What Is the So-Called Blood Pudding Made Of?

Blood pudding is a meat product quite similar to black pudding. Fresh pig’s blood is mixed with grain and cooked in the oven to create a solid consistency. It is then cut open and portioned into slices, for example.

The blood pudding is a meat product with a long tradition. It was conceived to utilize a slaughtered pig as fully as possible. The blood pudding offered a way to process the blood and at the same time make it last longer.

Next to the blood, grain is the most important ingredient. Its job is to stretch the dish and make the consistency firmer and thus more sliceable. Internationally there are different variants of the blood pudding. The ingredients vary depending on the country or region, resulting in a slightly different end product.

• In Great Britain, blood pudding is still very common under the name “Black Pudding”. Oatmeal or oatmeal is usually used as a grain. Onions are also often included. Nowadays, in addition to pig blood, that of goats, cattle, or sheep are also used. Black pudding, for example, is fried in slices and served for breakfast or eaten as a topping.
• Swedish blood pudding is traditionally made with rye flour. The addition of syrup and bacon gives it a strong, spicy, and rich flavor and a fairly pronounced sweetness. In addition to salt and pepper, the product is seasoned with marjoram, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, and lemon zest. It is often fried in slices or eaten on bread.
• In Austria there are several variants of the blood pudding, they are called, for example, blood sterz, blood nigl or blood tommerl. In addition to blood, they consist of flour, milk, egg, and onions and are flavored with salt, pepper, marjoram, thyme, nutmeg, and garlic. Here, for example, the product is eaten warm, as part of the main meal.
• In Russia and the Baltic States, blood is mixed with butter, flour, egg yolk, cream, and egg whites. Blood pudding is usually seasoned with marjoram, nutmeg, and salt, and pepper.