Black pudding: past and present Black pudding, as made in the UK, is a blend of onions, pork fat, oatmeal, flavourings - and blood (usually from a pig). As long as animals have been slaughtered to provide food, blood sausages like black pudding have been in existence. Sources indicate that the corpulent sausage had its origins in ancient Greece, and Homer's Odyssey makes poetic reference to the roasting of a stomach stuffed with blood and fat. The art of pudding making has had an epic journey across Europe over the centuries. Today it's a staple of menus across the Continent. The black pudding has a range of European relatives: Spanish morcilla makes an excellent tapas, and blutwurst is an intriguing Germanic variant; the boudin noir is a delicacy in France, sometimes containing rich ingredients like brandy and cream. Pudding festivalsThis rather medieval dish has a fanatical following. The humble black pudding even has a festival dedicated to it in northern England. In Ramsbottom, outside Manchester, hundreds compete annually in the World Black Pudding Throwing Championships. The bloody sausages are encased in ladies' tights and contestants hurl them at a 20ft-high stack of Yorkshire puddings. Whoever knocks the most Yorkshire puds off the stack is declared the winner, in a contest said to date back to an incident in battle between the armies of the Houses of Lancaster and York during the Wars of the Roses. Meanwhile, in France, home of the Gallic blood sausage the boudin noir, so many puddings are consumed in a black pudding fair held in Normandy each year that, if laid end-to-end, they would stretch for 5km. In November in the Andalucia region of southern Spain, pig-killing fiestas celebrate the annual cull for getting in the winter stash of morcillas, hams and sausages. Scottish black puddingsThe Western Isles in Scotland have an abiding love of black puddings, known as marag dubh in Scots Gaelic. The Stornoway black pudding is regarded as one of the top gourmet puddings in Britain. In the Isle of Lewis, black pudding producer Charles MacLeod follows a 50-year-old recipe in the creation of his black, white and fruit puddings. In making his black puds, Charles favours lambs' blood, but he finds that pigs' blood is acceptable and more readily available.
Making it at homeMaking blood sausage at home is no easy task, as the recipe harks back to a time when everyone kept livestock at home. If you want to make your own black pudding, first and foremost a strong stomach is required. Then you'll need access to some pigs' blood. Fewer abattoirs seem willing to supply fresh blood (unless you're having your own animals butchered) so it's not that easy to get hold of. As an alternative you can use dried blood, but you'll need to locate a specialist trade producer. Talk to your local butcher about how to find both dried blood - and the sausage casings you'll need to make the puddings.
 Seasonings vary from maker to maker, but black pepper, cayenne pepper, mace, herbs, and coriander are frequently used flavourings. These are added to the blood, oatmeal and suet/fat mixture, which is cooked together and used to fill the casings. Finally, the puddings are lightly poached for five to ten minutes. CookingIt's no great surprise that most people find buying and cooking ready-prepared black puddings much easier than making their own. Ready-made puddings are already cooked, so they just need a gentle re-heating. 'Gentle' is the key word, as they tend to crumble very easily. Slice them thickly and gently grill them, or heat them in the oven or lightly fry. Black pudding is a breakfast favourite, but it's a versatile ingredient for brunch, lunch and dinner, too. A wild mushroom sauce complements the crumbly texture and intensely rich taste of black pudding very well, as does a whisky, onion and cream sauce. Grilled black pudding and cherry tomatoes served with potato scones is also a good combination, the richness of the pudding contrasting with the tang of tomatoes. It's a versatile ingredient that deserves a life beyond the breakfast table. RecipesIf these tales of black puddings have whetted your appetite, try these recipes:
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