Black Pudding without fear

Haggis gets most of the attention, but black pudding can cause just as much hesitation at the breakfast table. Guests will look at the dark slice beside their bacon, ask what’s in it and sometimes decide they’ve heard enough as soon as I mention blood. I’d encourage them to hear the rest, because mixed with oatmeal, fat, onion and seasoning, it makes something rich, savoury and well worth trying. It also begins to make sense once you think about how much work went into rearing an animal in a crofting community.

Slaughtering livestock was a significant event when you had invested scarce food, land and time in keeping it alive. You wanted as much nourishment from it as possible, so the meat could be shared, the intestines used as casings and the blood combined with oatmeal and fat to make another substantial food. What can sound alarming over a hotel breakfast was a practical way of feeding a household, and I think that deserves a little consideration before we push it to the edge of the plate.

The best I’ve encountered is Stornoway Black Pudding from the Isle of Lewis, whose protected specification leaves the maker a fairly short shopping list. The principal ingredients are beef suet, oatmeal, onion and blood, seasoned with salt and pepper, although individual butchers have their own proportions and methods. The oatmeal gives it some texture, while the finely prepared suet helps make it moist and rich. A good one leaves you wanting another mouthful, rather than feeling as though you’ve coated the inside of your mouth with grease.

Unfortunately, what happens in the breakfast kitchen can undo a good deal of that care. A thin slice left on a griddle among the fat from bacon and sausages can arrive heavy and gloopy, which is hardly likely to persuade somebody who was doubtful about it already. I prefer mine heated in the microwave, where it needs no added fat and stays soft and moist. It may break up on the plate, but I’d happily trade a neat disc for something that tastes better. Ask where yours comes from and how they prepare it, because a good black pudding deserves the same care as anything else on the breakfast menu. It can be the part you look forward to most.

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