115 g Breadcrumbs
700 ml Thick double cream
2 13/16 l Pig's blood
1 ts Quatre-epices; a blend of 4
- ground spices *
85 g Salt
1 ts Brown sugar
3 tb Parsley; chopped
50 ml Rum (optional)
1 1/3 kg Pork fat; diced
1 1/3 kg Onions; chopped
Sausage casings; in 15 cm
- lengths, knotted at one
- end, soaked in a bowl of
- water
* 7 parts pepper to 1 part cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon or ginger.
Soak the breadcrumbs in the cream and reserve.
Mix the blood with the seasonings, sugar, parsley, and rum, if
using.
Heat about 250 g pork fat in a heavy frying pan. When the fat
becomes liquid, tip in the chopped onions and cook slowly until
softened, but not coloured. They should melt rather than fry.
Tip in the rest of the diced fat and the cream and bread crumb
mixture. Mix well and stir in the seasoned blood.
Take the first length of intestine and fit the unknotted end over
the edge of a plastic funnel, being careful not to split it.
Ladle your mixture into the funnel, which should be held firmly in
one hand so that the skin does not slip off. Don't over-fill the
skins, as the mixture swells during cooking; leave enough skin at
the end to tie in a knot. As you fill each boudin, let it fall in a
coil into a basket.
Bring a large pan, half-filled with water, to the boil.
Remove from the heat and place the tray of boudins in the water. Be
absolutely sure that the water is off the boil when you do this,
otherwise they will split.
Return the pan to a low heat for about 20 minutes, with the water
barely simmering.
After about 15 minutes, prick the boudins very gently with a
needle. If a brown liquid comes out, they are cooked; if blood
comes out, they aren't, so try again in 5 minutes. If they float to
the surface whilst cooking, prick with the needle to let the air
escape and stop them bursting.
Remove from the pan as soon as they are firm (before they are
over-cooked) and transfer carefully into a bowl of cold water to
cool for 2 to 3 minutes.
Lay the boudins out separately on a flat surface and brush with
melted lard to glaze.
To serve, cut each boudin into lengths, prick all over as you would
a sausage, and fry or grill them.
Dish up on a bed of lightly sweetened apple puree, or mashed
potatoes with fried apple rings.
Stefan Gates presents his version of Jane Grigson's classic recipe
for heavenly French black pudding
