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Black Puddings

A blood sausage made with pig's blood, groats, fat, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Sage and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,485 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Black Puddings

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Catch the blood in a basin and stir in salt until cold.

  2. Simmer Emeden groats in a small amount of water until tender.

Make and fill

  1. Mix the cold blood with chopped fat, then add the groats and seasonings.

  2. Fill cleaned pig intestines with the mixture, tying in lengths of about 9 inches.

Cook

  1. Boil gently for 20 minutes, pricking with a fork after a few minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sage + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,485 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Thyme + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,077 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Sage + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together331 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Sage + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,388 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pig's blood
Coagulates when cooked, binding the filling into a firm, sliceable texture.
Emeden groats
Add bulk and a chewy texture that holds the filling together.
Inside fat of pig
Adds moisture and richness so the pudding does not dry out during cooking.
Bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and help give the filling body and structure.

The step that matters

Keep the blood cold and pricking the casings. Blood begins to set when warm, so keeping it cold until mixing prevents lumps. Pricking the casings after a few minutes lets steam escape, so they do not burst while boiling.

Swap the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, sage, thyme, pepper, cream):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Winter savoryfits better
  3. Rosemaryfits better
  4. Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, sage, thyme, pepper, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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