Upside-Down Black Pudding Tart, or Tarte Tatin au Boudin
Véres hurka, morcilla, kaszanka, Blutwurst, boudin noir… Black pudding, aka blood sausage or blood pudding (thank you Kelly and Mr. Three-Cookies!), exists in most European countries or maybe even in all of them. I have a confession to make: I’m a real black pudding freak. Travelling one hour only to buy a piece of good quality black pudding doesn’t scare me at all. I am always curious about a new butcher’s blood pudding and when I go abroad, I am thrilled to taste local versions.
Black pudding contains blood and it is actually the only recurrent ingredient. The shape, the animal, the binding agent, the spices or the casing depend on countries, regions or even on particular butchers. In France, where I buy my black pudding (the Swiss ones have always been disappointing), onions and fat act as “binders”, but some regions (for example Bordeaux) use rice, which is also popular in certain Spanish regions and in Hungary. British black pudding contains oatmeal, while barley and buckwheat are Polish kaszanka’s “fillers”. Not to mention various spices, herbs or offal cuts used to fill the casings.
Even though black pudding is usually cheap and considered a second-category product, I often prefer it in restaurants rather than a piece of bland, farmed salmon, an ordinary steak or another “more elegant” dish. Just like in the case of many humble products, really good black pudding is difficult to get, while disgusting, low-quality ones are galore. If you have never had it and a basic, supermarket brand is the first you taste, it might put you off this delicacy forever. From my experience a good butcher or a renowned producer is crucial and certainly more important than in the case of more expensive and more popular items.
I have almost forgotten to add that black pudding is very rich in iron and low fat versions are quite healthy. I have already heard about doctors advising black pudding to women, who apparently often lack iron.
Since I use mild black pudding, I like spicing it up and often have it on toasts with Korean gochujang paste (see the recipe here). This upside-down tart is my all time favourite black pudding dish. A couple of years ago, when I saw here, on Marmiton website, a spicy black pudding and apple tart recipe, I automatically added onions and chili and it has become practically a staple. When I have guest and prepare finger food, I simply transform this tart into small individual tartlets. The preparation is easy, quick and the softness of the filling contrasting with the crunchiness of puff pastry make this humble – ingredient – based dish almost elegant and sophisticated. I usually have it with a salad lightly seasoned with mustard vinaigrette. Of course any kind of black pudding can be used here.
Preparation: 1h30
Ingredients (serves 4 – 5):
1 puff pastry sheet (finely rolled out, to about 3 mm)
300 g blood pudding without the casing
2 medium onions
1 big apple
sweet dried pepper
hot chili (I have used here the beautiful Korean chili flakes)
salt, pepper
oil
butter
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Slice the onion, sprinkle it with salt and fry in oil until it softens.
Peel the apple and cut into 2- 3 mm slices.
Cut the black pudding into 2-3 mm slices too.
Grease a round baking dish with butter, sprinkle with chili and sweet pepper.
Cover with black pudding slices.
Put over them a layer of fried onions and apples.
Season with salt and pepper.
Cover everything with a puff pastry sheet tucking well the sides downwards.
Prick the surface with a fork.
Bake about 1 hour until it becomes golden brown.
Make sure, with a knife, that the pastry doesn’t stick to the sides of the dish.
Put a serving plate over the baking dish (bottom side up) and carefully turn the tart upside down. (Do it preferably over a kitchen sink.)
If some black pudding or apple pieces haven’t fallen into the plate, simply arrange them on the tart afterwards.
You may sprinkle it with some more chili just before serving.
Serve with a lightly seasoned salad.
I have never heard of blackpudding tart. If I saw it in a restaurant I would most certainly order it. Blackpudding (blodpudding) here contains rye etc as filler. The common ones available in supermarket is not that bad actually. I haven’t had it in a long time.
Doctors advise woman to have black pudding. I wonder how many woman follow the advise:)
Mr. Three-Cookies, I have never heard of a restaurant serving black pudding tarts, however there are many recipes on internet, so I suppose it’s one of the typical home dishes. I admit I have had supermarket-bought good black puddings too, but there are some low-quality brands which make awful black puddings. On the other hand, I have never had an awful black pudding from a butcher, that is why I think buying cheap, mass-produced black pudding is risky (it’s a bit like sausages, they can be excellent but they can be very bad).
I don’t need any doctor’s advice to eat regularly black pudding 🙂 Seriously, black pudding is sold at every butcher in France so I suppose many women eat it anyway.
I have never tasted any Northern European black pudding! I will remember to do this when I travel to Sweden or Norway…
So its only available at places such as ‘With a Glass Restaurant’:) Black pudding here comes in a big sausage, cut across. I can’t explain well, when I buy it next I will take a photo.
Mr. Three-Cookies, you are always welcome at With a Glass to try the black pudding tart 🙂
The black pudding you explain sounds very intriguing! I would love to taste it.
Sissi, you have brought back some serious childhood memories with this post. My parents *adored* blood pudding (that’s what we call it), and used to cook it up on the weekend as a special treat…I’m not sure if this came from my mother’s French side or my dad’s Anglo/Irish side but boy, did they like their blood pudding! I could never wrap my head around eating blood but I will say two things: perfect choice for Halloween; and, you continue to inspire me with your creativity and inventiveness – this is one cool tart!! Love the apple and the hot chili over the pudding. Seriously fantastic (my dad is smiling from above) 🙂
Thank you, Kelly. I hope I haven’t brought back your childhood nightmares. I loved fried black pudding as a child (with lots of fried onion!) and I think the only “meaty” thing I hated were stewed chicken stomachs. (I also always loved tripe so as an adult I am very adventurous with new food discoveries).
You will not believe me, but I have forgotten it’s Halloween… We don’t really celebrate it here (even though shop owners do everything to make money out of it and make it as popular as St Valentine’s day has become in hardly a couple of years).
There’s a show my husband loves to watch, it’s called “Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Foods”, he travels the world and taste the food globally, some might seem very odd to Americans, but he’s open minded and usually enjoys them very much so. I’ve seen him eating black pudding numerous times, though personally I have yet to try it. Thanks for sharing your recipe and opening up my horizon!
Haha! I must tell my French family black pudding is considered “bizarre food” in the US! (Some might not believe me). I thought it was also popular in the USA… Seriously, I can understand when someone learns it’s made of blood, it might be difficult to taste, but then so many people have rare steaks which leave a puddle of warm blood on the plate… I’m sure many Americans don’t mind rare steaks. Blood pudding is at least well cooked 😉
I can’t imagine too many Americans being interested in eating blood pudding, but I’m for one am not going to turn it down. But maybe that is simply the German in me. 😉
I am happy you are also a black pudding fan. I thought that with all the European immigrants (I don’t know about black pudding traditions from other continents) there would be lots of different black puddings sold in the US.
The problem is that during the “second” post war period, so much of the old world foods were run out of town by “wonderfully delicious, and tasty” mass produced foods that many Americans forgot what really food was. It took a food revolution that started with Julia Childs and continues today to start reeducating Americans about the “alternative” possibilities with food. 🙂
Thank you for this explanation. I have never been to the US, but what you say reminds me the moment when Nami (Just One Cookbook) said her fish served with head on scared some of the readers. It really surprised me.
You know you are totally right! Though I am not a big fan of rare steak, in fact I hardly ever eat steak, when I do splurge, it’s Medium Well Filet Mignon, and for people who know their beef, I am the type of person who is not worthy to have this delicious piece of meat, since the longer cooking time supposedly messes up the taste.
Jeno, I also don’t like rare steaks (don’t like the texture and the taste), but I love steak tartare which is completely raw. On the other hand I love rare lamb chops… You made me smile: some French restaurants will refuse to make a well-done steak if they have really excellent quality of beef (luckily I could always save my face asking for steak tartare 😉 ).
I love some Chinese dishes with blood and other ‘organs’, but i simply can’t imagine it as a pudding.. didn’t know europeans like parts too, i thought it’s only the chinese that eat every single part of an animal! as delicious as you described it, sorry i might have turn this one down
Shannon I have no idea why it’s called “pudding”. It’s simply a sausage. I hope one day you taste a good black pudding and enjoy it!
The chinese have coagulated pig’s blood in certain dishes. I used to like them in some curried noodles but these days I get queasy just looking at it. I doubt I’d go for black pudding. I’d have to be a vampire to like that. Strange how tastes change.
Ping, I have never had coagulated blood dishes, but I am sure I would love to taste some. I am quite adventuruos when it comes to tasting new food (although there are limits of course). I know taste changes, but in my case it means I like a wider range of food products and dishes than, say, 10 years ago.
I love black pudding. SportsG is right, you don’t see it often here in the states and it’s not something most Americans seek out. But I got turned onto it when we went to Ireland. Man that stuff is good. Great looking dish!
Thank you, Greg! I’m happy you’re a fan too! (Third man who comments and only third fan… Now I understand why waiters mix up our orders when my husband takes fish and me black pudding 😉 )
I do quite like black pudding – although the flavour can be quite overwhelming sometimes. I never tried it until a few years ago… the idea of such a thing seemed so disgusting to me, but then I tried the English version and I was sold. The English and Irish one is very good… has rye, oats, some other bits inside as filler and it’s very solid and holds its shape excellently when cooked. The French Boudin Noir always seems to disintegrate if you try and do the same thing (cut in slices and fry). Did you ever try a white pudding? I guess it’s a little like a boudin blanc although again, in my opinion the Brits and Irish have it beat.
I would have never have thought of putting it into a tarte like this – but after all, it’s like a sausage so why not?! It looks delicious – golden crispy pastry, big slices of onion… a definite winner! 🙂
Thank you Charles for the compliments.
I am far from being a fan of the French black pudding too. I find it too soft just like you say. It is impossible to fry and obtain the crunchy crust 🙁 Polish black pudding is perfect for this (it’s filled with barley or buckwheat) and every time I go to the Polish shop in Paris I buy 2 kgs of it and freeze it. (Imagine how funny it looks: I bring tons of Polish food from Paris).
I will surprise you but one of the best black puddings I have ever had was an English one. It was a full English breakfast in a London café and the pudding was excellent: spicy and slightly hot (!) and I loved oats filling. It was crunchy too… On the other hand I bought once a supermarket basic brand of English pudding and it was awful, so I suppose I had a good quality one in London 🙂 I still remember the café.
Maybe this is why I make toasts and tarts with French pudding? It is impossible for frying. It could be worse though (e.g. Swiss black pudding).
This tart with Polish/British black pudding would be a pure delight!
I hate white pudding in France, but have never tried it anywhere else. Does it exist in Britain too? I am sure it is a winner!
Oh yeah, it’s amazing – white pudding can be bought next to black puds in stores and it’s pretty much the same (same solid texture, oats or something etc), except of course it’s pork meat instead of blood. I find boudin blanc has a really horrible spice mix which smells like melting plastic and chemicals… really not good 🙁
I absolutely must taste it next time I go to Britain! I am so happy we both agree French black pudding is far from being the best (and white pudding is simply tasteless, it’s 90% breadcrumbs and awful spices). I think you would enjoy Polish black pudding. It’ also well spiced, lots of herbs, like the British one.
Sissi, so interesting this black pudding pie…my husband will never touch it…as for me, I love the ones that are served in Chinese dim sums…and I never thought that was eaten in other places.
Hope you have a wonderful week ahead and thanks for this post.
Thank you, Juliana. I have been eating blood pudding since I was a child, so I have never found it scary or disgusting. I didn’t know it was served in Chinese dim sums! (I have never seen it in Chinese restaurants here). Have a great week too!
What an interesting way to use black pudding! And pairing it with apples makes it sound so good! I almost tried blood pudding when I visited Europe, but I got scared and didn’t want to order it as my full meal and not like it, so I went with something I knew… maybe one day I’ll get brave and try it! Especially if it looks as good as this!
Thank you, Stefanie. I totally understand you. I prefer tasting things from others’ plates rather than risking to ruin my meal 😉
Come to think of it: Did you ever try the different kinds of german blodd pudding of Blutwurst? Spicy as gingerbread, more mild spiced with majoram, with chilli or pepper, soft, hard, medium firm, fat not as fat.? I like the firmer and spicy kind of Blutwurst very much.
Kiki, I have never tried any kind of German blood pudding, all these varieties sound fantastic! I always prefer the firmer and spicier black pudding and I like it hot. (That it why I sprinkle it often with chili or have it with gochujang).
Hot Blutwurst (blood pudding) is a very traditional recipe in Cologne. It is served with baked apples or apple sauce and potatoe mash. This dish is called “heaven and earth”. Heaven are apples, earth potatoes and the blood pudding may be the twilight zone (for some tourists for sure – laugh) .
I had a very nice blood pudding for breakfast in england too (in a B&B in Bath).
Kiki, thank you for the dish explanation. The French have always apples with their black pudding, but I prefer it with fried onion, so I have combined them both here 🙂
From what I have read in the comments, many people might consider black pudding as the twilight zone indeed 😉 (I must say I was surprised, I didn’t know for some people it was in the “tripe” category).
Now I have a second serious reason to visit Germany (the first was dry Riesling…).
Besides twilight zone: I always wonder: do people think steak grows neatly in plastic wrapping only? People in former times ate up the whole pig including intestines, organs and blood. Blood pudding is a very old dish. It was always a highly praised and welcomed dish when a pig has been slaughtered. In my mothers region there is a kind of blood pudding known since early medieval times. Some inn serves it in the x generation since x century. It is made of blood, pig faces, belly fat, rye flour, raisins and spices as allspice, ginger, gloves (just don’t tell the people what they are eating right now…). Only available during winter, because winter was pig butchering time . But I must confess – I have problems with tripes. It is the smell or rather the memory of smell/stench when my grandmother cleaned and cooked tripes, not the tripes itself which makes me sick. And I absolutely hate ragout made of lung, heart and liver but it is the lung texture which gives me the hives (this dish is famous for austrian kitchen called Beuscherl – guess tourist in Vienna don’t know what they are going to eat when ordering). So I know this kind of twilight zone feeling too 🙂
Kiki, you are right, most people even forget the animal they eat has been killed, they buy neatly packaged meat, gutted, scaled fish. Even fish heads become scary.
I think food fears are also linked with childhood experience. I used to fish as a child, so a fish head would never be scary for me. Childhood eating habits are also important: some love tripe but are afraid to taste oysters and vice versa. On the other hand I wasn’t brought up with oysters and snails, but have always dreamt of tasting them and have instantly fallen in love, so it must be a bit more complicated than just cultural elements. Food fears and preferences are very complex and fascinating. The attitude I try to have with food is tasting and then saying I like or not.
(I also hate offal ragoût (I know the chicken stomachs’ ragoût). I think I also have a problem with texture here.)
I’ve made something very similar once (with scone dough) and it was really delicious. your upside-down tart looks really appetizing. A great idea!
Cheers,
Rosa
Thank you so much, Rosa!
Yes, we do call it Blutwurst here in Germany…! Unfortunately it’s one of the few (or maybe ‘many’ ;)?? since I am actually a quite choosy eater) things that I ‘don’t want’ to eat. My husband and his family don’t eat Blutwurst either. Actually in Asian countries we have something similar too, called ‘blood jelly’ (I think), and usually it’s eaten in soups, like in Vietnam and Thailand or grilled and then eaten as side dishes, etc. But I shouldn’t write so much about this because my knowledge about blood jelly is really quite limited…;)!
It’s funny: apart from Rosa (and me), only men are black pudding fans here 😉
German black pudding is still something I have to taste! Blood jelly sounds much less appealing than a blood sausage.
Wow, this is totally new to me..blood pudding! My ex in laws were German but I had not heard of them referring to black pudding. So interesting, I love learning about new ingredients!
Thank you, Linda! I hope you will have an occasion to taste good blood pudding one day.
Eep! Blood? Really? I had no idea. Well, this was perfect to feature on Halloween. 🙂 Nonetheless, this cake looks delicious, Sissi. Great job. 🙂
Thank you, Caroline. (Actually I realised it was Halloween only after posting it 😉 )
actually, i’ve never tried black pudding. i think i’ll liek it though (: i love haggis and liver and kidneys and such. yum.
Thank you Shuhan, I would love to taste good haggis (I have heard it’s delicious and a bit similar to black pudding).
Interesting way of serving black pudding and i wouldn’t mind having some as it looks delicious! A friend once told be that white pudding(essentially a black pudding without blood) is ‘higher class’ than black pudding. no idea how true this is though.
Thank you, Sylvia. I have only had French white pudding several times. It is mainly made with breadcrumbs and chicken meat, but I always found it tasteless (however it costs lots of money compared to the very cheap black pudding).
However, Charles (from 5 Euro Food) says British white pudding is delicious. I would love to taste it.
i have never ever heard about this type of dish, let’s call it so.
I was born in Europe and by 20 I visited most of the countries. Somehow I have never seen/heard/tasted anything like it.
looks great tho! so perfect for Halloween!
Thank you, Roxana. You haven’t probably visited butchers during your European trips 😉 Black pudding is not something you find easily in every restaurant (although in France most traditional simple restaurants serve it, I know because I have been having it for many years). All the butchers in France, in Poland and I think in Germany have black pudding (supermarkets too). Same for Switzerland (at least where I live). On my last visit to Hungary I stumbled upon it at the second butcher’s stall and apparently it wasn’t even the black pudding season. And in most countries black pudding’s consumption is lower than say 10 years ago… (people prefer hamburgers with very strange, but invisible meat cuts 😉 )
It depends also in which countries you travelled and how (I haven’t visited all the European countries, so I only can say most countries have it).
It’s funny because someone told me recently he saw it in Romania while he lived there.
I’ve never heard of this before too, like almost everyone but these really looks very interesting! I am sure they taste as heavenly too; they just have that mysterious feel to it 😉
Thank you, Christy. It does taste heavenly… especially with lots of chili 🙂
This looks good but I doubt I will eat it. The chinese also have variation of this, usually pigs blood that has been solidified and cut into cubes. I have tasted a little before but found that it had little taste or flavour. As such, I’ve never warmed up to blood since it has a fair bit of cholesterol as well and if it wasn’t as tasty, I would give it a miss.
In black pudding everything depends on seasoning (that is why I said supermarket brands can be really disgusting, because they don’t put their heart into it).
I prefer black pudding well seasoned, preferably even hot, that is why the French version is not my favourite and I always add lots of chili. Somehow, even without chili, I crave it quite often.
Honestly I havent tried black pudding yet but we have dishes that make use of blood, I will certainly try this one, I am adventurous when it comes to food.
Thanks, Raymund. I am happy you are adventurous too!
It’s interesting how French call it black pudding – I mean “pudding” part. If there was no explanation about this dish and just the picture, I may not realize it’s sausage because of the color and on a tart. VERY interesting and I learned a lot by reading everyone’s comments and your responses. I can imagine visiting Europe, especially in markets will be an eye opening experience. Take me to some cool places when I visit you one day! 😉
Nami, I think it was the most surprising post for me. First, I have really forgotten it was Halloween (it’s not rally celebrated here, apart from certain foreigners’ community), so I felt it was magic to post it on Halloween. Secondly, I was surprised how many people were scared by black pudding (I don’t know why it’s called like this in English; pudding always makes me think of sweet dishes; blood sausage is more logical). Even though I know people who are not huge fans of black pudding, I don’t know anyone who would be disgusted by it. I even remember having invited once Korean friends for a typically French dinner and serving this tart. They loved it and said in Korea they have a fresh blood soup, apparently perfect for hangovers 😉 That is probably why I haven’t suspected so many people would be put off by my tart. (Actually the more I talk about it, the more I want to have some black pudding tonight!).
I would love to see you so much here! I would show you the best of the French cuisine and products I know (the Swiss ones too, but it would be a bit shorter 😉 ). Happy birthday once more!!!!!
This is absolutely new! 🙂
Thanks, Giulia! So it means no blood sausage in Italian cuisine?
There are many blood sausages, but I never ate them (I think they became illegal) and I never saw them on a tarte tatin!
How exciting! I must look for this illegal stuff when I go to Italy 😉
I’m with you on loving GOOD black puddings. I’ve yet to find a really good local supplier, here on the coast. The best ones I’ve eaten have been from Bury, in the north west of england. Simply superb.
I’d never have thought to make a tart from them either, so thank you. I still adore the way my mum used to cook them – whole in gently simmering water for about 15-20 minutes. They fell aprat when opened……
Thank you so much, Claire! I have really enjoyed the British black pudding I had: it’s firm and full of spices and herbs. The French one’s consistency makes it impossible to fry (it never becomes crunchy outside), it’s also not very spicy or hot, so I am a bit forced to look for the recipes I can adapt. Whatever the black pudding, I think every type would work perfectly in this tart. (The good English one would be even better of course!).