More Adventures in British Food - Blood Pudding!

I was so happy with my culinary success at mastering Beans on Toast, that I decided to keep exploring British Food. So, I went back to the Corner Shop on Marietta Square and asked Tina's Mum what I should try next. They both keep touting "The Full English Breakfast" with fried eggs, British bacon, sausages, fried mushrooms, fried "toe-mah-toes" (she chuckled at my saying "toe-may-toes") and beans. I told her that it wasn't much of a novelty for me since Steave throws everything he can find in a frying pan for breakfast. A bit irritated, I think, at my dismissing her Full English breakfast so quickly, Tina's Mum turned and said with a gleam in her eye, "What about blood pudding?"

The gleam was a challenge and I said, "Ok!" The gleam left her eye and was replaced with shock which slowly melted into admiration, "So, you'll try it then?" she asked. "Yes!" I said confidently even with the lump of disgust in my throat. But I couldn't back down.

She pulled the frozen roll of pudding out of the freezer and quickly talked me into a package of British bacon which looked like thin sliced pork chops. I took them both. "Steave will eat anything" was the justification for my purchases.

Several of my friends were with me on the outing to the Square and when I told them what I bought they all moaned, put their hands over their mouths and took a step away from me. I clearly saw that I had crossed a line. What line it was, I don't know, but I crossed it. I smiled nervously and said, "I'm gonna try it!"

One of my friends asked why it was called pudding. I went back in the store and asked Tina's Mum and she laughed loudly and we all joined her, not really knowing what was so funny, but suspecting that it was our American ignorance. Taking a breath, she said, "I don't know. Why don't you look it up on the internet."

So, I did and the first definition was "a sausage with various fillers" then came "a sweet dessert." Ok, so I didn't know that. I mentioned it to my brother-in-law and he said that he used to eat blood sausage when he was little. I found out that it was really the same sort of thing. Well, thinking of it as sausage rather than pudding made it a little more bearable. There's just something gross about putting blood and pudding together.

So, today was the day of the trying. I let the pudding thaw in the fridge and pulled the roll out today.

It was a little disturbing to read "beef blood" among the list of ingredients. But I went ahead and cut the pudding into discs as instructed by Tina's Mum.

It was deep red. That's ok, I told myself, I kept my focus and fried it up.

It smelled pretty good as it was cooking. Then the moment came. With a tight throat and the most horrid suggestions of how it should taste running through my mind.....I took a bite.

It was absolutely delicious!! It reminded me of the sausage I am familiar with. It was much richer, however, and I am sure that is because of the blood. But it didn't taste like blood, it was surprisingly good.

I was on a roll! I quickly put the bacon on to cook...

Absolutely brilliant!! Where has this been all my life? I am used to thin, mostly fat, strips of bacon. This is mostly meat and not as salty as our bacon. It looks like our country ham, but not flavored like it.

America! This is the way bacon should be!!

Ok, 3 British food victories. What's next?