What is Blood Pudding?
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Blood pudding sounds like a suitable dessert for vampires. In reality, it is a quite popular and quite common sausage made throughout Europe. It is a combination of animal blood, suet, grains, raisins or currants, and spices, which cause the resultant sausage to look either deep purple or black.
Blood pudding is a traditional part of the Irish breakfast in an Irish pub or restaurant. Several slices of blood pudding may be served with white pudding, ham, eggs and potatoes as part of a very hearty breakfast. Such a breakfast may also be a popular choice in Scotland and throughout the rest of the UK.
Most visitors are actually surprised that blood pudding tastes like a “normal” sausage, for the most part. Since it is often fried in slices, and can have about the diameter of Italian salami, it has the same texture and firmness of most other sausages.
In the US, blood pudding is often sold as black pudding or black sausage to avoid its association with animal blood. However, no black pudding can work without the addition of animal blood, so this change in names does not translate to change in essentials. A blood pudding “by any other name” is still part animal blood.
The term pudding may have resulted from blood pudding containing a high degree of grain, usually oats or wheat. Blood pudding also has other pudding-like qualities, containing raisins or currants, nuts, occasionally figs, and a higher quantity of sugar. It is like a British plum pudding in casings, with the addition of animal blood.
Those who can adventure past the name may find that blood pudding is quite enjoyable. It is certainly popular among Irish residents and those in the UK. Virtually all countries in Europe have their own variant, which may be differentiated from Irish blood pudding by the spices and ingredients used. Also choice of animal blood may vary. Pig’s blood is popular, but goat, sheep, or cow blood might also be the first choice.
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11
If you are interested, there are many stores in Massachusetts that sell it. I grew up eating blood pudding and never realized that most parts of the country have no clue, or the few areas that do have it, it's usually a Spanish/Mexican form that is extremely spicy.
BTW, for those that are thinking of it as tasting like blood, think of it this way, does a steak taste like blood? It, too has blood in it. In a steak, we call it juice. - anon41190
8
Our traditional dish in Slovenia is "krvavica" or blood sausage. It is made of pork blood, grease, rice (optional), buckwheat and tiny cooked pieces of meat from pig's head. It is boiled first and then roasted in the oven. It's served with pickled cabbage and corn porridge with roasted ham. - anon40016
7
"Black pudding" is also called "rice pudding" in Antigua, which is a small island in the caribbean, colonized by the British. Rice is the main filling, cow blood is also used.Mdf - anon28471
5
If I ever find this black pudding, I definitely want to try it. - Tsu
4
Black pudding is a vital ingredient of a cooked breakfast but can be used in many other ways. It works well with fish, fruit, lamb and pork. Blood pudding is one of the great delicacies of Acadian cuisine.-cynthia jacquline, newfoundland drug rehab - cynthia387
3
its actually quite good, being from newfoundland we have a very thick irish influence, and blood pudding is quite common breakfast item here, dont knock it until u try it! its no worse than a steak medium rare. - anon15120
2
While I myself do not find the blood particularly tasty by itself, I do think that it adds a certain flavor that can not be duplicated by way of spice nor seasoning. The blood after all, is as natural and important as any other part of an animal. - anon13021
1
I know that it is cultural, but I just can't get behind the idea of eating blood. No thanks. - knittingpro
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Written by
Tricia Ellis-Christensen
Last Modified: 13 August 2009
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