Black Pudding from Island Bay Butchery

Black Pudding from Island Bay Butchery

I went to Island Bay and thought I would pop into the butchers and pick up some their award winning black pudding. This won gold at the 2013 Devro New Zealand Sausage Awards. I was a judge of this section. There were some great black puddings at the awards. The judging is done blind so the judges do not know who made the product they are sampling.

Island Bay Butchery make this in a round and it also available in a tube. I brought a tube of black pudding. The primary factor in this decision was weight - there is more in the tube than the round. Slices can be cut from the tube and eaten progressively. As you can see, I got this home and cooked up a few slices.

 

 

The black pudding looks good when you cut it. You can see the lumps of barley and oatmeal - I assume that some of the white material you can also see are lumps of fat. There is a finely ground component to the pudding too. The aroma is nice and stimulates the taste buds.

 

 

The black pudding not only looks good but tastes good too. There is a hint of heat on the palate. My taste buds say pepper, but I could be wrong. It is a nice taste. For breakfast the following day I had six slices, a very enjoyable way to start the day.

 

 

I did get a couple of stringy pieces in my slices, these got caught between the teeth. Not really sure what this might have been.

I do not buy black pudding regularly. This was a good snack and I would buy it again. Sausage Boy was ambivalent while my wife thought the black pudding from Churchill’s Butchers in Kerikeri, see link, was a superior product. I preferred the Island Bay black pudding.

Cost of a tube: $17.95