# Why do Americans call our Black Pudding "Blood Pie"? And why the hostility towards **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254 "2008-10-09T23:49:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/81 "2008-10-10T19:05:43Z")
> [@slaphead](#): > > Well, having had both black pudding and boudin noir, I have to say that in this area the french version is not nearly as nice. Of course, given the variations in terroir, it may just be the Parisians that insist on making it the consistency of a squishy turd, with very little flavour. Umm. . . . That wasn’t a sausage. :eek: 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/82 "2008-10-10T19:27:16Z")
Ok thanks guys. I’ll give it a go this weekend. I’ll have to stop by the store to pick up a few things. Hopefully I can get some marrowfat peas but I have a few stores in mind that might carry those. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/83 "2008-10-10T19:31:14Z")
> [@chowder](#): > > Be sure to use marrowfat and not garden peas. > > Soak the peas for a few hours, bring to the boil and simmer until most but not all the peas have turned mushy. > > Enjoy Make that dried marrowfats:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/84 "2008-10-10T19:43:12Z")
> [@straykat23](#): > > Visiting relatives in Limerick and being served the puds for breakfast, white pudding to me tasted like warm liverwurst, black pudding was nearly inedible. I managed though, but my daughter, eleven at the time, carefully explained that we ‘weren’t used’ to the puddings. We were never served them again. > > Anyone wondering about haggis? Here’s a recipe from “A Feast of Scotland,” by Janet Warren, 1979. > > 'Nuff said. I think I liked it better when i didn’t know what was in there. And what the hell are “lights of a sheep”? ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/85 "2008-10-10T19:45:11Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > I think I liked it better when i didn’t know what was in there. And what the hell are “lights of a sheep”? “Lights” are lungs. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/86 "2008-10-10T19:46:56Z")
Can you get Jell-o brand frozen black pudding pops in the UK? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/87 "2008-10-10T19:55:59Z")
> [@chowder](#): > > What English speaking nation has not embraced, nay welcomed, that most British of culinary delights…Fish n’ Chips with, and I hasten to add, MUSHY peas. I have a serious philosophical objection to mushy peas – they’re misnamed. “Mushy” peas would be peas that are soft. Most canned peas are mushy. What the English eat with their fish and chips should properly by called “mashed peas,” just like mashed potatoes. ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/88 "2008-10-10T20:05:38Z")
As has been noted, to the average American culinary adventure means trying a new chain restaurant. For example, lots of people wouldn’t even consider eating liver and view it as something grandma ate when they went out to dinners. I tend agree with Bourdain that the “blood and nasty bits” tend to be among the most incredibly tasty parts of an animal. I admit I had a bit of a squick factor the first time I made kidney. Now it’s a regular part of my menu at home. Same with liver, blood pudding, heart and tongue. The nice thing about organ meats and the like being so unpopular over here, if you can find them they tend to be pretty darn cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/89 "2008-10-10T20:11:25Z")
> [@](#): > > **Acsenray:** What the English eat with their fish and chips should properly by called “mashed peas,” just like mashed potatoes. Ah, then we do have mushy peas here in America. We sell them in tiny glass jars with Gerber printed across the front. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/90 "2008-10-10T20:11:57Z")
> [@FallenAngel](#): > > I tend agree with Bourdain that the “blood and nasty bits” tend to be among the most incredibly tasty parts of an animal. You’d like [this restaurant](http://www.stjohnrestaurant.co.uk/menus/) then. The head chef/owner, Fergus Henderson, is an offal evangelist. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/91 "2008-10-10T20:17:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That might be part of it. There also seems to be a divide on how we view organ meats: Liver is the stereotypical “eww” meal here, and you won’t see steak and kidney pie in the US. Although liver is fairly easy to get in the US, but it always seems to be beef liver. When I worked in a butcher’s shop in the UK as a teenager, we sold beef liver for dog food. Lamb and pork liver is much tastier. > [@Chronos](#): > > Another factor is the reputation Brits have of boiling everything, which is a surefire way of reducing many foods to tasteless mush. I don’t know how accurate that perception is anymore, though: This Brit likes his vegetables steamed and still crisp, but often here in the deep south the vegetables are boiled to mush, so this is a reverse of the stereotype. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/92 "2008-10-10T20:22:34Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > Although liver is fairly easy to get in the US, but it always seems to be beef liver. When I worked in a butcher’s shop in the UK as a teenager, we sold beef liver for dog food. Lamb and pork liver is much tastier. Calf’s liver is quite good if it’s served pink, but I do prefer lamb and pork. Overcooked liver is awful, wherever it’s from. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/93 "2008-10-10T20:25:27Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > Although liver is fairly easy to get in the US, but it always seems to be beef liver. When I worked in a butcher’s shop in the UK as a teenager, we sold beef liver for dog food. Lamb and pork liver is much tastier. Agreed. Chicken livers are even better, being extremely cheap to acquire. Pan fry them with some chopped shallots and a hint of garlic, mush the mixture up, and spread on toast. A glass of something robust, and that’s a perfect snack/meal. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/94 "2008-10-10T20:59:12Z")
> [@Szlater](#): > > “Salt & Vinegar” flavoured crisps are indeed good, but they have their tiny potatoey asses kicked by “Cheese & Onion”, “Prawn Cocktail” and “Smoky Bacon” flavoured crisps. Prawn Cocktail? Are you having me on? ---
**Author:** ![Wash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9dc877/32.png) [@Wash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wash)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/95 "2008-10-10T21:29:14Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > I think another reason people are notoriously wary about British cuisine is that they’ll do things like [deep-fry Mars bars](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep-fried_Mars_bar) – something which most other people would be incapable of even conceiving of, I believe. I’ve also heard of deep-fried pizza slices. :eek: This has been brought up already, but you might want to check some of the things they’re frying up at the [State Fair of Texas](http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/090208dnmetfriedfoods.33839923.html). Deep fried grilled cheese sandwich is a heart attack on a plate (yet sounds incredibly tempting…) ---
**Author:** ![TheBoltEater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/96 "2008-10-10T21:31:29Z")
> [@chowder](#): > > No, no, no!!! > > We have mushy peas WITH F n C not on. > > If you have never tried mushies with a sprinkling of vinegar then you’ve missed a treat my friend. > > BTW when I say chips I mean chips, big fat juicy fuck off buggers, none of those faggoty things you call chips…scrawny bastard excuses for 'em is all If your profile didn’t say you were from Manchester I would swear you were about to sing The Greasy Chip Butty Song. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/97 "2008-10-10T21:33:16Z")
> [@](#): > > BTW I would like to try them with vinegar but what kind of vinegar? Regular white vinegar or malt vinegar or some other kind? Lemme know and I’ll make some this weekend. White vinegar is a cleaning agent, not a foodstuff. The whole point of vinegar is that it can act as a vehicle for so many wonderful subtle flavors. What particular subtle flavors you want varies from food to food, but you never want white vinegar. And lest I gave the wrong impression before, I personally do like liver, and I imagine that I’d like kidney, too, if I ever had a chance to try it. Organ meats are widely regarded as yucky by Americans other than me and a few others. > [@](#): > > Prawn Cocktail? Are you having me on? Perhaps you should clarify what you think is meant by that, because it doesn’t seem at all out of place as a snack flavoring to me. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/98 "2008-10-10T21:40:16Z")
My mom used to make liver & onions when we were young. Not my favorite dish, but now that I’m older, I really don’t think I’d have any problem eating that. Do they still sell liver? I’ve never looked. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/99 "2008-10-10T21:47:52Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Prawn Cocktail? Are you having me on? Not at all, prawn cocktail flavour crisps have been on the shelves for some time now. Matter of fact there are so many bloody flavours it’s got to the stage where Walkers Crisps are offering a prize to anyone who can come up with a new flavour. **acsenray** : Nossir, there is a world of difference between mushy and mashed. We really need\*\* mangetout\*\* to put in an appearance here ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254/100 "2008-10-10T22:01:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Perhaps you should clarify what you think is meant by that, because it doesn’t seem at all out of place as a snack flavoring to me. In America, nothing is prawn flavored, except shrimps. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-americans-call-our-black-pudding-blood-pie-and-why-the-hostility-towards/467254.md?page=6)