Boudin are various types of sausages in French, Luxembourgish, Belgian, Swiss, Québécois, Acadian, Aostan, Louisiana Creole, and Cajun cuisines.
The Anglo-Norman word boudin meant “sausage,” “blood sausage,” or “entrails” in general.
Among the various existing types, there is the Boudin blanc, which contrary to popular belief, is not a chicken sausage, but rather white meats (pork, poultry, veal), and originally, it was a white pork sausage without blood.
Its variations include:
• French Boudin blanc, with milk. The following recipe is its simplified homemade version.
• The boudin blanc de Liège: a Belgian version similar to the French boudin blanc, but with marjoram and protected geographical indication.
• Cajun boudin blanc, prepared with a mixture of pork, rice, onions, and seasonings similar to dirty rice (a traditional Louisiana Creole dish made with white rice cooked with small pieces of pork, beef, or chicken, green bell pepper, celery, and onion) and stuffed into sausage casings.
Local variations may also include liver or other pork offal or other meats such as venison, alligator, and shrimp, and may vary in spiciness.
• And the boudin blanc de Rethel: a traditional French boudin, which may contain only pork, whole fresh eggs, and milk and cannot contain breadcrumbs or flours or starches.
It is protected by EU regulation with protected geographical indication status.
• Finally, the boudin ball: another Cajun variation of boudin blanc. Instead of stuffing the filling into pork casings, it is rolled into a ball, battered, and fried.
The history of boudin blanc is recent as it only appeared in its current form in the 17th century.
However, it seems to date back to the Middle Ages when it was customary to eat, before Christmas lunch, a porridge made of milk, breadcrumbs, fat, starch, and sometimes pieces of boiled ham or poultry.
It was only during the Age of Enlightenment that a cook, whose name remains unknown, had the idea of serving this preparation, making it more substantial, in pork casings so that it was worthy of being served at noble tables during Christmas lunch.
It is usually consumed both cold and hot (in a pan or grilled), cooked “naked” in butter or with its casing.
Some spicy varieties are also suitable for barbecuing.
- Difficulty: Difficult
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 6 pieces
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Boiling
- Cuisine: French
- Seasonality: Christmas
Ingredients
- Pork casing
- 7 oz chicken
- 7 oz veal
- 7 oz pork
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- 3 eggs
- 2 onions
- 6 tbsps cornstarch
- 2 cups breadcrumbs
- to taste salt and pepper
- to taste nutmeg
- to taste butter
- to taste vegetable broth
Tools
- 1 Meat Grinder
- 1 sausage stuffer
Steps
First, rinse the casings with water, then soak them in water to regain their elasticity.
Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk and, in the meantime, chop the onions and fry them in butter until they are translucent.Cut the meat into pieces and pass them through the grinder.
Then pass the soaked breadcrumbs and then the cooled onions in the same way. Keep the milk aside.
Mix the ground meat, bread, and onions.Add the eggs, milk, cornstarch, salt, pepper, grated nutmeg, mix well so that the preparation is homogeneous. If necessary, add more milk to achieve the desired consistency.
Insert the casing into the stuffer funnel, or the grinder, and push the mixture inside.
Tie the end of the casing, letting the air out.
Do not force the filling, during cooking, the bread will swell and tighten the casing.
Immerse the sausages in broth or hot water for about 20 minutes.
Cool in the broth.
Melt the butter in a pan and brown the sausages, giving them a light and even golden color.
Serve them alone or with a garnish of apples sautéed with cinnamon (as I did) or with apple compote.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
What other boudins exist?
– Boudin noir: a dark-colored blood sausage containing pork meat, pork blood, and other ingredients.
Variants of boudin noir can be found in French, Belgian, cajun, and Catalan cuisines.
The Catalan version is called botifarra negra.
In the French Caribbean, it is known as boudin Créole with local names, such as boudin rouge Antillais in Guadeloupe and infused with spices or rum.
In Britain, a similar sausage is called “black pudding“, the word “pudding” is an anglicized pronunciation of boudin and likely introduced after the Norman conquest.
– Boudin rouge: in Louisiana cuisine, a sausage similar to Cajun boudin blanc with added pork blood, though less commonly produced.
– Boudin vert: a green sausage made with pork, cabbage, and kale. Popular in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant.
– Boudin valdôtain, from the Aosta Valley, a blood sausage with red beet, potatoes, spices, wine, and beef or pork blood.
– Brown Rice Boudin: a variant made with brown rice with a similar taste to the traditional pork boudin.
