Black Pudding

Black pudding for breakfast! 

I have been a fan of black pudding for as long as I can remember and enjoy it as a breakfast food, usually accompanied by a fried egg. 

The traditional way of cooking it is to slice it into rounds and fry it.  As it cooks, it turns from a deep red to solid black with the occasional white bits  though Eric Olthwaite's mother used to make black pudding so dark "even the white bits were black".

My favourite black pudding was the Blackball Salami Company's product.  Thanks to a work colleague I have a new favourite which is made by Harringtons.  Jock (for that is his name) says it is the best black pudding he has had since he arrived from Scotland 20 years ago. 

It's flavour is quite different - more peppery/spicy than the Blackball pudding.   It's texture is very different.  It is, in the words of my Scottish colleague, "looser".  It doesn't hold together in the same way as other black puddings I have eaten and is pretty much impossible to fry.

I have tried frying it in a number of different pans and it sticks like an incredibly sticky thing to every pan I have used.  In the end I resorted to grilling it on Vogel toast or toasted ciabatta which was successful and provided a good breakfast.  As it grills, it loosens further and in the end can actually be spread very easily with a knife.

I mentioned the problem of cooking it to Jock and he confessed he had the same problems with frying it and that it even stuck to a non-stick pan.  His solution was to place it on large flat mushrooms and then grill it.  I gave this a go this morning and the result was perfect.  An excellent combination of flavours.

Harringtons will take orders on the internet but don't appear to have an online payment facility.  They also supply a wide range of pork, bacon, ham, sausages, speciality products and lamb products. 

Highly recommended.