Central and Eastern Europe kaszanka 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 includes
buckwheat as a main filler, instead of oats or oatmeal. In
Belarus it's called
kryvianaja kaŭbasa (крывяная каўбаса) or
kryvianka (крывянка). In Ukraine it's called ''krov'yanka'' (кров'янка) or
kryvava kyshka (кривава кишка), and
kiszka or
kaszanka in
Poland;
krvavnička in
Slovakia and
krvavica in
Slovenia,
krupniok in
Silesia. Polish
salceson ("black" and "
Brunszwicki") are a type of
head cheese ("brawn") that contains blood. In
Hungary,
véres hurka is typically made with pig's blood and barleycorn or cubed bread (typically zsemle) as filler as such also known as
zsemlés hurka and
gerslis hurka. 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. 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.
Northern Europe Denmark 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.
Estonia In
Estonia,
verivorst (blood sausage) is made of pig's blood, barley groats, pork, marjoram and other flavourings. 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 shapes and sizes.
Verivorst is usually cooked in an oven, but sometimes also fried in a pan.
Verivorst is often eaten together with
lingonberry jam, but occasionally also with butter or
sour cream. Another similar dish is called
verikäkk (
black pudding, or blood dumpling, depending on the shape). The popularity of
verikäkk has decreased during the past decades (possibly because of its less appealing commercial appearance) and has mostly been substituted by
verivorst.
Finland ,
milk, and a
doughnut Mustamakkara (literally "black sausage") is a roasted sausage containing pig's blood and very similar to Estonian
verivorst. The sausage is said to originate from
Tampere and is considered an integral part of the city's culture. A dish similar to the British
black pudding is also 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. Most blood sausage dishes in Finland are often eaten with
lingonberry jam to sweeten the taste.
Iceland 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.
Ireland and the United Kingdom ,
baked beans,
mushrooms, and
fried bread deep-fried chip shop black pudding (approx. 20 cm long), sliced open
Black pudding is the version of blood sausage native to the British Isles. While the term "blood sausage" in English is understood, it is applied only to foreign usage (e.g., in the story
The Name-Day by
Saki), or to similar blood-based sausages elsewhere in the world. Black pudding 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. 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. Ireland also has two distinctive varieties of black pudding:
Sneem Black Pudding from
County Kerry, and
drisheen, which is distinguished by its gelatinous texture. The similar
white pudding (mealie 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.
Latvia In
Latvia, blood sausage is either called
asinsdesa (blood sausage) or
putraimu desa (groat sausage) because of the added
barley groats. It is usually served with
lingonberry jam and
sour cream.
Sweden Blodpudding is a traditional dish first documented in the 18th century and still popular in
Sweden. The exact proportions and ingredients vary, partly according to regional preference, but generally it is made from 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 a meal. Nationally, the common way is to serve it with lingonberry jam, grated carrots and ice cold milk to drink. Fried bacon or pork side 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).
Southern Europe Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Slovenia baked on a sheet pan A similar blood sausage to
karvavitsa, called
krvavica (крвавица), made out of similar ingredients, is eaten in
Bosnia,
Croatia,
Serbia, and
Slovenia in wintertime, usually with
sauerkraut and potatoes.
Italy In
Italy, regional varieties of blood sausage are known as
sanguinaccio. In
Tuscany, '''' 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 is a black pudding that is 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 or
sanguinaccio dolce.
Portugal In
Portuguese cuisine, there are many varieties of blood sausage. Sausages made of blood are usually called
morcela (for the larger variety) and
negrinha or negrito (from
Portuguese negro that means dark or black, for the thinner variety). There are many varieties around the Portuguese-speaking world. In Portugal proper, there are local varieties from different regions of mainland Portugal, including from
Guarda,
Portalegre,
Estremoz and
Borba, as well as from the
Azores.
Leiria,
Porto de Mós,
Fundão and
Belmonte. The morcela is made with a combination of different pork parts, namely blood and pork fat cut into pieces, seasoned with ground pepper, salt, garlic, dried garlic, and spices (including
cloves and
cumin), as well as wine in the pig's blood. The morcela is a smoked sausage, is black and has a glossy surface, while its dark interior is marbled with fat. There is also a type of black
chouriço, also a smoked blood sausage because it is made with pig blood together with pig meat. It is called
chouriço de sangue. Places like
Melgaço and several other localities in
Northern Portugal, as well as in
Beiras and
Alentejo, are famed for its production. Sweetened blood sausage (
chouriço doce) is also made, as in southern Brazil.
Spain 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, and is produced in two varieties: cylindrical and gut-shaped. 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. There are other similarly famous kinds being made in
Asturias (slightly darker and smaller, used for bean and chickpea stews) and
León (without rice, grilled & spread on toasted bread). Other less popular varieties may add
cumin to the pudding mixture, but this is not a standard practice. The cooking method for consumption is typically frying, stewing, grilling or roasting, often in served in slices and either as a side dish or on its own. There are many derivative foods made from morcilla, such as
omelettes, stuffed red pepper,
puff pastry, pizza, flavoured
nachos,
croquettes, and a range of fillings for different dishes. In Galicia, blood pancakes are called filloas.
Malta The
Maltese blood sausage is known as (plural: ). It was first described in the 1750s in
Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius De Soldanis’s
Damma tal-Kliem Kartaginis mscerred fel fomm tal Maltin u Ghaucin, listing words of Carthagenese oriġin spoken widely across mainland Malta and the island of
Gozo. The production of blood sausages in Malta was temporarily halted in 2004 when
Malta joined the European Union, as no adequate machinery was available in the country to ensure that the blood was handled according to EU standards. However, it was reintroduced on the local market in 2024, when appropriate equipment was procured by the state-run slaughterhouse to gather the blood in appropriate sanitary conditions. 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.
Beuling also called
Zwarte pens (as opposed to the white variety that is referred to as
Witte pens) are individual blood sausages the size of a banana, the filling of which is uniform. The
Luxembourg träipen includes green cabbage, and is served pan fried with apple sauce. It was eaten in church in the Middle Ages during
Carnival and is still consumed for breakfast, baked with apples and topped with apple syrup, during Carnival in the Dutch province of
Limburg.
France and southern Belgium In
France and Wallonia (south Belgium)
boudin noir 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 and is often made with cream with 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 different regional
Boudins Noirs such as the large
Boudin du Béarn with pork meat pieces usually eaten 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.
Germany and Austria 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 style in France. In the
Rhineland, where it is also traditionally made from
horse meat, fried
Blutwurst or
Flönz 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
Eastern Germany, 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.
Symbol of Carnival Many Roman Catholics celebrate
Mardi Gras, the last day of carnival, (Literally meaning
Carne Vale, farewell to Meat in Italian) with rituals involving the blood sausage. For example, in Spain, they celebrate carnival with
judías con morcilla (morcilla is a type of blood sausage) followed by the
funeral of the sardina. Likewise, in Belgium and the Netherlands, the Bloodsausage is a symbol for Carnival (most likely following the invasion of Spain during the
Eighty Years' War).
François Rabelais in
France mentions in his "fourth book" (1552) carnavalesque figures called
forest-dwelling Blood-puddings (Saulcis- sons montigènes, Boudins sylvatiques) as a farce representing the Swiss and German Protestants.
Additional varieties Other varieties of blood sausage include
blodpølse (
Norway and
Denmark),
tongenworst (with added pigs tongues) (
Netherlands),
krvavica (
Balkans),
krovianka (
Belarus, Russia and
Ukraine), and
vėdarai (
Lithuania). ==Gallery==