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WHITE PUDDINGS (another way) (Take the fry of a small)
Take the fry of a small, freshly-killed pig, with half a pound of fresh pork and half a pound of the inner fat of the pig. Mince all finely together, and mix thoroughly with a handful of fresh parsley-leaves, two sage-leaves, a sprig of chervil, and a moderate-sized onion, all chopped small. Take three ounces of the stale crumb of bread, grate finely, and boil it to a pulp in half a pint of milk; beat it with a wooden spoon, and add a heaped tea-spoonful of salt, half a tea-spoonful of powdered sugar, a tea-spoonful of white pepper, half a tea-spoonful of dry mustard, as much grated nutmeg as will lie on a threepenny-piece, a pinch of powdered coriander-seed, and a tea-spoonful of grated lemon-rind. When the seasoning ingredients are thoroughly mixed with the boiled bread, stir in the minced meat, and bind the mixture together with the well-beaten yolks of two eggs and the white of one, and work in one ounce and a half of dried flour. A small piece of garlic may be added to the other ingredients, if the flavour is not objected to. Three-parts fill some well-prepared pigs-skins with the mixture, and tie them firmly in links about six inches in length. Be careful to leave room for the mixture to swell. Put the puddings into warm water, let them boil, then simmer gently for two hours. As they swell prick them with a needle to let out the air. Hang them in a cool situation. When wanted, cover with buttered paper and broil the puddings over a clear fire; remove the paper, and serve very hot. Time to broil the puddings, about twenty-five minutes.
A boudin blanc in the British style: offal and pork bound with a milk-and-breadcrumb panada, filled into casings, poached, then grilled to order. Two details govern success — a gentle poach that never boils, and casings filled only three-quarters full.
- "The fry of a small pig"The fry (also called the pluck or haslet) is the liver, heart and lights of the freshly killed animal, sometimes with the sweetbreads. Pig lung cannot legally be sold for food in the United States, so in practice this means liver and heart. The recipe gives no weight; a small pig's liver and heart together will come to somewhere in the region of 1½–2 lb. Ask a butcher in advance, and use them very fresh.
- Inner fatThe "inner fat of the pig" is leaf fat (flare fat) from around the kidneys — firm, mild, and the traditional choice for white puddings. Back fat is a workable substitute; do not use rendered lard, which will not hold as discrete flecks in the mince.
- MeasuresHalf a pint here is the imperial half-pint, 10 fl oz or a scant 1¼ US cups. A threepenny-piece was about 16 mm across, so the nutmeg amounts to roughly ⅛ teaspoon. A teaspoon of white pepper for about 2½ lb of meat is assertive but not out of line for the period.
- The panadaBoiling the grated crumb in milk to a smooth pulp and beating it with a wooden spoon is what keeps the pudding tender rather than crumbly. Let it cool to room temperature before the meat and egg go in, or the yolks will set in streaks.
- Filling and prickingThree-quarters full is not conservative advice — the panada swells considerably. Overfilled links split during the poach and the filling is lost. Prick with a fine needle as they rise, not a fork, which tears the casing.
- Poach, do not boilSimmer, do not hard-boil -- The recipe brings the puddings up in warm water and lets them come to the boil, then holds them at a gentle simmer for the two hours; around 175°F is enough, and a rolling boil bursts the links and drives the fat out. The centre should reach 160°F, which a two-hour simmer passes comfortably.
- Storage"Hang them in a cool situation" assumes a cold larder and a household that ate them within a day or two. These are cooked, uncured and unsmoked, with no preservative beyond salt. Cool them quickly, refrigerate, and use within three days, or freeze.
- BroilingThe original means grilling over coals. The buttered paper is a jacket against scorching — the pudding is already cooked and only needs heating through and colouring. Twenty-five minutes suits a slow bed of embers; over a modern gas grill or in a pan, ten minutes turning often is nearer the mark.
- YieldAround 3 lb of filling, giving eight to ten six-inch links — supper for six to eight with potatoes or apple.
White puddings are the bloodless half of the pig-killing pair, bound with cereal, breadcrumb or oatmeal and eggs instead of blood. They belong to a broad European family that includes the French boudin blanc, the Scots mealie or white pudding of oatmeal and suet, and the Irish version still sold beside black pudding in butchers' shops. The recipe belongs to the annual autumn or winter pig-killing: offal spoils faster than the rest of the carcass, which is likely why the recipe specifies "freshly-killed" in the first line. The seasoning — no mace, but heavy on nutmeg, coriander, mustard and lemon rind — is characteristic of nineteenth-century English forcemeat generally, and the optional garlic, offered apologetically "if the flavour is not objected to", suggests a period when British cookery kept that ingredient at arm's length.