This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
Almost as old as the world, the pudding is part of the great food epic of men. Associated with several culinary cultures, declined in multiple ways, it has nourished both stomachs and imaginations. It therefore deserved that we dive into its history, made up of traditions, innovations… and a lot of passion!
Legend has it that a cook from ancient Greece, Aphtonite, was the inventor of black pudding. But the use of pig’s blood for culinary purposes probably goes back much longer, since the domestication of the wild boar, renamed pig, dates from 8000 years before our era. For lack of written records, we lend to the legendary heroes of theOdyssey, as well as to the Spartans, the preparation of black broths made of pig’s blood cooked with fat and vinegar. No one can say, however, when the idea of using the intestines of the pig as a pocket to contain this preparation emerged.
No matter, we know that the Viking conquerors, established on both sides of the Channel, including Normandy in France, popularized this dish which was pronounced in English “boudine”, a word which also designated time a big belly, a belly. During the “slaying of the pig”, the blood was thus always recovered to make black pudding, whose recipe – ⅓ of blood, ⅓ of fat and ⅓ of onions – has stood the test of time. As for the white pudding, made up of white meat, fat, eggs, milk and various fillings, its invention dates only from the Age of Enlightenment.
Life, death and rebirth of blood sausage in Quebec
When Jacques Cartier established a first colony in New France, he had pigs in the holds of his ship for breeding. As gastronomy historian Jean-Pierre Lemasson tells us in his essay Friends like pigsthe pig thus became a central source of food for the settlers here, and the Advent slaughter, a traditional festival during which all parts of the animal, including its blood, were cut up, kept and processed. , fat and offal.
Over time, the preparation of the sausage itself was increasingly left to the butchers, to focus on ways to prepare it. But this dish was part of everyday life. Louis Bouchard Trudeau, at the head of the Pied Bleu pudding institution in Quebec, remembers that when he was young, he went every week with his father to the halls to buy some. A tradition that many Quebecers still followed, whether for gluttony or for the properties of blood sausage, low in carbohydrates and rich in protein, calcium, potassium and magnesium.
Then, due to the hygienism of our North American society, the sausage almost disappeared from our counters, while it remained popular elsewhere. But he had not said his last word. At the dawn of IIIe millennium, several Quebec chefs and delicatessens have put blood pudding back on the menu. So much so that today, the Pied Bleu alone sells an average of one ton per week! “Our clientele includes young couples as well as 90-year-old seniors,” rejoices Mr. Bouchard Trudeau, a true enthusiast inducted into the brotherhood of knights of taste-boudin of Mortagne-au-Perche, the French capital of blood sausage. which organizes the contest for the best pudding in the world every year with hundreds of participants from all over.
Classic or creative pudding?
However, France does not have the monopoly of the best pudding. Across Quebec, more than 160 restaurants, butchers and charcutiers devote themselves to making this dish in classic or creative form. Le Pied bleu offers an average of six kinds to its customers, from the Norman blood sausage which respects the original recipe, to the Basque with shredded meat in the preparation, through the spicier West Indian and others with five spices. , blue cheese or stuffed with barley.
“You can be very creative with blood sausage,” says the master charcutier. There are even sweet versions, for example opera cake style. Personally, I would say that a good blood sausage is characterized above all by quality pork blood, soft inside, crispy outside and the balance of flavors. Louis Bouchard Trudeau doesn’t just produce blood sausage. He also tries to taste everyone he meets here and elsewhere… even if it means planning his trips according to the tastings he can do on site.
Like him, blood sausage enthusiasts hide in the four corners of Quebec, especially in Boucherville, the town twinned with Mortagne-au-Perche. Since 2018, under the impetus of the knights of the taste-boudin, the Association québécoise du goûte-boudin de Boucherville (AQGBB) has been struggling to advance the cause of blood sausage, encourage its artisans and stimulate its creativity. “We organize an annual competition, all-blood food outings and, since 2021, a National Blood Sausage Week with displays and menus highlighting blood sausage across the province, explains Florence Junca Adenot, co-founder of the association. Each year, we also honor two new knights of the taste-pudding (including business personality Françoise Bertrand in 2022), who become excellent ambassadors for this dish. So, do you still doubt the renewed popularity of blood sausage?
The best blood sausages in Quebec for 2022
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the To have to, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of To have to did not take part.