Didn't the 'Goodies' do a song called 'Black Puddin' Bertha'?
Anyway, here's Denise's Black pudding recipe which we used in the 70's & 80's :-
1. Cut pig's throat, after captive bolt-gunning it, and catch as much blood as possible in a bowl, while avoiding getting disembowelled by thrashing legs. [ Who's legs is not
entirely clear!].
BTW, this 'bleeding out' of a carcase is essential for health reasons - [ read your Bible ].
2. Stir blood continuously till it cools to stop it congealing.
3. Mix with oatmeal, chopped suet from the pig's kidney area and lots of milled black pepper.
4. This paste is now stuffed into a 'caul' [from the stomach], or into washed intestines as per a sausage, then boiled for 30 minutes and allowed to cool.
5. Slice the pudding and fry the slices. It's quite nice actually, and far better than supermarket ones which tend to break up in the pan to a mush. Plus, of course, you can't eat their stupid black-plastic "skin". They use this to hide the brown color of the factory version, which is pumped full of extra fat, flour, vitamins, soya, sugar, flavourings, preservatives, color etc..
Traditionally, of course, this was all part of the process country folk had of wringing every last bit of nourishment out of the pig and all the hard work they had invested in it, before we all got wealthy and turned into fussy eaters.
And for any 'Goodies' fans: "By 'Eccy thump!"
Alan
