Blood sausage

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Blood sausages are sausages filled with blood that are cooked or dried and mixed with a filler until they are thick enough to congeal when cooled. The dish is found world-wide. Pig, cattle, sheep, duck, and goat blood can be used depending on different countries.

In Europe and the Americas, typical fillers include meat, fat, suet, bread, cornmeal, onion, chestnuts, barley, and oatmeal. In Spain, Portugal, and Asia, potato is often replaced by rice. In Kenya fillers are fresh minced goat or beef, fat, and red onions.


United Kingdom and Ireland[edit]

British-style cooked breakfast, centred around black pudding (left), served with square sausage, baked beans, mushrooms, and fried bread

Black pudding is the native British version of blood sausage. It is generally made from pork blood and a relatively high proportion of oatmeal. In the past it was occasionally flavoured with pennyroyal, differing from continental European versions in its relatively limited range of ingredients and reliance on oatmeal and barley instead of onions to absorb the blood.[1] It can be eaten cold, as it is cooked in production, grilled, fried or boiled in its skin. It is often served sliced and fried or grilled as part of a traditional full breakfast, a tradition that followed British and Irish emigrants around the world. Black pudding is now part of the local cuisine of New Zealand and the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Stornoway Black Pudding produced on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland, is one of the most renowned varieties and has been granted Protected Geographical Indicator of Origin (PGI) status.[2]

The similar white pudding is a further important feature of the traditional Northumbrian, Scottish, Irish and Newfoundland breakfast. Black and white pudding, as well as a third variant, red pudding, is served battered in some chip shops in England, Scotland and Ireland as an alternative to fish and chips.


Germany and Austria[edit]

Cross-section of German Blutwurst varieties: smoked with meat (left), dried with bacon (right)

The most common variant of German Blutwurst is made from pork rind, pork blood and regionally different fillers such as barley. Though already cooked and "ready to eat" it is sometimes served warm, similar to the usage in France. In the Rhineland, where it is also traditionally made from horse meat, fried Blutwurst is a constituent of various dishes. In particular in Cologne, the traditional Himmel und Erde (Heaven and Earth) combines apple sauce, mashed potatoes and Blutwurst served hot on one plate. In Berlin, hot Blutwurst mixed together with liverwurst and potatoes is called "Tote Oma" ("Dead Grandma").

Other German variants are Zungenwurst, which is Blutwurst mixed with pieces of pickled ox tongue, and Beutelwurst which is pressed in a linen or paper bag (Beutel). A variety of Blutwurst, the Rotwurst from Thuringia (Thüringer Rotwurst) has geographical indication protection under EU law, with PGI status. Kartoffelwurst (potato sausage) is a post-World War II variety popular in the Palatinate, a reduced fat version of Blutwurst using potato cubes instead of bacon.

In Austria it is often prepared in a dish known as Blunzngröstl, which consists of pan-fried potatoes and blood sausage. This is usually served with freshly grated horseradish.


In France, boudin is traditionally prepared in charcuteries, shops that prepare mainly pork products (and sometimes duck and game), but also sell smoked and dried sausages, pâtés, and terrines, along with prepared salads. It is usually called boudin noir, is often made with cream and has apples or onions as a filler. It is generally served with either cooked apples, mashed potatoes or both, and is appreciated by combining either the apples or mashed potatoes with each bite of boudin, which has been gently heated and browned in butter. In France also, there are many regional different Boudins Noirs such as the large Boudin du Béarn with pork meat pieces eaten usually cold. The French Confrérie des Chevaliers du Goûte-Boudin (Brotherhood of the Knights of Blood Sausage Tasting) in Mortagne-au-Perche in southern Normandy holds an annual contest of international blood sausage specialities. Boudin is considered the emblematic staple of the French Foreign Legion, and gives its name to the Legion's anthem.

Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg[edit]

In Belgium and the Netherlands, bloedworst or beuling is sold either in 4-inch-diameter (100 mm) slices, or individual sausages the size of a banana. It is generally pan fried; sometimes apples are cooked alongside or on top of the pieces. It is also eaten with apple sauce, brown sugar, syrup or red cabbage. As a cold cut, thin slices are eaten as a sandwich topping. Green cabbage is one of the ingredients in Luxembourg's träipen which are also served pan fried with apple sauce. It is known to have been eaten in church in the Middle Ages during carnival in the Netherlands[citation needed].


In Estonia, verivorst (blood sausage) is very similar to Finnish mustamakkara. It is sold and eaten mostly in winter, being a traditional Christmas food. At that time there is a large variety of verivorst in stores, ranging in different shapes and sizes. Verivorst is usually cooked in an oven, but sometimes also fried in a pan. Like in Finland, mustamakkara is often eaten together with lingonberry jam, but occasionally also with butter or sour cream. Another similar dish is called verikäkk (blood dumpling). Its popularity has decreased during the past decades (possibly because of its less appealing commercial appearance) and has mostly been substituted by verivorst.


Italian 17th century still-life showing Blutwurst-like sausages

In Italy, regional varieties of blood sausage are known as 'sanguinaccio'. In Tuscany, buristo is a sausage made with pig's blood and fat cooked in a pig's stomach. It is not reheated and is often spread on bread. It is found only in the south of Tuscany in the winter months and even there it can be difficult to come by. Biroldo is another type of black pudding which can be found in Tuscany, while the version made in southern Lombardy is called Marsapan.

Migliaccio[3] is a black pudding that was traditionally prepared in winter in Romagna. It is a sweet pudding with a thick black filling made with pig's blood, sugar, breadcrumbs, almonds, chocolate, butter and spices contained in a thin pastry crust. A similar pudding is made throughout southern Italy, generally called Sanguinaccio.


Portuguese blood sausage, morcela, made with parsley and green onions or scallions, and traditionally uses pig blood

In Portuguese cuisine, there are many varieties of blood sausage. Sausages made of blood are usually called morcela or negrinha (a slang term from Portuguese negro meaning dark or black). There are many varieties around the Portuguese world. There are varieties local to Portugal, the Azores, Hawaii, China, US and India, etc.


Morcilla cocida, Spanish-style blood sausage eaten in Spain and Latin America
A kind of thick Catalan botifarra with blood as ingredient, known as bisbe, meaning 'bishop'

Spanish morcilla has many variants. The most well-known and widespread is morcilla de Burgos which contains mainly pork blood and fat, rice, onions, and salt. In Albacete and La Mancha, the morcilla is filled with onions instead of rice, which completely changes the texture. In Extremadura the creamy morcilla patatera includes roughly mashed potatoes. In the northern regions and the Canary Islands there is a sweet variety known as morcilla dulce. Other varieties introduce breadcrumbs, pine nuts, and almonds, and vary the proportions of the other ingredients or flavourings, some of them considered delicacies.

Nordic countries[edit]


Alongside the mustamakkara (black sausage) in Finland, a dish similar to the British black pudding is made by making batter out of pig's blood and baking it like pancakes. Traditionally, rye flour or oatmeal is used and minced onion is added to the mix. This dish is called veriohukainen or verilettu (blood pancake). Rössypottu is a traditional soup in northern Finland with blood pudding as a main ingredient.


In Iceland, blóðmör is one of two types of slátur. It is made from lamb's blood and suet, rye flour and oats, traditionally stuffed into pouches sewn from the lamb's stomach. It is usually boiled in its skin, eaten hot or cold, sometimes sliced and fried. After cooking, it is often preserved in fermented whey and acquires a distinct sour taste.


Blodpudding, before being prepared to serve
Blodpudding served with boiled potatoes, cucumbers and lingonberry jam

Blodpudding is a traditional medieval dish still popular in Sweden. The exact proportions and ingredients varies from recipe to recipe as well as regional preference but generally the batter is made out of pig's blood, milk, rye or barley flour, diced lard, either beer or svagdricka, treacle and onion, flavoured with allspice and marjoram. It is then poured into forms and oven-baked in a waterbath. Most of the blodpudding consumed today is made on industrial basis. When prepared for serving, it is sliced and fried. The style of serving and accompaniments vary across the country, and it is not uncommon to have the blodpudding act as the meat in the dish served. Nationally, the common way is to serve it with lingonberry jam, grated carrots and ice cold milk to drink. Fried bacon or porkside is also common. In Scania, the lingonberry jam is often replaced by finely sliced apples, fried along with the pork.

Other blood-based foods include blodkorv (blood sausage) which differs from blodpudding by having raisins, pork tallow and apple sauce in it, blodplättar (blood pancakes, similar to the original Finnish dish veriohukainen above) and blodpalt. There is also a soup made from blood, called svartsoppa (black soup).


In Denmark, blodpølse is made from pigs's blood and suet, rye flour, brown sugar, raisins, salt, cinnamon and cardamom stuffed into natural or artificial intestines. It is usually boiled in its skin, eaten hot or cold, sometimes sliced and fried, served with syrup, cinnamon and stewed apples.

Central and Eastern Europe[edit]

Throughout Central and Eastern Europe, blood sausage, known as kishka (meaning "intestine"), is made with pig's blood and buckwheat kasha. It is also known in Russia as krovyanka (кровянка), or krovyanaya kolbasa (кровяная колбаса, literally "blood sausage"), and include buckwheat as a main filler, instead of oats or oatmeal. In Ukraine it's called krov'yanka (кров'янка) or kryvava kyshka (кривава кишка), kiszka or kaszanka in Poland, krvavnička in Slovakia and krupniok in Silesia. Polish salceson ("black" and "Brunszwicki") are a type of head cheese that contains blood. In Hungary, véres hurka is made with rice, pig's blood and pork. In Bulgaria, karvavitsa (кървавица) is usually prepared with pig's blood, fat and a variety of mountain herbs and spices and eaten warm during the winter. A similar blood sausage, called krvavica (крвавица), made out of similar ingredients, is also eaten in Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia during winter time, usually with sauerkraut and cooked potatoes.

In Romania, the traditional sângerete (from sânge, "blood" in Romanian) is made from shoulder butt pork meat, pork blood and a filler such as pre-boiled rice seasoned with pepper, garlic and basil. It has many regional variants, but the most common are the sângerete from Transylvania.

Similarly, in Czech cuisine, jelito is made from second-rate pork, pig's blood and peeled barley; the stuffing served by itself, unformed, is called prejt.

Additional varieties[edit]

Other varieties of blood sausage include blodpølse (Norway and Denmark), tongeworst (with added pigs tongues) (Netherlands), mazzit (Malta), krvavica (Balkans), krovianka (Russia and Ukraine), vėdarai (Lithuania).

The Americas[edit]

Boiling Boudin Rouge (Red Pudding), a Cajun sausage

United States[edit]

Blood sausages are very difficult to find in US supermarkets. Brussels, Wisconsin and Sturgeon Bay are all home to local grocers who produce blood sausage, due to their large Belgian American populations. Supermarkets throughout Maine also carry locally produced blood pudding due to the state's large French Canadian population. In southeastern Michigan, Polish-style Kaszanka can be found in supermarkets throughout the year and is very popular.

An Italian-American version of blood sausage in the San Francisco Bay area is called biroldo and has pine nuts, raisins, spices, pig snouts and is made using either pig's or cow's blood.

Cajun boudin is a fresh sausage made with green onions, pork, pork liver (making it somewhat gritty/grainy), and rice. Pig's blood was sometimes added to produce boudin rouge, but this tradition became increasingly rare after the mid-twentieth century due to the decline of the boucherie (traditional communal butchering) and government health regulations prohibiting the transportation of raw blood. As a result, Cajun boudin is now usually made without blood; however, blood or "black" boudin can still be purchased.

Latin America[edit]

In many areas of Latin America, morcilla is served. Morcilla is sometimes made with a filler of rice and/or onions, and seasoned with paprika and other spices. In Puerto Rico, it is served fried and mostly consumed during the holidays. In some countries of South America, morcilla is a component of the asado, a regional mixed grill or barbecue meal. In Colombia, morcilla can have rice, green peas, cilantro or culantro, and is often eaten as an appetizer called "picada" or with the traditional dishes "Bandeja Paisa" or "Fritanga". In Venezuela, morcilla is often served with parrilla (barbecue). Morcilla is also eaten inside a sandwich called "morcipán," especially in the Río de la Plata. In Uruguay, a sweet version including raisins and pine nuts is popular, some vendors even add chocolate, caramelised orange peels, peanuts, and other dried fruits. Uruguayans usually are fond of sweet or salty morcilla, and most restaurants and supermarkets carry both versions.


In Brazil there is a version of the blood sausage called Chouriço, Morcilla ou Morcela, consisting in a sausage made of the gore blood and the fat of the pork, an it is not so tempered, been distinguished by its iron taste. It is a variation of the Portuguese blood sausage, and it is known for its deep dark color. It is very popular on barbecues (Churrascos) as a starter.


In Chile, the blood sausage is called "prieta" (a synonym of "negra", black) and tends to have a very thick skin, so is eaten cut open lengthwise. Apart from blood and a little fat, "prietas" may contain a variety of ingredients, such as chopped onion and spices, cabbage, peppers, watercress, rice, meat or even dried fruit or nuts. "Prietas" or "morcillas" are part of the Chilote tradition of "reitimiento" involving the slaughter and preparation of a pig.


In Ecuador the blood sausage is also called morcilla, while in Panama and Colombia, it is called morcilla, rellena or tubería negra, and is usually filled with rice. In Brazil, as in Portugal, morcela and chouriço de sangue are eaten. In El Salvador, Nicaragua and Mexico, it is called "moronga".

The Caribbean[edit]

In Antigua, rice pudding is a local delicacy and it is prepared the same way as blood sausage.

In Barbados, blood sausage is made with sweet potato (batata), pig's blood and onions, seasoned with peppers and other herbs and stuffed in pig intestines. It is normally served with souse, which is pickled pig's feet, pig's ears and other trimmings. The cooked meat is cut into bite-sized pieces and soaked in a brine made of water, lime juice, cucumbers, hot pepper, and specially prepared seasonings. Blood sausage and souse is a Bajan delicacy usually prepared on weekends and special occasions.

In the French Antilles, boudin créole is very popular, this being the French boudin noir with local Caribbean chilli and other spices.

In Guyana, blood sausage is a very popular snack served at social occasions, and as "cutters" when drinking. The main ingredient is cooked rice seasoned with herbs, such as thyme and basil. The rice is mixed with cow's blood, stuffed into cow's or pig's intestine, and boiled until firm, sliced and served with Sour (a mild type of dipping sauce with hot peppers). White pudding is also made.

In Puerto Rico, blood sausage is known as morcilla. Puerto Rican blood sausage is made with rice, culantro, cilantro, garlic and chillies. Some contain paprika and annatto. Morcilla is especially popular during Christmas.

In Suriname, blood sausage is known by the Dutch name bloedworst, and white pudding by the also Dutch name vleesworst.

In Trinidad & Tobago, the local style of blood sausage is heavily seasoned with local peppers and traditionally prepared from pig's blood, often substituted by pig's liver today. It is sold by local producers as a popular accompaniment to rolls of crusty hops bread or served as an accompaniment to trotter souse, a stew based on trotters.[4]

Other varieties of blood sausage include boudin rouge (Creole and Cajun), rellena or moronga (Mexico) and sanganel (Friuli).


Across Asia, various people create food from congealed animal blood. Most of these food types do not have casing and might be considered a version of sliced sausage.


In the Chinese cuisines, whole coagulated blood is fried or steamed as a snack or cooked in a hot pot. In mainland China, "blood tofu" (Chinese: 血豆腐; pinyin: xuě dòufǔ), or "red tofu" (Chinese: 红豆腐; pinyin: hóng dòufǔ), is most often made with pig's or duck's blood, although chicken's or cow's blood may also be used. Like the above dishes, this has no casing but is simply cut into rectangular pieces and cooked. In the Northeast China, the "blood sausage" is a traditional food which is cooked with sheep or goat blood. In resource-poor Tibet, congealed yak's blood is a traditional food.[5][6]

Hong Kong[edit]

In Hong Kong, the dish closest to Blood sausage is Pig blood curd, which is only made from pig's blood and is not considered a sausage.


Blood pudding (豬血糕) on a stick

In Taiwan, "pig's blood cake" (Chinese: 豬血糕; pinyin: zhū xuě gāo; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄓㄨˉ ㄒㄧㄝˇ ㄍㄠˉ) or "rice blood cake"(Chinese: 米血糕; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄇㄧˇ ㄒㄧㄝˇ ㄍㄠˉ), made of pork blood and sticky rice is served on a popsicle stick is a very popular snack at local night markets in Taiwan.


Blood sausage is popular in Mongolia. In Mongolia a special method of killing sheep was made mandatory by Genghis Khan to save blood for sausage. It appears in the Yasa and is still used today.


In Penang or other northern states, "pig red" (Chinese: 猪红; pinyin: zhū hóng or in Penang Hokkien "too ung") is sometimes served with their traditional dish, "laksa" or curry noodles. It can also be mixed with some traditional Hokkien dishes as well.


In Tibetan cuisine, sausages or gyurma refer to blood sausages and are made with yak or sheep's blood which may or may not include either rice or roasted barley flour as filler. The sausage uses natural casing employing the use of yak or sheep's intestine.


Pinuneg is a native blood sausage composed of minced pork and innards that is prepared in the Cordillera Administrative Region of the Philippines. According to Kwento Ni Toto, this delicacy demonstrates the Cordillerans' respect for the blessings they receive, as having used the innards in this sausage, no part of the butchered pig goes to waste.[7] At Cafe Yagam, it is made from minced pork and curdled pig blood, and served with a dip of vinegar mixed with shallots, onions and red chili.[8]


This dish, dinuguan, is also known in Java as saren, which is made with chicken's or pig's blood.

Dồi, Vietnamese blood sausage.


Vietnamese 'dồi tiết' (Northern) or 'dồi huyết' (Southern) is blood sausage, boiled or fried, made with pork blood, pork fat and basil.


In Thai cuisine sai krok lueat (Thai: ไส้กรอกเลือด) is a blood sausage (Thai: sai krok = sausage, Thai: lueat = blood), often served sliced and accompanied by a spicy dipping sauce. "Blood tofu" is simply called lueat (Thai: เลือด, blood) in Thailand. This can be used in many Thai dishes such as in noodle soups, Thai curries, or as an addition to certain rice dishes such as Khao man kai.

Sundae, a Korean blood sausage.


The majority of Korea's sundae (순대) can be categorised as blood sausage. The most common type of soondae is made of potato noodle (dangmyeon), barley, and pig's blood but some variants contain sesame leaves, green onion, fermented soy paste (doenjang), sweet rice, kimchi, bean sprouts, in addition to the common ingredients.


In Kenya Mutura is a traditional dish among the people of central Kenya, although today popular among all. It is made with meat, blood, spices all encased in the animal's intestines or stomach.[9]

The slaughtered goat, cow or sheep has its blood collected to use in the stuffing, though today many types of mutura, especially commercial ones sold on the streets do not contain blood. The meat for the filling can be any fleshy part, but like any other sausage, the prime cuts are not ordinarily used for the stuffing. Instead the tougher, leaner cuts for example the neck are trimmed off the bone. The casing for the stuffing is the stomach sack and larger intestines. These are flushed many times with water to clean them.

The meat for the stuffing is finely chopped or minced, and the mandatory fat is often trimmed from other parts. The meat is slightly fried, mixed with finely chopped red onions, salt and optionally fresh chili. Other additions include freshly chopped coriander (dhania or cilantro), garlic, pepper and even beef stock. This is then mixed thoroughly with the fresh blood from the animal, and stuffed into the stomach and intestines, with the openings sewn or tied together with string.

The sausage is boiled in large pot (often with other parts of the animal not roasted and used to make soup) for 30 – 45 minutes, and roasted over coals till brown. Sliced, it is served with kachumbari, an onion based salad consisting of tomatoes, red onions and fresh coriander, a bit of chili and squeeze of lemon. The accompanying starch is ugali.

See also[edit]


  2. ^ "Stornoway black pudding given protected status". BBC News, 8 May 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2014. 
  3. ^ "La scienza in cucina e l'Arte di mangiar bene" by Pellegrino Artusi; recipe n. 702
  4. ^ Dave DeWitt & Mary Jane Wilson: Callaloo, Calypso & Carnival, p.62. The Crossing Press 1993
  5. ^ Ma Jian, Stick Out Your Tongue Chatto and Windus London, 2006.
  6. ^ Uses of yak blood in Tibet. Retrieved on 9 May 2009.
  7. ^ "Café Yagam Offers The Best Dishes of The Cordillera Region" by Kwento ni Toto, accessed on 18 December 2015
  8. ^ "Baguio’s Café Yagam, Authentic Cordilleran Food & Coffee", by Lakad Pilipinas, accessed on 18 December 2015
  9. ^ Mutura – The traditional Kenyan sausage by Village Talk accessed on 1 May 2014

External links[edit]