I’m from New Jersey, and much of what I learned about how to interact with others I learned from my stepfather Frank. Frank’s main rule was, “always have favors you can collect on, and don’t be afraid to do other people favors.” I do something for you, you return the favor — scratching each other’s back is a way of life. It’s how I roll.
So some years ago, when I drove down to Galt to collect a few hundred pounds of Touriga Nacional wine grapes from a Portuguese grower named Ron Silva, I wasn’t shocked when he told me not to worry about money. “No,” he said. “Instead, show me how to make blood sausage.” No problem, I said.
Blood sausage. Actually, Ron said “morcella.” I knew what he meant, although I refer to it mentally by its Spanish name morcilla. My neighbor from Argentina calls it more-SEE-zhuh, my other neighbor from Italy calls it sanguinaccio. Go to Louisiana or France and it’s boudin noir. But the first time I ate this odd delight was in South Africa, as part of a traditional English breakfast. And there it was stripped of any lyrical nicknames: The waiter called it “blood pudding.”
I know how to make blood sausage, but until I developed this recipe I had limited success. Many versions are blood and seasonings and that’s it — they are brutal to stuff into casings and were the source of failure whenever I’d been around the process in the past. Besides, to my palate, the blood-only sausages were a bit too cakey; more blood cake and less sausage. They have a weird mouthfeel.
I know. Many of you are saying to yourselves, blood. As an ingredient. In food that you’d eat. I know I glossed over it in the first few graphs of this post, but if you are still reading I thought I’d stop to tell you that first, there is quite a bit of nutrition in blood (especially iron and other minerals), and the addition of blood in a dish will make it seem fattier and richer than it really is.
Pork blood will solidify and stay moist, while beef blood becomes crumbly and dry — one more reason why the pig is God’s Gift. And blood is cheap, so if you are on a budget think about it. Finally, blood is also a spectacular binder, much like egg whites. Herein lies the secret to my morcilla.
My blood sausage is bound with blood rather than a pure blood sausage. It has pork shoulder and pork fat, parsley, onions and lots of ground bay leaves.
I woke up early on a Saturday, drove down to the Davis farmer’s market and picked up some pork blood, as well as a big slab of pork shoulder. I was eager to repay Ron for the wine grapes — not because I wanted to get it over with, but because I enjoy the interplay of favors that my world once revolved around. This is a life bound more closely to other people than is that lived by those who follow the principle of “neither a borrower nor a lender be.”
I also enjoy teaching others some of the more esoteric things I’ve learned in my travels. (Thus this blog.)
Even better, I learned when Ron and his wife Kathy arrived that Ron is a total morcella hound. “Morcella, morcella, morcella,” Kathy said. “When we were in the Azores, we’d go to Michelin-starred restaurants and he’d find the morcella.”
I think Ron was hoping I’d make more than five pounds, as he is a hearty eater. But all my recipes are about five pounds, and blood sausage is so rich non-farmers typically can’t eat too much at a sitting. But Ron was OK with it: I was teaching him to fish at the same time I was giving him some. At any rate, he watched the process intently.
Morcilla is an odd sausage to make. Instead of a solid bind that you want with a normal sausage, you pour in enough blood to make a loose slurry. It looks like the leftovers from a field hospital during the War of Independence.
At least the slurry is solid enough that I can use a regular sausage-stuffer to form the links, although you must tie-off those links with string; they are too loose to hold if you just twist them like a regular sausage.
Another step you need to take is to poach the raw links in 170°F water. Not a simmer, and definitely not a boil (the blood will curdle. Ew.), but hot enough to solidify the blood to make a firm sausage.
After the poaching, you can then do what you want. I smoked mine over almond wood, but you can then fry them, grill them, drop a few into a soup — whatever.
They are delicious: Softer than a regular sausage but still meaty, with a taste you can only really describe as “dark.” You know there is blood in there, but you can also pick up the pork and onions and the bay leaves. The fresh parsley brightens the whole affair enough that you don’t feel awkward eating them on a sunny day.
Portuguese Blood Sausage
Ingredients
- 1 quart pork blood (probably 1/2 gallon)
- 3 pounds pork shoulder
- 1/2 pound pork fat
- 2 cups chopped onions
- 1/4 cup duck fat or fresh lard
- 36 grams kosher salt, about 3 tablespoons
- 6 grams Instacure No. 1, about 1/4 teaspoon
- 10 grams freshly ground black pepper, about a tablespoon
- 6 grams ground bay leaves, about a tablespoon
- 1/2 cup minced parsley
- 3 tablespoons sweet paprika
Instructions
- Freeze the pork fat.
- Cook the chopped onions in the duck fat or lard over medium-low heat until they are caramelized, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and cool them. I do this step the day before.
- Mix both salts, and the pepper, parsley, bay leaves and paprika. Cut the pork and fat into chunks and coat everything with the spice mix.
- Chill everything: bowls, grinder parts, sausage stuffer parts, and especially the meat, fat and blood. I put everything in the freezer for a few hours. You are looking for temperatures close to freezing.
- Take the hog casings out and put what you need in a bowl of warm water. Depending on their width, you’ll need 10 to 20 feet worth. Many places sell casings specifically to make 5-pound batches. Be sure to drape the end of each casing over the side so you can find it later.
- Using the coarse die, grind the meat and fat. If you wish, you can run everything through the fine die. Make sure the meat and fat are at no warmer than 35°F when you grind. Put the meat and fat into the freezer and clean up.
- Fill the largest pot you own with water and heat it to steaming, but not boiling. Ideally you want something like 160°F.
- Meanwhile, attach the paddle to your KitchenAid or other mixer, or, alternately, get a stout wooden spoon. Take the meat and fat mixture out and add the cooked onions. Pour in about a pint of blood. Stir on Level 1 on the mixer or with the wooden spoon. Add some more blood as you go; it’s not an exact science. You want a loose slurry that is quasi-emulsified — a consistency like pancake batter. When it is the consistency you want, put the mix back in the fridge and clean up. Get your sausage-stuffer ready and thread a hog casing onto it.
- Pour the mix into the sausage stuffer and begin making your sausages. Make the whole coil before you tie them into links. This is a little tricky, and it helps to have a second person help. You need to tie off blood sausage because it is very loose inside and twisted links will fall out. Repeat until you are done with all the sausage. Get the largest bowl you own and fill it 2/3 of the way up with ice and water.
- If you have some wooden dowels, use them to GENTLY lower the sausages into the pot of hot water. Do one at a time. Let the sausages poach for 15 minutes and then place them in the ice water. When the sausages are cool, remove them gently and hang them to dry out for an hour or so. You can now smoke them, or cook in any way you’d like.
This was a very tasty sausage! I substituted elk for pork and it worked fine. I screwed up one thing though… Historically I’ve had a bag of blood that I poured in… This year I had a bag with a clotted cube in the middle. When I poured it into the mixture I thought it would dissolve but it didn’t. I broke it up as I was working it in but I ended up with blood clot sausage! The flavor was there but the texture was poor. I learned to always blend your blood first! It was very tasty and I’m going to buy the authors book because the two recipes I’ve made we’re delicious!
The best recipe for a nice dinner is morcilla and rice. Yet any blood sausage will do.
Blood is nutritious and tasty with the ingredients.
I have a question…
1 quart = 1 /4 gallon. Why does the recipe mention 1/2 gallon? I understand the conversions on the others, but liquid is liquid both are US measurements. Was there a conversion somewhere?
Followed your recipe but added spices like fresh cilantro, green onions, oregano leaves, garlic & chili flakes & cumin. Like how Mamita did. Didn’t have casings, so made patties instead.
Good evening. I can only hope to find powdered blood that is reconstituted with water. I am trying to revive a recipe that does not use fillers or cereals. Would the reconstituted blood solidify with simmering?
Hi
Doing this recipe today. Pig blood has coagulated but still able to strain it. I wonder if the strained blood will make a difference. After straining I added vinegar.
I will also add a bit of marjoram and nutmeg and chill powder
I will chop onion into 1/4” dice. Hope this is small enough.
I have a lay down stuffer so hopefully I won’t loose too much slurry when setting up.
I will also stuff 32mm skins and into individual rings and tie off. As such.
Looks good and will comment when Done
Thanks
Hank M
Ok, maybe I’m doing this wrong but every time I collect fresh wild pig blood it starts to coagulate immediately. My recipe from a friend in England tells me to “Stir with my hands while removing blood clots.” Ooookay, once I got past the EWWW factor, I followed the directions (causing a mess that made my outside kitchen look like a murder scene) and found that by the time I had removed all the clots I didn’t have enough to stuff the skins with! It also loses some of its consistency. What am I doing wrong? The Mr wants a bit of the original from his homeland.
Linnea: You have to stir in a bit of vinegar, usually about a tablespoon per pint. I hear salt also works, but I have not tried that trick.
Hank, if you had this first in South Africa I’m pretty sure they would have called it ‘black pudding’. Perhaps you misheard your waiter. That’s the name in the rest of the English-speaking world but not here where, for some peculiar reason, it’s called ‘blood pudding’. Who’d eat blood pudding when black pudding sounds so much more appetizing? There’s also a a white pudding, very popular in Scotland.
Thanks for the reply! Assuming there was enough clean blood to collect, could you add small amounts of vinegar to prevent it?
Luke: I am pretty sure that would work, but I’ve not done it in practice. It works with pig blood.
Hello Hank, one thing I’ve been curious about is using venison blood for culinary applications? Every heard of folks doing that? Or is there some safety issues with that?
Luke: Certainly doable. Just practically difficult. Hard to collect blood from a deer in the field and not have it set up and coagulate.
Is there a site to purchase this blood sausage.
Beverly: No. I make it at home. Sorry!
Could one get by with frozen mail-order blood? Embarrassed to say I’m having a real hard time finding fresh in agri/local friendly VT!!!
I haven’t cooked with blood ever but I have some questions. Is the blood you are buying at an Asian market coagulated? I’ve read that adding some vinegar to the blood and stirring it will keep it liquid but would that throw off this recipe? I’m going to buy a whole lamb this month and I’m assuming I should be allowed to collect the blood. How do you think lamb would do in this recipe?
Andrew: No. it’s not coagulated. And yes, a little salt and/or vinegar will do the trick with fresh blood. As for lamb, go for it! It’s done in lamb-eating places, but I personally have not done it.
Thanks for this recipe. I’m a big fan of morcilla since my days selling Spanish imported wines and cheeses and that one time on the Spanish Compostela de Santiago where breakfast was two delightfully cooked said sausages along with two fried eggs…and a glass of wine.
Hank,
Using your recipe as I guide, I made a 5# batch this morning. I improvised a bit and it turned out very nice. I kept the lean/fat ratio the same, but only had a quart of blood so the forcemeat was a bit thicker. I was able to link the sausage as a result. I substituted smoked paprika and added 1/2 tsp cayenne. The test patty was delicious. My wife didn’t hesitate when I handed her half. I have a wine racking session this weekend and plan to serve this at lunch, should be a hit. Thanks for sharing .
Thank you Hank for the fantastic recipe. Before I undertake it I have a query regarding the blood I have sourced. I got it fresh today from the abbatoir, I asked them to stir it but I am not sure how well that was done. When I decanted it there were some fairly large clots formed but the rest seemed ok. I added 10g/ litre sodium citrate and cooled the blood. By the time I got home it had turned a chocolate brown colour. Can I still strain and use it? Thanks, fantastic website
Thomas: Really? Wow. That is fast. Smell it, and if the blood smells OK, go ahead and use it. But I wouldn’t wait another day.
About the deer blood after adding the red wine vinegar can you freeze it to keep it from going bad until you can get home and use it. I normally spend two weeks hunting before I go home so the 48 hours will be hard for me to do
David: Yep. Not easy. In fact, I’ve only done it once.
Is there a safe way to collect deer blood? I always regret just dumping it all out of the body cavity, because I love the taste of blood, but it seems a bit risky trying to collect and use it.
Drew: Not risky at all, but it is cumbersome. If you want to save it, pour it into a container that has a little red wine vinegar in it, about 1 tablespoon of vinegar to the pint of blood. Mix the two well and the blood won’t coagulate. But you need to use it within about 48 hours or it spoils.
Just had some amazing dry cured blood sausage at a Spanish restaurant here in Pittsburgh. Any idea how to approach dry curing morcilla?
How long does the blood last? Can you get it and freeze it before you make the sausages? Do you need to use it immediately?
Jay: You need to use it fresh, and within a day or two of buying it.
Would like to know where I can buy some good blood sausage. My Grandmother use to make it all the time. I have bought some in the store and it’s not good. I have had to throw it away because I didn’t like the taste. Any suggestions?
Linda: It all depends on what kind you want and where you live.
My heritage is Bavarian. My mother made blood sausage. I don’t have her recipe. I’m 85 years old but I do remember hers was the best of anyone. Our relatives all made it. I know she used ground pork and I think pork liver and fresh blood. I remember onions, mustard seeds. I also think she used a little bread and maybe a little cabbage . I don’t know why I think of cabbage..
I want to thank you for this recipie, when i was 21 i was on vacation in puerto rico, and had my first blood sausage, all i remembered was it had no rice, but i still remembered the texture and flavor. Made your recipie to the tee, and it took me back 25 years.. thank you!
What is the best way to reheat blood sausage.l
Jackie: Once they’ve been poached or otherwise cooked through, they can just be grilled or heated up in a pan.
Use wild game in much of my cooking. Deer or venison, duck, coots, jackrabbit. Do you have any experience with.these animals?
Thanks for the info, I haven’t heard about that or found it in a recipe…so very helpful to know. I also found on another blog where you can blend the blood if it is coagulated and then strain the clogs out. I also read you could freeze the blood. Also saw on cooking show where they had slated the blood initially to prevent coagulation. I am probably getting into the weeds here with the different scenarios, but getting fresh pig blood right out of the animal is not easy!
I found your post very informative and interesting. I make a lot of my own sausages and absolutely love blood pudding or Boudin noir. My question is about the pigs blood you add in the recipe. Do you need to do anything to the blood before you add it in the recipe. I have found fresh blood will coagulate in a large mass after it has a chance to cool a bit. I didn’t use this for making blood pudding as I thought it had spoiled?
David: Yep. About 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar per quart seems to be about right to keep it from coagulating.
I used to make blood sausage (morcilla) with my aunt in puerto rico…great child memories. .yeap I was 7 years old and the holidays are very busy. .I remember coming home in new years eve full of blood over my boots and dry blood on my clothes from working at the ranch all day. .I love those memories as much as I love eating morcilla. ..my aunt used a lot of bacon and fresh Spanish oregano..I like them boiled fresh with lemon juice on it…nice post, It was fun to read..thanks
Hank, I found your post while searching “blood pudding” since I am currently in the middle of making my own sausages. My wife is from the Philippines and is no stranger to blood pudding. Since my meat of choice was of the offal variety both lung and heart meats the idea for blood was evident. I have ground and strained part of the blood from the meats but am left with a dark red mixture of meat. Since the Longanisa recipe is likely a distant memory, I thought id look for some ideas that might take me in another direction. I will likely also blend in pork shoulder for a more familiar bite. Do you suppose that this recipe would qualify as a blood pudding since I have taken some effort to remove blood from the mix?
In the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia we do all blood sausage (pig blood, herbs and some bread added into the pigs intestines) this one iscooked in rapid boiling water. We called it black pudding or boudin (that’s the French creole word for it).
In Hawaii, on the big island, Hilo side. Being of Portuguese decent my father used too make blood sausage all the time. In fact there’s a meat market in Hilo called Kulana Foods that makes blood sausage that’s really good. Thanks for your post,I will try your recipe one of these days. As we live in Reno,Nv and miss the blood sausage? Thanks Hank.
In the 1940s and 50s I lived in Chicago in a Lithuanian neighborhood. We ate barley sausage, and I believe it was called that so that us youngsters wouldn’t be turned off. But it was actually blood sausage of course, and it was delicious. We were pretty poor, and we ate what there was to eat that we could afford. Barley sausage was high on our list of affordable things to eat, and I still remember the wonderful taste. Of course, the blood was combined with barley and other flavoring agents, but I never got to see it made so I have no idea, besides blood and precooked. barley, what else might have been in it.
In Belgium we know it as ‘beuling’ or ‘pens’ and it’s made with the pig’s leftovers, blood and old bread flavoured with salt pepper and foelie. We typically eat it with apple puree (appelmoes) or pickles( picalilly).
I am making it as we speak and wanted to double check method… I am at the stuffing stage… came across your site. Looks awesome, hope mine comes out like this.
Being of Portuguese and Spanish decent, I have been exposed to some WONDERFUL foods. Blood sausage was a regular at many Portuguese meals while growing up. I love it dearly, and now in my life living in an area with not much Portuguese influence I long for this more than you know. I will definitely try this recipe soon. Thank You for this wonderful post!!
Nice post. My mom used to make this for my dad but she called it blood pudding. Great to have a recipe.
Thanks again
ATB!
Perry
I ve been cooking for about 55 years and was brought up by my grandmother who went through the wars , famine and rationing , she taught me a lot about food , everyone needs it so think about a job doing it and getting paid for it . Everything that walks, swims, flies and crawls is edible , with vegetables to help it along on the side. The only thing I can’t eat is Tripe and onions , ( the lining to a cows stomach ) the texture just puts me off , I was taught how to make Sausage , black or white pudding and various other things to eat to keep you alive . She lived to 95 years old still cooking her own food and drinking alcohol , smoking and enjoying everyday of her life , it was only when she went to hospital for a broken hip they took all her pleasures away , her answer to them cannot be repeated here , she died 9 days after going in having a huge whiskey and a cigarette laying down said “Thats it I m off ” she never woke up but the things she taught me about food would make all these celebrity chefs shudder , no messing about just get in there , the only one I think is near my Grandmother is Gordon Ramsey …. Enjoy everything that is put in front of you , never say you don’t like it if you have nt tried it and shut your eyes if you think it’s going to be bad but you will enjoy it ….
I grew up on blood sausage, potato sausage, head cheese, pickled tongue and heart and so many other oddities. We had a farm and butchered both pigs and beef. I was taught how to catch the pig’s blood and keep stirring it so it would not coagulate. It is nice to hear about others who like the same foods. We had our own sausage stuffer and used pig casings to stuff the sausage into. Everything that you said sounded so familiar to me. We would generally eat our blood sausage with syrup.
Hey, this really works; I had whole lot of blood left over from a half pig bought from a local farm, and was going to chuck it when I happened to chance upon this recipe. I had all the other ingredients in my store, so I thought “let’s have a go”. Brilliant!!
We just finished making this and it’s wonderful!!
Since we didn’t have pig blood, we used beef blood someone gifted us. The pork, onion, parsley & bay are homegrown, and we smoked the links over a mostly applewood fire. It was our first time making sausage, and I can’t wait to try more using all the pig & cow parts we have in the freezer.
So, my father immigrated from the Basque Country and every year he would go out with his friends kill a couple of pigs and bring home morcilla as well as jamón serrano, tocino, jeta…. anyways, he passed away and he never taught me how to make it. Every now and then I stumble across a restaurant the offers morcilla (Spanish or Basque) but I am unable to find it anywhere. I know where to get black pudding, but it’s not quite the same. Do you know where I could buy morcilla? Or cured morcilla from Burgos? Any guidance would be soooooo appreciated. Taylor’s in Oakland said that if I gave them a recipe they would make me a batch just for me… I may just give them your recipe, but would rather get it from a place that is familiar with making morcilla.
Thank you for this!
Blood sausage is the food of the gods! I’ve been eating it ever since it was introduced to me by my grandfather at age 5 or so. Here in the UK, it is known as ‘Black Pudding’ and interestingly, the word ‘pudding’ is exactly the same as the French word, ‘Boudin’ from the French variety Boudin Noir (say it quickly with a French accent, you and you immediately notice the similarity). Most European countries have a blood pudding and they vary in the fillers and spicing that they use, but they are always a treat. In the Carribean, there are spicier versions (not to my taste, I must add). Blood sausage goes well with so many things, but my favourites are on the breakfast plate, as a Tapas fried together with a sweet desert apple, or another classic combination, with seafood, notably scallops.
I’ve had blood sausage only once, and it probably wasn’t as good as yours because the inside was a bit crumbly (not well-bound at all)!
I reflect on my experience with it: http://kitchenlife.wordpress.com/2008/11/23/blood-sausage/
Love black pudding, have been savoring it for most of the 55 years on the planet. I get mine from a local Irish Import shop in the Rochester NY area that has a freezer full of bangers, white pudding, Irish bacon. It’s a delight.
I ate some in Madrid, Spain and found it to be quite agreeable and I am sure it is very nutritious – you don’t need to eat it only at midnight on a full moon.
Hurray for black pudding!
Ever since I traveled through Spain as a teen on a budget, I’ve sought the deliciously rich goodness blood sausage. I am excited to read your recipe and description, as I have been researching the ins and outs of making some my self.
I have eaten a few different blood sausages made by local producers like the Fatted Calf and your friends at Boccalone. However having my own source for blood I regularly dream of making my own. I am particularly excited by Mary’s comment about using stomach because I have been unable to keep any of our casings, but I do have a few stomachs.
MMM bring on the black hog maw!
I love Boudin Noir, but I don’t see it for sale too much around here. Last time I ate in was in France, when visiting family. Typically it’s fried and serve with parsley potatoes and a big green salad.
Thank you for posting what you do. Now I just need to source some fresh blood from a hog raised not in an industrial fashion!
this is one of our favorite things to eat. i applaud you for making morcilla. we feature morcilla on our blog often. a few of our favorite ways to eat it have been:
http://www.weareneverfull.com/morcilla-stuffed-squid-bloody-hell/
http://www.weareneverfull.com/viva-el-patacon-and-childish-humor/
and
http://www.weareneverfull.com/stuff-this-into-your-easter-basket-hornazo-spanish-easter-bread/
Dear Hank,
I’ve followed your blog for a while now–it’s excellent and quite different than many of the other food blogs out there. (I’d characterize your blog as not only a food blog but as a lifestyle, philosophy, and do-it-yourself blog.)
Perhaps it’s because I’m Asian, but the notion of eating blood doesn’t make me squeamish. One of my favorite Korean soups, hae jong guk (translated loosely to “hangover solution soup” and pronounced “hay jung gook”) is made from beef bones, greens, bean sprouts, and, occasionally, beef blood. Medium-sized cubes of boiled beef blood which, like you said, becomes crumbly and dry–thus leading me to break the cubes up into my broth.
Koreans also have blood sausage called soondae, which contains pork blood and, importantly, cellophane or glass noodles. These are mixed with spices and stuffed into pigs’ intestines, then usually steamed and eaten sliced–often alongside sliced liver, tongue, and pork ear and washed down with beer or soju. There’s also soondaeguk, a hearty stew whose main ingredient is sliced soondae. Delicious.
Thank you for your interesting–and different–posts!
Joon S.
http://vinicultured.com
Honestly never tried them, but would like to someday. I’m intrigued by your crimson slurry.
Also, your pictures for this are phenomenal.
W-O-W! Now that’s what I call a dream! I’m going to have to agree with Ron, Hank. 5 pounds just isn’t enough! 🙂
The pictures are just awesome, too.
I don’t look for blood sausages in places like Tokyo where they’re difficult to find – but they’re all over the place in Spain and I’ve had some really delicious ones and some not so great tasting ones. Yes – they’re called Morcilla here and they’re an important ingredient when making Fabada. I’ve also made other bean stews with them. They can really enrich the ‘taste’ of whatever beans you’re cooking and also make great tapas fried in extra virgin olive oil or with some types, you can just eat them as they are (like Salami).
Josh
The food interests have stayed even if I haven’t seen the girls in question in decades, Shelia was 1970 in London, Regina, she of sushi note, about 6-7 years later in NYC.
I met my wife over 29 years ago and haven’t done more than window shopping since. She offered me brains, and while I was interested in trying them and liked the taste, I literally could not swallow them. My four year old had no trouble with them, of course we didn’t mention what they were.
Mmm, blood sausage. I tasted boudin noir for the first time while studying abroad in France. I loved it so much, I sought out both the German equivalent and the Spanish equivalent when I went travelling on spring break.
A lesson on blood sausage sounds like a lovely favor to be owed. 🙂
Hmmm black pudding. Had it for lunch today. One regional variant is that Irish version I normally eat has pinhead oatmeal in it. Yummy
SBW
I wasraised in Ireland and one of my favourite breakfasts was black pudding . I have never found it here. Some ingrediants I remember was pigs blood. barley and rusk( whatever that is). I shure would love to find an authentic recipe for Irish black pudding.Thanks, Brian
Really interesting post… as they all are. Love your blog!
This is one I have yet to try. I have to admit, when you mentioned the blood solidifying, I thought, “you mean like scabs do?” But the shot of the cooked (and comparatively brown) sausage looked quite appetizing.
ntsc, I must say that I’ve never heard of eating offal to get the girl! That is a new one on me.
I’ve never had blood sausage, but I”ll try it when I stumble across it one day! You always teach me new exciting things.
I’ve had it, and enjoyed it. As with some other food types the real incentive was the girl I was trying to get lucky with. This one actually was named Shelia. I got into sushi this was as well.
However this, as headcheese are on my wife’s ‘don’t even think about trying to make that. She does like head cheese to eat, but not blood sausage and wants nothing to do with making it.
That looks great! My first experience with blood was dinuguan.
A fantastic read — I enjoyed it top to bottom. My memory of blood sausage is singular, fleeting, and treasured. I was 21, living in Barcelona, a friend Francisco invited me home, to see how his parents lived on the very rural, very remote Delta del’Ebre in Catalunya.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Parc_Natural_del_Delta_de_l'Ebre
Dad was a rice farmer (I’m guessing here…) and cooked an unforgettable Sunday meal of paella and fresh blood sausage. Nobody was talking about local or seasonal — it was just how they’d been eating on Sundays for generations. I only sort of got what a gift this was on so many levels. Youth is wasted on the young or something like that. But I did know that I loved every bite and that was enough.
Robin, that lunch looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing the photo.
I love black pudding, as it is known in the UK. Glorious stuff, and part of any Full Scottish (or English) breakfast.
It is fantastic with scallops, but you just can’t beat a ‘black pudding supper’ from a Scottish fish and chip shop. (A length of black pudding, covered in batter and deep-fried. Served with a portion of chips, liberally doused in malt vinegar.) And now I feel homesick!
In the Netherlands some of us still eat “bloedworst” for lunch. The sausages are much bigger in diameter and you panfry a slice on both sides and eat it on top of a slice of bread. I like to add a panfried/caramelized sliceof apple. Here’s a picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotoosvanrobin/324823198/
I can still buy this in our regular supermarket but I think it’s only old and bold people who eat it. It is bound to get extinct.
We make morcilla , but not in the casing. we use the pigs stomach. We cut small pieces of pork liver, some meat, add garlic , cumin, salt pepper, oregano, and sage to the blood,. it is then put inside a cleaned pork stomach. The openings are sewed together. It is then placed in a pan with water to cover and cooked over low heat for 1.5 hours. It is wonderful and sooo good. we only do it around xmas time when the boys butcher a hog.
Hank,
I’m so sorry I don’t like blood pudding, but your post is so interesting! That’s why i keep coming back 🙂
not sure how i got here but this post mesmerized me…
i’d love to try this sometime. it’s on my list…
An Irish breakfast is a staple in duck camp. Fried eggs, fried potatoes, fried tomato, rashers, bangers, and don’t forget the black and white puddings. I love me some black puddings!! Most of my buddies get the weird puckered look on their face when I tell them what a “pudding” is (only because they ask).
Believe it or not, I pick up my supplies at a local 7-11 that was once owned by a British ex-pat. He told the new owner that the only condition of sale was to continue with the British goods for all the other ex-pats. Only a few proper pubs have an Irish breakfast on their menu.
I first had blood sausage by accident at a Heuriger in Vienna, Austria. The owners had put out a buffet, and I was sampling everything. After enjoying the sample, someone pointed out to me just what I had eaten. They were rather surprised that I went back for seconds anyway.
Love it! I’ve only had it in a breakfast setting…with eggs and hash browns. Can’t wait to try this one out.
“This is a life bound more closely to other people than is that lived by those who follow the principle of ‘neither a borrower nor a lender be.’ Sorry Ben, I just don’t agree, at least when it doesn’t involve money.”
Good call. People forget that that oft-recited quotation came from the lips of Polonius, arguably the fool of Hamlet, amidst a stream of other mediocre advice.
I love blood sausage for breakfast with a few runny eggs (yolk=sauce). Have never made my own, but just might now…
Hank, the final product looks fab! Thanks for sharing, I do like Morcilla.