, type = , course = , place_of_origin = Great Britain and Ireland , region = England, Ireland, Scotland , associated_cuisine = United Kingdom and Ireland , creator = , year = , mintime = , maxtime = , served = Hot, occasionally cold , main_ingredient = Pork blood, fat, oats, or barley , minor_ingredient = Mint, thyme, marjoram, spices , variations =

Drisheen Drisheen ( ga, drisín) is a type of blood pudding made in Ireland. It is distinguished from other forms of Irish black pudding by having a gelatinous consistency. It is made from a mixture of cow's, pig's or sheep's blood, milk, salt and fat, ...

Sneem Black Pudding Sneem Black Pudding () is a variety of black pudding produced in Sneem, County Kerry, Ireland. Produced by local butchers Peter O'Sullivan and Kieran Burns, it is described as "traditional blood pudding, uncased and tray-baked. It has a deep red- ...

Stornoway black pudding Stornoway black pudding is a type of black pudding ( gd, marag-dhubh) made in the Western Isles of Scotland. Characteristics Jeremy Lee described it as "... arguably the best sausage made in the UK" and tourist website ''Information-Britain.c ...

, serving_size = 100 g , calories = , calories_ref = , protein = , fat = , carbohydrate = , glycemic_index = , similar_dish = , , other = Black pudding is a distinct regional type of

blood sausage A blood sausage is a sausage filled with blood that is cooked or dried and mixed with a filler until it is thick enough to solidify when cooled. Most commonly, the blood of pigs, sheep, lamb, cow, chicken, or goose is used. In Europe and the A ...

originating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is made from pork or beef blood, with pork fat or

beef suet Suet is the raw, hard fat of beef, lamb or mutton found around the loins and kidneys. Suet has a melting point of between 45 °C and 50 °C (113 °F and 122 °F) and congelation between 37 °C and 40 °C (98.6&nbs ...

, and a cereal, usually

oatmeal Oatmeal is a preparation of oats that have been de-husked, steamed, and flattened, or a coarse flour of hulled oat grains (groats) that have either been milled (ground) or steel-cut. Ground oats are also called white oats. Steel-cut oats are ...

, oat groats, or barley groats. The high proportion of cereal, along with the use of certain herbs such as pennyroyal, serves to distinguish black pudding from blood sausages eaten in other parts of the world.Jaine, T. and Davidson, A. ''The Oxford companion to food'', OUP, 2006, p.104

Etymology

The word ''

pudding Pudding is a type of food. It can be either a dessert or a savoury (salty or spicy) dish served as part of the main meal. In the United States, ''pudding'' means a sweet, milk-based dessert similar in consistency to egg-based custards, ins ...

'' is believed to derive from the French , originally from the Latin , meaning "small sausage".

History and recipes

Blood puddings are often considered to be one of the oldest forms of sausage. Animals are generally bled at slaughter, and as blood rapidly spoils unless prepared in some way, making a pudding with it is one of the easiest ways of ensuring it does not go to waste. While the majority of modern black pudding recipes involve pork blood, this has not always been the case. Sheep or cow blood was also used, and one 15th-century English recipe used that of a

porpoise Porpoises are a group of fully aquatic marine mammals, all of which are classified under the family Phocoenidae, parvorder Odontoceti (toothed whales). Although similar in appearance to dolphins, they are more closely related to narwhals an ...

in a pudding eaten exclusively by the nobility. Until at least the 19th century, cow or sheep blood was the usual basis for black puddings in Scotland; Jamieson's Scottish dictionary defined "black pudding" as "a pudding made of the blood of a cow or sheep".Jamieson, ''Supplement to the etymological dictionary of the Scottish language'', v1, p.95 As a product of the slaughtering process, eating black puddings was historically associated with

Martinmas Saint Martin's Day or Martinmas, sometimes historically called Old Halloween or Old Hallowmas Eve, is the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours and is celebrated in the liturgical year on 11 November. In the Middle Ages and early modern period, it ...

, when the annual slaughter of livestock took place. By the 19th century black pudding manufacture was linked with towns known for their large markets for pork, such as

Stretford Stretford is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal, south of Manchester city centre, south of Salford and north-east of Altrincham. Str ...

,Waugh, E. (1869), ''Lancashire Sketches'', p.78''The Encyclopedia Britannica'', Volume 20, 1929, p.13 then in Lancashire, and Cork, Ireland. By this time, black puddings were generally omitted from recipe books aimed at urban housewives, as they no longer usually had access to home-killed pork, although recipes continued to appear in Scottish books until the 20th century.Leach, Helen. "Translating the 18th century pudding" in Clark ''et al'' (eds) (2008) ''Islands of Inquiry: Colonisation, Seafaring and the Archaeology of Maritime Landscapes'', ANU, p.390 -2021-07-24 Sliced Black pudding sausage, Trimingham, Norfolk

-2021-07-24 Sliced Black pudding sausage, Trimingham, Norfolk

-2021-08-25 Ring of Black Pudding, Trimingham, Norfolk (1)

Most traditional recipes from the UK involve stirring the fresh blood,Floyd, K. (1988) ''Floyd on Britain and Ireland'', BBC, p.97 adding fat and some form of rusk, and seasoning, before filling the mixture into a casing and boiling it. Natural casings of beef intestine were formerly used, though modern commercially made puddings use synthetic cellulose skins, and are usually produced from imported dried blood. The relatively limited range of ingredients and use of oats or barley to thicken and absorb the blood is typical of black pudding in comparison to Continental blood sausages. Despite this, black pudding recipes still show more regional variation across the islands than other sausages, with many butchers having their own individual versions.Tatlow (1998) ''Good enough to eat: how we shop, what we eat'', Macmillan, p.41 Breadcrumbs or flour are sometimes used to supplement the oats or barley, and the proportion and texture of the fat or suet used can also vary widely. Pennyroyal, marjoram, thyme, and mint are all traditional flavourings: pennyroyal was known as ''pudding-yerb'' in the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used as ...

for its use in black puddings.Robinson (1876) ''A glossary of words used in the neighbourhood of Whitby'', English Dialect Society, p.147 Other herbs and spices sometimes used in traditional black puddings include

cumin Cumin ( or , or Article title
) (''Cuminum cyminum'') is a

rue, and

parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region (Sardinia, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, southern Italy, Greece, Por ...

.Dampney (1977) ''All about herbs'', Exeter, p.13 While the dish has been known as ''black pudding'' for centuries, having been recorded ,Black pudding
The Foods of England, accessed 25-05-18 a number of dialect names have also been used for the dish, such as ''black pot'' (in Somerset),Nares (1876) ''A Glossary: Or, a Collection of Words, Phrases, Names, and Allusions to Customs, Proverbs, Etc: Which Have Been Thought to Require Illustrations in the Works of English Authors, Particularly Shakespeare and His Contemporaries'', vI, p.82 and ''bloody pot'',Wright, J. ''The English Dialect Dictionary'', vol I, p.306 particularly in reference to versions cooked in an earthenware pot rather than in a sausage casing.

Regional popularity

In the United Kingdom, black pudding is especially associated with the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...

, the North West and Scotland; it is considered a particular delicacy in

Stornoway Stornoway (; gd, Steòrnabhagh; sco, Stornowa) is the main town of the Western Isles and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it by far the largest town in the Outer Hebrides, as well a ...

and in Lancashire, notably in towns such as

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

, where it is traditionally boiled and served with malt vinegar out of a paper wrapping.Lancashire and Cheshire Regional Dishes
, accessed 30 April 2010 It was also found in Yorkshire, where black puddings were flavoured with

lemon thyme ''Thymus citriodorus'', the lemon thyme or citrus thyme, is a lemon-scented evergreen mat-forming perennial plant in the family Lamiaceae. There has been a great amount of confusion over the plant's correct name and origin. Recent DNA analysis s ...

and

savory Savory or Savoury may refer to: Common usage * Herbs of the genus ''Satureja'', particularly: ** Summer savory (''Satureja hortensis''), an annual herb, used to flavor food ** Winter savory (''Satureja montana''), a perennial herb, also used to ...

:Sinclair (ed). (1998) ''International Dictionary of Food and Cooking'', Taylor and Francis, p.589

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

black puddings were particularly well-known.How Albert's pudding put the town on the map
''Barnsley Chronicle'', 29 September 2006 The

, made in the Western Isles of Scotland, has been granted Protected Geographical Indicator of Origin status. In the wake of this designation, butchers in Bury sought to demonstrate their history of manufacturing and selling the product. One such claim dates back to 1810. Having been brought there by immigrants, black pudding is now part of the local cuisine of the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. In Ireland, in addition to the more general type of black pudding, there is a distinct regional variety called

drisheen Drisheen ( ga, drisín) is a type of blood pudding made in Ireland. It is distinguished from other forms of Irish black pudding by having a gelatinous consistency. It is made from a mixture of cow's, pig's or sheep's blood, milk, salt and fat, ...

, which is particularly associated with Cork.Walker, H. (ed) (1995) ''Disappearing Foods: Studies in Food and Dishes at Risk'', Oxford, p.175 Drisheen is usually made from cow's blood, although until the recent past it was often also made with sheep blood, and was sometimes flavoured with

tansy Tansy (''Tanacetum vulgare'') is a perennial, herbaceous flowering plant in the genus ''Tanacetum'' in the aster family, native to temperate Europe and Asia. It has been introduced to other parts of the world, including North America, and in ...

is a local variety produced in

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

; it has

Protected Geographical Indication Three European Union schemes of geographical indications and traditional specialties, known as protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), and traditional specialities guaranteed (TSG), promote and protect nam ...

(PGI) status.

Consumption

Black pudding can be grilled, fried, baked, or boiled in its skin. It can also be eaten cold, as it is cooked in production. In parts of north-western England and in the Black Country it was usual to serve a whole black pudding boiled as a complete meal, with bread or potatoes, but elsewhere in the UK and Ireland slices of fried or grilled black puddings are more usually served as part of a traditional

full breakfast A full breakfast is a substantial cooked breakfast meal, often served in the United Kingdom and Ireland, that typically includes back bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding, baked beans, some form of potato, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast, and a b ...

, a tradition that followed British and Irish emigrants around the world. Wiki black battered

In Scotland and the north of England some

chip shops Fish and chips is a popular hot dish consisting of fried fish in crispy batter, served with chips. The dish originated in England, where these two components had been introduced from separate immigrant cultures; it is not known who created t ...

sell deep-fried, battered black pudding. Novel culinary uses for black pudding include black pudding ice cream, while perhaps a more conventional modern recipe is using it as an accompaniment to scallops. Scotch eggs made with black pudding, such as the "Manchester egg", have become common.

Nutrition

Black pudding is a good source of protein; it is low in carbohydrate and high in zinc and iron. It has been described as a "

superfood Superfood is a marketing term for food claimed to confer health benefits resulting from an exceptional nutrient density. The term is not commonly used by experts, dietitians and nutrition scientists, most of whom dispute that particular foods h ...

" because of these nutritional qualities, although many recipes are also very high in

saturated fat A saturated fat is a type of fat in which the fatty acid chains have all single bonds. A fat known as a glyceride is made of two kinds of smaller molecules: a short glycerol backbone and fatty acids that each contain a long linear or branched c ...

and salt.

Festivals

Since the 1980s, the

World Black Pudding Throwing Championships The World Black Pudding Throwing Championships are held annually in Ramsbottom, Greater Manchester, outside the Royal Oak pub on Bridge Street on the second Sunday of September. The event was originally held outside the Corner Pin pub in nearby St ...

has been held in Ramsbottom. The humorous competition invokes the traditional Lancashire – Yorkshire rivalry, with participants throwing the black puddings at piles of

Yorkshire pudding Yorkshire pudding is a baked pudding made from a batter of eggs, flour, and milk or water. A common British side dish, it is a versatile food that can be served in numerous ways depending on its ingredients, size, and the accompanying compone ...

s. It takes place annually in September, and draws thousands of competitors and spectators to the town. In past years the Bacup Food and Black Pudding Festival has been held in Bacup.

References

External links

* {{Scottish cuisine Scottish cuisine English cuisine British puddings British pork dishes British sausages Cuisine of Northern Ireland Irish cuisine Saint Helenian cuisine Blood sausages Lancashire cuisine Savory puddings Blood dishes Meat and grain sausages Irish meat dishes