Flanner's knowledge of American steak is about equal to TPAYT's knowledge of black pudding as of Aug 29, 10 at 2:41pm.

My DH tried it and liked it, UNTIL I told him what was in it and then he suddenly decided he hated it. But he loves scrapple - you may not be familiar with that unless you live in certain areas of the US (here they describe it as made with "everything but the oink")
I don't taste the blood - if anything I'm not crazy about the texture - can be a little mushy sometimes.

I just had black pudding, and white pudding this morning for the first time. The black was tasty, but the white was better. If someone didn't tell me that it was blood you wouldn't know it. It doesn't even remotely taste bloody or like iron.

I would recommend trying it. I did....

All right, I'll bite. What is White Pudding made of?

I prefer white pudding (same as black..with no blood). Better quality pork = better taste! Not all black/white puddings taste the same :)

If you see black pudding with scallops on a menu I urge you to try it. It really is a wonderful pairing.

What's white pudding? here you are:

http://www.scottishrecipes.co.uk/white_pudding.htm

here in Cornwall you can get something called "hog's pudding" which is white[ish] and like white pudding, but made with minced pork, like a sausage.

both will probably appeal to the squeamish more than black pudding does.

Oh, lovely Annig; "-- traditional Scottish recipes for white pudding also used to contain sheep brain matter which was used as a binding agent rather than for its flavour."

:-(

In answer to the OP - should you try black pudding? Yes of course you should. If you don't like it leave it - but who knows you may enjoy it.

traditional Scottish recipes for white pudding also used to contain sheep brain matter which was used as a binding agent rather than for its flavour.">>

yes, that does sound yummy, nukesafe. i love the throwaway line about the sheeps' brains being used for binding rather than flavour.

In the upper part of South Carolina and perhaps in adjacent parts of Georgia, NC and Tennessee, you can buy "liver pudding", made from pig livers, pig lungs ("the lights"), corn meal, red pepper and onion. Not all that different from scrapple. Of course most of the residents of this area came from Scotland or Ulster, so they just adapted.

I know when I go to Ireland later this year, I plan on trying it. Of course, I like my "American" steaks extremely rare, so I don't mind the blood :) Whenever I make it to Scotland I plan on trying the haggis as well!

People eat this stuff all the time, it's popular because they like it.
If it's there eat it and don't think about what you don't like about it. If you're an American, you've eaten stuff that is a less tasteless and a lots more dishonest. What do you think goes into lunch meat and sausage?

Don't assume that because I am an American I eat tasteless and dishonest food. That is like saying all Koreans eat dog meat. Perhaps they do, I don't know, so wouldn't assume it.

My mother never bought or served lunch meat nor do I. As for dishonest food, well you just have to be vigilant and know your vendors. We all aren't drowning in a sea of chemicals and additives. Such an arrogant assumption.

We've eaten it every time we've been to Ireland. One B&B in Galway didn't serve it because, the owner said, not everyone liked it. (I don't care for fried tomatoes, but one was on my plate.) DH said he really liked it, so the next morning she served it to just us. Another guest saw it and asked for it.
But we like scrapple, too.

TPAYT, I must have had black pudding in Ireland at breakfast - didn't know exactly what I was eating. But I did try haggis in Scotland and suvived.

When I am in Ireland, I like to concentrate on the salmon, brown bread (unlike Boston brown bread), and delicious hearty vegetables especially turnips mashed with carrots. Love the roast lamb too. You will enjoy the food in Ireland...

I love the full Irish breakfast and the black and white pudding are little sliced things that do taste very grainy and are quite good, just the kind of things you'd like for breakfast, as is filling and not too spicy or sweet.

I love it but never tasted the Irish version. My grandfather
made his own, I've tasted the French which was very much like
my grandfather's.

"Blood sausage is produced in a number of different varieties in numerous regions of the world. Germany produces blutwurst, which is made of pig's lungs, chopped bacon, and various seasonings. In Spain, morcilla is a typical blood sausage that contains pig's blood, suet, and seasonings. It is produced as a heavily smoked meat or as a somewhat sweet and spicy meat. A Polish-American version of blood sausage is referred to as kishka, which is made with blood, beef and barley to be served as a breakfast sausage. Other names for this sausage that may be used are kiska, kiske, kishke, kiszka, der ma, and stuffed derma. Since each region has their own version of blood sausage, there will be a wide variety of ingredients used for making the sausage, which will cause it to vary in taste and texture."