Black Pudding Gravy

Black pudding turns up all over the north and in Scotland and Ireland, and Bury has the best claim to the most famous version. Crumbled into a gravy it dissolves almost completely and leaves behind an intense, mineral, slightly peppery depth. It is not subtle and it is not for everyone, but on pork chops or over mash on a cold night it is hard to beat.

Ingredients

Makes about 500ml, enough for four plates

• 1 tbsp lard or beef dripping
• 150g (5½oz) black pudding skin removed, broken into rough lumps
• 2 medium onions sliced thinly
• 1½ tbsp (25g) plain flour
• 600ml (1 pint) beef or pork stock hot
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• ½ eating apple grated
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar
• salt and black pepper

Kit

• Frying pan
• Wooden spoon
• Whisk

Method

1. Melt the lard in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the black pudding lumps for 3 minutes without moving them, so they crisp on one side. Keep back a couple of pieces to crumble over the finished plate.

2. Add the onions and cook together for 15 minutes over a medium low heat, breaking the pudding down with the spoon as you stir. It will collapse into the onions and go from lumps to a coarse dark mixture.

3. Add the grated apple and cook for 3 minutes. Black pudding is heavy and the apple is doing a real job of lightening it, so do not skip it.

4. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes, working it into the dark paste in the pan.

5. Pour in a third of the hot stock and whisk hard until smooth. It will look almost purple brown at this stage, which is correct. Add the rest in two goes.

6. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often. The gravy thickens fast because the oatmeal in the pudding swells, so watch it and add more stock if it tightens too far. You want it just thick enough to coat.

7. Add the Worcestershire sauce and the cider vinegar, then season. Taste carefully. Black pudding is well seasoned and salty already, so it may need nothing but pepper. Scatter the reserved crisp pieces on top when you serve.

Tips worth knowing

• Take the skin off first, whether it is plastic or natural. Bits of skin in the gravy are unpleasant and they do not break down.
• The vinegar is not optional. Black pudding is rich and irony and without the acid the gravy tastes like a mouthful of pennies.
• Different puddings have different amounts of oatmeal or barley. A very oaty one thickens the gravy hard, so hold back some flour if that is what you have.
• It is very good with a fried egg on top over mash, which is the sort of tea this gravy was made for.

Keeping and reheating

Keeps 3 days in the fridge and freezes for 2 months. It thickens considerably as the oatmeal absorbs liquid, so expect to loosen it with a good splash of stock when reheating.

Questions people ask