AI-generated Boudin Noir
Boudin noir
Also known as: French black pudding, Boudin noir de Mortagne
Boudin noir is France's blood sausage: pork blood, pork fat and a large share of onions, seasoned and poached in a natural casing until it sets. Charcutiers all over France make it, but the small town of Mortagne-au-Perche in Normandy has built its name on it. Every March the town holds a boudin fair with an international contest, and the local charcutier Au Roi du Boudin puts a third of its weight in slow-cooked onions into each batch. In a bistro it comes browned in butter, next to sautéed apples and a heap of mashed potato.
History
Blood sausage is said to be among the oldest refined meat products in Europe, and in rural France it was made on the day of the pig slaughter, from the fresh blood. Mortagne-au-Perche turned that farm habit into a fixture. Since 1963 the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Goûte-Boudin, a brotherhood of about thirty volunteers with no ties to the meat trade, has run the Foire au Boudin there each March. One year was missed, so the fiftieth fair fell in 2014. The contest attached to it judges blind, numbered samples on colour, texture and flavour: 515 entries came in 2014, more than 500 in 2026, from French regions and from abroad, Britain, Ireland and Quebec among them. The 2027 fair is set for 19 to 21 March.
Ingredients
Preparation
The charcutier sweats a large pot of onions in fat until soft and sweet, then stirs in diced back fat, seasoning and fresh blood. The mix goes into natural casing, and the sausages poach in water held below the boil so they set without bursting. Boudin noir leaves the shop cooked and only needs heating. At home, prick it lightly and fry it over low to medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, turning it once with care, or bake it unpricked at 180 °C for 20 to 25 minutes. Many shops in Mortagne also sell flavoured versions, with apple, calvados or chilli, or smoked.
Taste
Rich and mineral from the blood, sweet from the onions, with pepper and warm spice at the end. A good one tastes more of onion than of iron.
Texture
Soft and moist, close to a firm pudding, with a thin skin that crisps in the pan. The cut surface is near black, flecked with onion and small pieces of fat.
Rituals & Traditions
Keep the water below the boil
Boudin noir splits when it boils. If you reheat it in water, keep the pot at a bare simmer for 5 to 10 minutes; in the pan, use low heat.
The eating contest at the fair
On the Sunday afternoon of the Foire au Boudin, contestants get fifteen minutes to eat as much boudin as they can. The 2014 winner managed about one and a half kilos.
