Black Pudding - Cameron Harrison

Black Pudding – Cameron Harrison

My wife purchased a Cameron Harrison black pudding for me recently as a treat and brought it home. It sat in the fridge for a few days and I cooked it up while I had a variation on moussaka cooking in the oven for the family dinner.

 

 

There are a mixture of textures in the black pudding, you can see the lumps of maize interspersed with finely ground material. The packing indicates that pork, bacon and pork blood are the three primary ingredients, in that order.

Once the pudding was cooked I cut it into slices. The initial taste was a sweet one, it was soft and malleable in the mouth and it didn’t really taste like a black pudding. There were elements of the pork and bacon and, quite late in the piece, the heat from the pepper and spices kicked in. It was a very pleasant black pudding to eat.

The boys were at home - Sausage Boy only had one piece and wasn’t too fussed about it, but his brother had multiple pieces and commented very positively about the sausage. The purchaser of the sausage never made it home in time to sample a piece, but was still asked to review this posting…... Typical!

I would buy this black pudding again, and next time I might even save some for my wife…..

Cost per kilo: $27.99

Black Pudding - Akaroa Butchery and Deli

Black Pudding – Akaroa Butchery and Deli

I also purchased some black pudding from the butcher’s shop in Akaroa, see the previous post. After I had selected the pudding, I enquired about it – the butcher told me they did not make it themselves, they sourced it from Peter Timbs in Christchurch.

This black pudding was cooked in a pan. I cut it lengthways before cooking. The ratio of chucky bits to finely ground filling is firmly in favour of the finely ground filling. Pieces of maize can be seen, along with other larger pieces.

Once cooked this sausage did not hold together. This sausage was a plain black pudding. If you are looking to try black pudding for the first time, this could be the one for you, it has a plain taste, with a small amount of pepper. This is a black pudding for the masses, if you are after a pudding that has a stronger or more complex flavour then look elsewhere.

I would not purchase this again as there are plenty of better examples of black pudding that are able to be purchased.

Black Pudding - Eastbourne Village Meats

Black Pudding – Eastbourne Village Meats

Recently I purchased a black pudding Eastbourne Village Meats. I do enjoy black and white puddings, but as the whanau say, you just enjoy sausages. I consider that black pudding as a sausage style is much underrated and that many people would enjoy eating this particular variety of sausage if they tried it.

 

I cut the black pudding lengthwise and cooked it in the frying pan. I do like to be able to see chunks of ingredients in a sausage I eat. You could see lumps of maize and other elements in the sausage. When I tasted the pudding it was mild. The meatiness of the flavour was the initial sensation on the palate; this was then consumed by a mild heat. This black pudding was subtle in taste. It is not as peppery as other black puddings that I enjoy. Much like the beef and the pork and applecider snarlers in the previous reviews this is a black pudding that will be well liked. The flavours are mild and not over powering. I would buy this again.

 

Havana Restaurant and Bar

Havana Restaurant and Bar

Many years ago my wife studied for a Master’s degree. As part of the degree those undertaking the course had to form a study group. She was part of a group of three. Last night that study group, along with partners, got together at the Havana Bar in Wigan St, Te Aro. This is a funky bar and restaurant with a Cuban and Spanish influence. After a few drinks we moved into the restaurant and had a meal. The restaurant serves tapas.

The study group was very productive - by the end of the two year programme, four extra children were part of the wider whanau group. We of course did more than our share by having twins. The other two members only had one child each. When my wife graduated she took the boys along to the ceremony. They were ten days old. We have a great photo of her in full academic regalia holding the baby boys. They look so tiny! The boys are now 15 years old and, needless to say, considerably bigger.

Tapas style food is a great way to sample a wide variety of platters. On the menu two items in particular caught my eye, housemade chorizo albondigas with pickled white cabbage and grilled bread, along with, sage black pudding with smoked piquillo pepper and pickled cauliflower sauce. As the platters arrived we tucked into the food. We talked, laughed, and told stories…. some of them were even true. There was a very convivial atmosphere.

The chorizo dish has different flavours that complemented each other. The chorizo is a skinless variety with smokiness and heat that comes through as you eat it. It is not excessively hot, and on my heat scale I would describe it as the mild end of medium. It is served with a tomato based sauce which has elements of sweetness, along with a little bit of heat. The pickled cabbage has a bitterness that complements both the sweeter flavours in the meat and sauce. This was a very nice dish.

 

 

The black pudding is baked and has a crusty outer shell, when this is pierced the interior of the black pudding is softer and crumbles as you eat it. The contrast in textures works well. The smooth interior combined with the crusty exterior creates a very nice contrast of textures in the mouth. The black pudding has a very small amount of heat, the smoked piquillo peppers that accompanied the dish added sweet and smoked flavours to the dish. The sourness of the pickled cauliflower sauce meant that dish had a wide variety of flavours to combine and accompany each other. Another very nice dish to eat.

 

 

Another tapas plate I particularly enjoyed was the crushed gourmet potatoes with slow cooked leaks and roasted garlic. If you are at Havana, make sure you include this dish too.

We were still in the restaurant as they began to clean the kitchen. It is open to the dining area and you could see the hive of activity as the kitchen staff finished off their day. I went and talked to the maître d. He told me the person that I should be talking to was Mark, the head chef. We have a very cordial chat about the sausage tapas. He makes the chorizo with pork he sources from Island Bay Butchery. This is free range pork from Canterbury. He uses 50% pork shoulder, ground finely, and 50% pork belly, a medium grind. Added to the meat is dried oregano, white wine, flaky sea salt, smoked and sweet paprika, along with lots of garlic. The chorizo is cured for five days. The black pudding is Island Bay Butchery’s gold medal winner, see link. Sage is used extensively in this dish. With the small kitchen space the opportunities to get into major sausage making are limited, however what Mark produces out the confines of Havana’s kitchen is to be admired. He also asked who I thought made the best sausages in Wellington. Regular readers of the blog will know how I replied - Park Avenue Quality Meats in Avalon.

If you are looking for a venue to spend time with people you want to drink, eat and laugh with then I would recommend that you check out Havana. Cuba without the airfare.

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   

Black Pudding from Kerikeri

Black Pudding from Kerikeri

 

 While in the far north we also visited Kerikeri. Along the main street is Churchills, a butcher’s shop and deli. This is a well presented butcher’s shop. The butcher I talked to said their sausage selection was smaller as they were now operating on their winter sausage menu. In the summer he said they had double the cabinet space devoted to sausages. He said they sausages just fly out of the door over summer. Coming from Wellington, I considered that as the temperature was above twenty degrees, and even though the month was May, it was still summer. The pleasures of living in a semi tropical climate. I brought some pork bratwurst and black pudding. 

The black pudding was eaten as part of an evening meal at Opua. This was a fine ground black pudding with chunky bits included. You could taste the onion that had been added to the sausage. There was a little kicker of an after taste, maybe pepper or chilli.

 

This was a pleasant sausage both my wife and kids liked it, even once I told the boys what goes into black pudding sausages. I would describe this as an averagely good sausage but the family disagreed and rated it higher than I did. I would buy this again. The butcher told me they sell this in Wellington at On Trays in Petone and the family are keen to have it again so a visit and purchase is very likely. 

 

The suasage in the photo is one a smoked pork bratwurst from the German Butchery in Haruru Falls. See the previous posting for a review.

Cost per kilo: $14.95

An unexpected wee gem

Finding an unexpected wee gem

Today I was in a school staffroom at morning tea time. A woman came around and offered black pudding to all those present. She had made the black pudding and was sharing it with her colleagues. Some of those present declined the offer, they were not keen. However plenty were eager to sample the sausage.

Wow, I thought this is fantastic, food and even better sausages. I ate a morsel and enjoyed the texture and flavour. This black pudding had a medium to coarse texture, it had a mild flavour with a hint of onion and garlic. It was pleasant on the palate. This was an unexpected and very enjoyable surprise.

 

 

The black pudding did not have a skin, the dripping that was used in the recipe acts as a binding agent. It held together well in the long tradition of many skinless sausages.

 

A great way to have morning tea. Tēnā rawa atu koe Whaea Janine.

(For those of you who need a translation of Māori, New Zealand’s indigenous language; Thank you Aunty Janine)

The ingredients of this black pudding came from a sheep that had been rendered.

The recipe

Ingredients: Sheep’s blood- about 4 litres, Breadcrumbs – about 2 loaves, 4 large Onions – 4 large, Garlic – 1 bulb, Dripping – about 500g, Salt and pepper.

Mix together, heat on a low setting, gently stir the mixture, when the mixture has turned black mould into a sausage tube, use tinfoil to maintain the tubes shape. Let the mixture cool and set. Place in fridge.

Then the good part; eat.

Black Pudding at Dockside

Black Pudding at Dockside

We were invited to a friend’s 50^th birthday lunch at Dockside. This was on Saturday. What a fantastic day. No wind, bright sunshine, warm spring temperatures. It was a leisurely lunch with no kids. They would have been itching to move on after a period of time, well before we would have been ready. Great weather, even better company. We were there for four hours and when we got back to car there was a present on the windscreen, a parking ticket. No worries it was worth the small price to exceed the parking time.

The group ordered a platter to start. It had tasty morsels of chorizo as part of a wide array of quality food. Lots of nice seafood. A good start.

 

For the main I ordered black pudding with sautéed potatoes and spinach, tomato relish, fresh egg and hollandaise sauce. To be blunt; I was underwhelmed. This was a very average dish. The black pudding was like sausage meat, well it is sausage meat, to put a positive description, I would describe the taste as delicate and refined. The sautéed potatoes and spinach were nice and well done. I thought the egg lacked flavour.

So a great lunch that could have been better if the food matched the quality of the conversation and weather.

As we left we remarked how wonderful it was to have lunch without the kids. The leisurely, unhurried approach to lunch, without children is something we have not done for a long time.