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A period dish

Black Pudding

A dark sausage of blood, oats, and suet, boiled in a casing and fried until the skin crisps.

Serves 8

Black pudding turned the slaughter of a pig into a full larder: the blood was caught, mixed with oats, suet, and spice, and packed into casings. It kept for weeks and was sliced and fried for breakfast or supper.

Ingredients

Produce

  • 1 onion

Meat & Poultry

  • sausage casings

Dairy & Eggs

  • 1/2 cup cream

Spices & Seasoning

  • 1/2 tsp allspice

Other

  • 2 cup pig's blood
  • 1 cup oatmeal
  • 4 oz suet

Method

  1. Soak the oatmeal briefly in water or milk, then drain it well.

  2. Warm the pig's blood gently and stir in the oatmeal, chopped suet, diced onion, salt, pepper, and a pinch of allspice.

  3. Loosen the mixture with a little cream or stock until it drops slowly from a spoon.

  4. Fill the casings no more than two-thirds full, tie them off, and prick them lightly.

  5. Lower the puddings into barely simmering water and cook for about an hour without letting them boil hard. Cool, then slice and fry to serve.

Adapted from The Compleat Housewife. View a published recipe at Epicurious (opens in a new tab)

Served at

A solitary supper at Frombork · Frombork, Royal Prussia