Why not eat black pudding?

“From Black pudding to pickled jellyfish, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. What we see and taste as beautiful depends largely on what our family and friends approve of — with just a little room for personal preference.” Laurence Mound – Keeper of Entomology, British Museum, Natural History. Introduction to 1988 reprint of ‘Why Not Eat Insects’ by Vincent M. Holt (1885)

Boudin noir (black pudding/sausage) is not for everyone. As a matter of fact, most of my friends don’t really like it. My husband loves it, the kids don’t like it, but have the ‘obligatoire‘ two mouthfuls each. I enjoy it once in a while, especially when the weather gets cooler. Lately, I’ve been getting up extra early and spend at least two hours every morning looking for cèpes mushrooms. I have never felt more adventurous than now, crawling under trees and beneath the fern. I get a real kick out of finding cèpes. It’s the most fun gift nature has to offer in the fall. This extra-curricular activity gives me a very earthy appetite, making me hungry for sturdy rich food, something that can fuel my energy throughout the day. This is when I am in the mood for boudin noir.

This is a very classic recipe of boudin noir served on a bed of warm potatoes and onions, a drizzle of vinaigrette, semi-caramelized apples and parsnip crips. The sweetness of these homemade parsnips crisps make this dish most enjoyable. Make sure to make an extra batch as they are very popular!

Ingredients: (serves 4)

12 slices of boudin noir sausage
1 kg/ 2 pounds potatoes (cut in chunks)
3-4 apples (peeled, cut in round slices)
1 onion or a handful of small onions (thinly sliced or halved if small onions)
8 parsnips (peeled and thinly sliced – I used my food processor with a special slicing blade)
Vegetable oil for frying
25 g/ 2 tbsp butter for frying apples & onions

Vinaigrette dressing:
60 ml/ 1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp grain mustard (or to your liking)
1 tbsp Xérès vinegar (or sherry/ red wine vinegar)
1 tsp salt
Pepper for seasoning

Step 1) Boil potatoes in a large pot of salted boiling water. Drain and set aside.
Step 2) Prepare vinaigrette dressing. In a small bowl, mix olive oil, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper. Mix well.
Step 3) In a large heavy saucepan, fill oil no more than halfway and heat to 180°C/ 350 F. You can test one slice of parsnip, drop it in the oil – if it starts sizzling, the oil is ready. Fry parsnip slices by batches, 2-3 minutes each, or until golden. Set aside to drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt. Set aside.
Step 4) In a frying pan, melt the butter, add onions and fry till golden for 3 minutes. Add the apples, and continue frying 3 minutes on both sides, until golden. Set onions and apples aside.
Step 5) In the same frying pan, add the boudin noir and fry on a medium heat for 2 minutes on each sides. Slice potatoes, toss in the onions and vinaigrette.
Step 6) Start with placing the potato salad on a plate. Place three slices of apples, followed by three slices of boudin noir on top. Sprinkle a generous amount of parsnip crisps on top. Serve immediately while salad is warm.

16 thoughts on “Why not eat black pudding?

  1. I adore boudin, more boudin blanc than boudin noir though. Where I am from in Louisiana, boudin is a mixture of rice, spices and livers in a casing that remains to be one of my all time favored treats!

  2. My maternal grandfather’s brother had a farm in North Georgia. Every year during the fall harvest he would set aside a gallon of home grown sorgum syrup and about 5 pounds of assorted sausages for each of his brothers and sister. I rember one year when mother and I went with my grandparents to pick up the amazing gift. We were invited to a wonderful dinner of sausages, boiled potatoes, lovely little cabbages, fried parsnip patties and fresh baking powder biscuits served with butter and syrup. That was my first experience with blood sausage, but certainly not my last. Thank you so very much for triggering such a lovely memory. This is the time of year when small family farms do their butchering and make their sausages. I feel a road trip coming on…the boudin noir is calling me.

    1. Your grandfather’s sausages sound amazing, and I love the parsnip patties! It’s so lovely to have family rituals, especially around food. I hope you go on that road trip very soon! Mimix

  3. I love sausage of any sort, so I think I would be just fine with black pudding. 🙂 What a hearty and nourishing dish. 🙂 The parsnip crisps sound lovely!! How fun to get out in the early morning and go mushroom hunting. I just got in from puttering in my garden and am so excited to see things growing. There’s something so wonderful about gathering your own food, isn’t there? 🙂

    1. I love the combonation of black pudding, sweet apples and parsnip (turning them into chips makes it much more fun!). Last night we had a dinner with all the mushrooms the kids had picked earlier that day. They were so proud! Mimix

  4. Your black pudding sounds very similar to our mustamakkara here in Finland. I had my first taste of it at my mother and father-in-law’s house. It is often served with lingonberries that have been gently crushed and sweetened with a bit of sugar. The parsnips sound like a great companion. About the mushrooms: We have had an abundance of chanterelle and trumpet chanterelle this season…they are wonderful! Good luck in your hunt for mushrooms!

  5. Black pudding is very popular here in Ireland, I love it with apples and goat’s cheese. Will be adding some parsnip crisps next time!

  6. In Cologne, the City where I was born in, people love eating “Flönz” (boudin noir) with mashed potatoes, apple purree, onions and bacon. It is a wonderful warming and invigorating speciality that I am preparing from time to time for my family and I notice that they develop from digusted faces when at first seeing the blood sausage to delighted cries… It seems to take some to getting used to those black somethings and their extraordinary taste!
    Greetings from Germany:
    Yushka

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  8. Hi, I live in Poland, where black pudding is quite popular. I enjoyed your version very much! It reminded me of the German Himmel und Erde recipe : ) Thank you for sharing 🙂

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