Name: Black Pudding
Yield: Makes 25–30 black puddings
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 1 onion, studded with 2 cloves; 5 metres (5 yards) sausage casing, soaked in cold water for several hours; 1 boned pig’s head, rolled and tied; 1 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns; 250 g (9 oz) pinhead oats; 1 heaped teaspoon cayenne pepper; 3 litres (5¼ pints) water; 3 litres (5¼ pints) pig’s blood, or dried blood equivalent; Salt; 1 large carrot, chopped; 1 bay leaf; Green from diced white leeks, chopped (see method); Sprig of thyme; Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and ground mace; 350 g (12 oz) bacon, cut into 5 mm (¼ in) dice; 2 garlic cloves, crushed; Butter; 350 g (12 oz) chopped onions; 350 g (12 oz) white of leek, cut into 5 mm (¼ in) dice; 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon; 350 g (12 oz) pork back fat, cut into 5 mm (¼ in) dice; 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

Preparation info

Makes
25–30
black puddings

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

New British Classics

By Gary Rhodes

Published 1999

About

Black pudding is quite an acquired taste, but what a taste that is. Good-quality black pudding is so good to eat, whether as part of your breakfast plate or working its way into any other recipe. You’ll find a few recipes in this book that include the pudding, which I think demonstrates how much I love this culinary treat.

A good friend of mine, Jack Morris, runs his own butcher’s shop in Bolton. He has become renowned throughout the world for his home-made black pu