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Black Puddings

A blood sausage made with blood, grits, milk, bread, suet, eggs, herbs, spices, and diced hog's fat.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Winter savory and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 780 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Black Puddings

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Stir the blood with salt until cold.

  2. Soak the grits overnight in water.

  3. Soak the bread crumb in hot milk.

  4. Wash the guts with salt and water. Change the water several times.

  5. Chop the winter savory, thyme, pennyroyal, and spices finely.

Make the filling

  1. Mix the chopped herbs and spices with the beef suet and beaten eggs.

  2. Combine the soaked bread, grits, and seasoning until well mixed.

Fill and cook

  1. Fill the cleaned skins with the mixture, adding diced hog's fat at intervals.

  2. Tie the skins in links, leaving them half filled.

  3. Boil the links in a large kettle. Prick the links as they swell.

  4. Lay the boiled links between clean cloths or on straw until cold.

  5. Hang the links in the kitchen.

  6. Scald the links in water for a few minutes. Wipe the links.

  7. Place the links in a Dutch oven.

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. Winter savory + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together780 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Winter savory + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together690 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  3. Thyme + clovetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

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

  5. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Blood
Sets the filling and gives the pudding its dark color and rich body.
Whole grits
Adds bulk and a firm, slightly grainy texture to the filling.
Beaten eggs
Bind the filling so it holds together when sliced.
Beef suet
Adds fat for moisture and a tender, rich texture.
Bread crumb
Soaked in milk to add moisture and softness to the filling.
New milk
Softens the bread crumb and adds moisture to the filling.

The step that matters

Prick the links as they swell. Blood and grain filling expands and steam builds inside the casing as it heats. Pricking lets steam escape so the skins do not burst during boiling.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, wheat, beef, egg, winter savory, thyme, pepper):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Nutmegfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, wheat, beef, egg, winter savory, thyme, pepper. 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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