Name: 16 Century: Black Pudding
Yield: Makes 4 decent-size black puddings; serves 4–6
Cuisine: United Kingdom
Ingredients: 250 g (9 oz/2½ cups) rolled (porridge) oats, soaked in milk overnight, drained; ½ teaspoon ground mace; 1 teaspoon chopped savory; 1 teaspoon chopped parsley; 1 teaspoon chopped thyme; 3 cloves, ground; 2 egg yolks; 500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) pig’s blood (thawed, if frozen); 100 g (3½ oz) pinhead oatmeal (steel-cut oats), soaked in milk overnight, drained; 1 small leek, thinly sliced; ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon; 50 g (1¾ oz) lard; a pinch of ground ginger; 1 teaspoon salt; butter, for frying; sausage casing, soaked in salted water overnight (or as instructed on the pack); ½ teaspoon black pepper

Preparation info

Makes 4 decent-size black puddings; serves
4–6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Pride and Pudding

By Regula Ysewijn

Published 2016

About

Just like the haggis, the black pudding originated centuries before the first written word about it. A blood pudding appeared in Homer’s Odyssey around 800 BCE, and the Romans had several recipes for it.

In times when food was scarce, animals would be bled to create black pudding in trays or as cakes. A little milk and oatmeal would be added, and the pudding would be the only source of protein. From letters of the period, we know this custom was still very mu