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Black Puddings

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

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 17 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 crumbs in hot milk.

  4. Prepare the skins by washing and scraping them with salt and water, changing the water several times.

Make the filling

  1. Chop the herbs and spices finely and mix with the beef suet and beaten eggs.

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

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

Cook and store

  1. Tie the skins half full and boil in a large kettle, pricking them to prevent bursting.

  2. Once boiled, lay them between clean cloths or on straw until cold, then hang in the kitchen.

  3. To use, scald in water for a few minutes, wipe, and place 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. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

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

  4. Winter savory + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together287 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  5. Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Blood
Sets into a firm, sliceable body as it cools and binds the filling.
Whole grits
Provides bulk and a coarse, toothsome texture in the filling.
Bread crumbs
Absorb milk and add softness, keeping the filling moist.
Beaten eggs
Help bind the filling together as it sets.
Beef suet
Adds fat that keeps the filling moist and rich in texture.

The step that matters

Tie the skins half full and prick them before boiling. Filling expands as it heats, so overfilled skins can burst. Leaving room and pricking release steam and pressure, keeping the puddings intact.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, milk, winter savory, thyme, pepper, clove, allspice):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Sagefits better
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, milk, winter savory, thyme, pepper, clove, allspice. 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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