding competition held in the Halles de Boudin inMortagne-au-Perche, Normandy.