What Is Black Pudding? 4 Regional Black Pudding Variations

Black pudding is a traditional blood sausage dish in Scotland, England, Ireland, and Canada. While recipes vary by region, most call for animal blood (usually pork or beef blood), cereal grain fillers (like oatmeal, oat groats, or barley), animal fat (like pork or beef suet), and spices (like black pepper, pennyroyal, or thyme). Chefs combine these ingredients in a sausage casing (made either from beef intestines or dried blood) before boiling and cooling the pudding in cold water. Chefs may cook the sausage whole or slice it up into coins, which they then fry, grill, or deep-fry; they may also crumble it into other recipes.

Black pudding recipes originated as a way for butchers to use offal (or animal organs and other leftovers). Other offal dishes include white pudding, which doesn’t include blood, and haggis, a savory Scottish pudding. Other blood sausages from around the world include morcilla from Spain and blutwurst from Germany.

Black pudding has a strong earthy flavor that chefs may describe as meaty or nutty, with a chewy texture similar to salami. It can also have a slightly metallic taste due to the inclusion of blood.

Some of the world’s regions prepare black pudding in slightly different ways:

1. 1. Scottish: Black pudding is especially well-known as a traditional Scottish dish and a key part of a full breakfast. Scottish black pudding often uses Scottish oatmeal for its filler, which gives it a rougher, crumblier texture.
   
2. 2. Irish: Black pudding is an essential part of a full Irish breakfast, alongside fried eggs, beans, and tomatoes. An Irish regional variation from Cork is drisheen, which is made of cow’s blood and the herb tansy.
3. 3. Canadian: In Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Labrador, blood pudding is a popular heritage dish. French Canadian black pudding, called boudin noir, is a blood pudding dish that chefs typically prepare in a loaf pan rather than a sausage casing.
4. 4. English: Black pudding is a common addition to full English breakfasts. Certain areas in England are known for British black pudding variants, especially the Black Country and Lancashire in the northwest. In Yorkshire, chefs make a special black pudding with lemon thyme and winter savory as flavorings. In Bury, chefs often prepare black pudding by boiling it and serving it in paper wrapping alongside malt vinegar.

Both black and white pudding are traditional oatmeal-based sausages that originated as a way for butchers to use offal, or animal blood and organs, after slaughter. However, they have a few culinary differences:

• Ingredients: While black pudding and white pudding have the same basic ingredients—oatmeal, suet, and spices—black pudding has one extra ingredient that changes its flavor and texture: cow’s or pig’s blood. The addition of blood classifies black pudding as blood sausage, while white pudding is simply a traditional oatmeal sausage.
• Color: Since black pudding recipes include beef or pork blood, the sausage takes on a darker color, like red, black, or dark brown, while traditional white pudding is light brown or beige, similar to oatmeal.
• Flavor: Black pudding sausage has stronger, earthier flavors than white sausage and can taste slightly metallic due to the inclusion of blood. White pudding typically has light flavors of onions and spices since it predominantly comprises oatmeal and pork fat.

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