What Does Black Pudding Tastes Like?
To put it simply, black pudding is actually a sausage instead of a pudding made out of pig’s blood, spices, and onions, herbs along with being bound by barley or oatmeal. This all combined together gives the pudding a uniquely mild and sweet taste despite of it containing spices too.
There is no getting around the fact that black pudding is blood sausage, but in truth, if that makes you queasy, you do not really care after trying it, and liking it. Black pudding, or a blood sausage, is made by cooking the blood from cows or other animals until they congeal, then breaking them up into links. Black pudding is not pudding, it is a sausage made from the blood of pigs, onions, herbs, spices, and bound with oats or barley.
Black pudding is made of pigs blood and pigs fat, and is made of onions, herbs, spices, and grains, mostly oats, barley grosets, and oatmeal. White pudding is made from the same ingredients as black pudding, but does not have blood in it. This means that, although white pudding does not have any pork blood, it is neither vegetarian nor vegan-friendly. The relatively limited ingredients range, and use of oatmeal or barley for the blood goo, is characteristic of the black pudding compared with Continental blood sausages.
The higher percentage of grains, together with the use of some herbs, such as pennyroyal, serves to differentiate black pudding from the blood sausages eaten elsewhere in the world. In times gone by, black pudding was sometimes flavored with pennyroyal, and was distinguished from continental European versions by the relatively restricted array of ingredients, as well as its dependence on oatmeal and barley rather than onions for absorbing the blood. When made properly, the flavor is mild and somewhat sweet, in spite of the spices; it is the combination of all ingredients (including the pork blood) that produces its distinctive taste. Black pudding is also a puddin (in Burnss words), meaning black pudding — traditionally made from the pork blood and oats that are trapped inside a pigs guts — is pudding.
By the way, if you’re interested in How Long Do Cooked Meatballs Last In The Fridge, then check out this article.
When the blood pudding is filled with animal fat or other meaty tissues, as is usual, it can have a very high caloric content. The dish is usually quite cheap, and may serve as a sort of catch-all of loose ingredients or food. Black pudding can be served chilled, but most people cut it up and roast or barbecue it before serving, or prepare it into a dish that they are adding it to for added richness and flavour (like, say, potato mashed).
Now, I would argue that black pudding is a tasty, earthy, meaty, nutty, blood-mushed, herb-y, sausage-type filth, which works perfectly on a roast, or, if you are weak of it, topped with pear and scallops. Since black pudding is not made like a traditional sausage, which requires a huge amount of salt in order to curing, it is likely healthier and tastes better. A typical black pudding recipe is made with pork fat or beef jerky, meat (usually the fattier parts, such as the liver), oats, and blood. White pudding is a sausage made from shortening (beef suet or fat), grain, breadcrumbs, spices, and sometimes pork/pork liver, packed in a natural sausage casing or in cellophane.
| Ingredients | How To Prepare It |
| To make black pudding, you will need four cups of pork blood, one cup of milk, finely chopped onions, three cups of chopped up pork fat, and a teaspoonful of black pepper for spicing. | Black pudding is made by cooking the blood from cows or other animals until they congeal, then breaking them up into links. |
| To make white pudding, you will need cereal grain (like barley, oats), animal fat (such as pork liver or beef suet), breadcrumbs, spices like coriander, white pepper | White pudding is made by shortening beef, grain, breadcrumbs, spices, and pork liver, and packing them in a natural sausage casing or in cellophane. |
Blood sausages may be made with animal blood, along with a variety of other ingredients such as fat, pork or bacon meat, grains (barley is common), rice, onions, and spices. It is typically eaten either cold or hot; it may also be grilled, fried, boiled, or baked, depending on the country. Combining the blood with the filling for a sausage, and cooking it down to a meat-like mass all by itself, may be a very cheap way to make use of it. Blood sausages are usually cooked with other ingredients, like onions and breadcrumbs, to add texture.
People who are not familiar with gore pudding, or are not used to eating animal blood, will usually find that description a bit off-putting, and sometimes it takes a bit to adjust to sausage. Most food scholars think that it gets its name from the grains, which are nearly always included, that soak up animal blood, which holds it all together, since, in some ways, cooks are making a thick pudding which is set and congealed inside a sausage casing. Black pudding is not entirely made of blood, and if you are eating hamburgers, roast chicken, tuna melts, hot dogs, bacon sandwiches, and any ready-made meats, you might eat black pudding, since it is blood and spices prepared in convenient shapes. To make black pudding at home, you will need four cups of pork blood, one cup of milk, finely chopped onions, three cups of chopped up pork fat, and a teaspoonful of black pepper for spicing.
Made of the pigs blood and fat, which is thickened with oatmeal and seasoned, the mixture is cooked down into a shape resembling black sausage, which is scattered with white fat patches. The meat is mixed with pigs or cows blood to make what is widely considered a acquired taste — but it is one that is well worth trying. Cereal-grain fillings soak up the blood of pigs, giving black pudding a dry, chewy texture (similar to soppressata salami) that complements breakfast favorites like eggs and skillet potatoes.
Red pudding looks, and in some ways tastes, very much like Saveloy, which you can learn more about here. The key difference between the Irish full and English breakfast is that black pudding and white pudding are compulsory in a full Irish breakfast, while they are optional in the English full breakfast. A full Irish breakfast, also called a Irish fry-up, features bacon, sausages, eggs, black and white pudding, mushrooms, and tomatoes, all cooked in butter and served with Irish soda bread.
To learn about, Can You Cook Frozen Pork, then check out this article where I cover everything in detail.
If the idea of eating blood for breakfast makes you queasy, then you probably did not grow up in Britain, where since time immemorial, the order has been to have your full fried breakfast come with a big portion of black pudding. Consuming blood is generally considered neither unsafe nor unhealthy, provided that it has been fully cooked; however, puddings that are undercooked or partly uncooked may contain harmful bacteria, which may lead to disease. Seeing those words on the page brought back memories of my Polish high-school teacher telling us her mothers recipe for duck blood soup (first, get the duck), and how ridiculously gross that seemed to a roomful of preteens.
What is black pudding?
Black pudding is a different type of blood sausage starting in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is produced from pork or beef blood, with beef suet or pork fat, and a cereal, usually oat groats, oatmeal, or barley groats.
Is black pudding delicious?
It’s delicious to eat black pudding! It has a delicious flavour and a wonderful texture. There’s no getting around the fact that it’s a blood sausage, but if it makes you uneasy, you won’t care once you’ve tried it and liked it.
How do you eat black pudding?
On a cheese board, black pudding is fantastic, and we’ve even created a fruity black pudding that tastes fantastic cold. Leeks, Bacon, Fried Onions, Apples, and a variety of other flavours pair well with Black Pudding. It’s great in pies, lamb roasts, stuffing, and potato skins.