How to Make Blood Sausage

Blood sausage is a gastronomic treat that has been around at least 3,000 years, with references appearing in Homer's "Odyssey." Today, blood sausage is a popular menu item known in many countries as "black pudding." Although the name may sound repugnant to some, blood sausage is a very nutritional and popular dish whose ingredients vary according to which country the recipe comes from. In addition to the basic recipe, some variations call for onions, apples, brandy, spinach currants, butter, eggs, oatmeal, rice and rye meal. In Spain, blood sausage or black pudding often includes almonds, parsley and pimentos.

Things You'll Need

• Natural hog sausage casings
• ½ lb. leaf lard
• Lean pork tenderloin
• 1 pork liver
• 2 cups pork blood
• 2 tbs. white distilled vinegar
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbs. lard
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup unseasoned bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• 1/8 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• Butcher's twine

Instructions

How to Make Blood Sausage

1. Wash natural hog sausage casing in cool running water. Fill a bowl with ice-cold water and put the cleaned casings in the water until you are ready to fill them.

2. Mix distilled vinegar with pork blood and set aside.

3. Boil pork tenderloin and liver for an hour and allow them to cool. Cut the cooled liver, tenderloin and leaf lard into ½" cubes and place in the freezer to cool.

4. Brown onion and garlic in lard and allow them to cool. Mix in the remaining ingredients and blend thoroughly.

5. Place the refrigerated cubes of pork, liver and lard in the bowl of a food processor and blend until they are coarsely processed.

6. Combine the processed cubes with the browned onion mixture until thoroughly mixed. Remove the casings and stuff with the sausage ingredients. Tie the links with butcher's twine and place the sausages in gently boiling water for 40 minutes.

Tips & Warnings

• Blood sausage can be eaten either hot or cold.

• Blood spoils quickly so it should be used as soon after purchase as possible.

References

• It Must've Been Something I Ate; Jeffrey Steingarten; 2003

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Sausage casings
• Sausage Making