The first time I ever tasted blood sausage, or as it is better known in Britain, ‘blood pudding’, or ‘black pudding’, was in Scotland. We were eating a quick breakfast in a small out of the way restaurant. Instead of the usual ‘English Breakfast’ on the menu, we spied a ‘Scottish Breakfast’ and thought it would be exactly the same. We were not very mistaken, since per the usual ‘English Breakfast’ our huge plates contained mushrooms, tomatoes, sausages, bacon, eggs, potatoes and toast. Only baked beans were missing (these being an English staple), but instead, we spied two very dark round pieces of something looking like a large sausage.
Curious, we asked the waitress what it was, and she explained that ‘blood sausage’ was an integral part of Scottish breakfast. In fact, we were later to realize that blood sausage could be found in many other countries such as Belgium, France, Denmark and even in certain places on the African and Asian continent. Each country has its own variation of the blood sausage or blood pudding HOWEVER it did originally originate within the Western Isles of Scotland. It has also been granted the status of Protected Geographical Indicator of Origin, so no wonder the Scots make a claim to it!
Although the mixture for blood sausage varies with the country and locality, the blood sausage commonly found in Scotland, Ireland and the UK is, as the name clearly states, made out predominantly of pork blood and oatmeal. It can be eaten cold, as it is cooked in production, grilled, fried or boiled in its skin.
Another variant of the blood sausage/black pudding, is the similar ‘white pudding’, which originated in Scotland as well. While white pudding is very similar to black pudding and contains almost the same mixture, it contains no blood whatsoever. Modern recipes for white pudding consist of fat, breadcrumbs, oatmeal and in some cases pork liver, filled into a natural sausage casing. Both black and white pudding were a traditional way of making use of offal following the annual slaughter of livestock and were likely introduced as a recipe in Roman times, predating even the medieval period.
I tasted both black/blood and white pudding on different occasions, and I must say that personally I much prefer the original blood variant.
Some people profess that blood sausage can be of detriment to one’s health, however like meat, it is a great source of protein, calcium and magnesium, as well as iron and zinc, so if you’re following a low-carb, high-fat diet (such as the ketogenic diet), blood sausage is perfect for you. It is also very salty, so optimal for people who suffer from low-blood pressure. On the other hand if you have high-blood pressure, you might wish to leave off having a second helping.
Other varieties of blood sausage include blodpølse ( Norway and Denmark), tongenworst (with added pigs tongues) (Netherlands), mazzit (Malta), and krovianka (Russia ). Strange to say, but I admit that I have never tried the Maltese mazzit, even though I was born and bred in Malta. Each time I’m in the UK however, I make sure to sample some of my favorite blood sausage.