Scottish Food | Black Pudding

The black pudding has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a way of making good use of everything when a pig is butchered. Although it doesn’t sound appetising, this mixture of congealed pigs’ blood, fat, oats, barley and a special blend of spices stuffed in a length of intestine, is popular at B & B’s up and down the country as well as in top-class restaurants. It combines very well with pork, chicken, game and seafood as well as fruit such as pears, apple and rhubarb.

Other European countries have their own versions such as the Irish Drisheen, the French Boudin noir, the Spanish Morcilla and German Blutwurst, but in the UK it is most popular in Northern England (where The World Black Pudding Throwing Championships are held every year) and Scotland, where the Scottish Black Pudding Competition relies on the quality of taste rather than how many Yorkshire puddings you can knock off a wall! The Scottish Federation of Meat Traders’ 2006 prize pud winner was Grossetts of Dundee, although for many connoisseurs, the Stornoway Black Pudding (or Marag Dubh) is revered as Numero Uno.

Making home-made black pudding is not easy. Even if you had a strong enough stomach to face the ingredients, it’s difficult to obtain the fresh blood required unless you happen to be having your own pigs or lambs slaughtered. Dried blood can be used as a substitute – though again this needs to be ordered from a specialist trader.

It’s therefore far easier to re-heat pre-prepared black puddings, although this must be done gently as they crumble easily. Slicing black pudding thickly and keeping them in their original casing helps while they are fried, grilled or heated in the oven.

White (or Mealy) pudding is sometimes a vegan alternative as there is no blood and animal fat can be replaced by vegetable. This is also popular at the fish and chip shop where white puddings are battered, deep-fried and served as suppers (ie with chips at any time of the day or night). Tasty, if not exactly healthy!