How do you recognize a good white pudding (and what to cook it with)?

Born in the Middle Ages, the white pudding has continued to grow to become today a respected and respectable charcuterie, celebrated throughout France.

But what's in it?

It is a very delicate recipe, unlike black pudding which is a stew, linked to blood, with fat.

With the white pudding, it's a fine stuffing, it's very delicate.

And better not to buy it anywhere.

>> Find all of Laurent Mariotte's shows in podcast and replay here 

What is a good white pudding made of?

In large industrial stores, it is inflated with starch, barely 30% of meat is found.

The best is therefore to go to the butcher, where it sells on average around 3.50 euros.

A good white pudding should be tied, supple and soft.

It is an alchemy that is not easy to do.

And when the blood sausage is good, the charcutier is good.

In general, it is found in pigs.

It can also be found in veal or poultry.

But historically, it's up to the pig.

It is often linked with a little breadcrumbs, hot milk, spices and a lot of vegetables, which will bring this binder, this smoothness.

>>> Discover our gastronomy newsletter

Receive our newsletter "A table!" Every Sunday at 10 am

to excel behind the stove with recipes, advice and tips & tricks from Laurent Mariotte, his columnists and his guests.

Subscribe here

In France, there are good sausages.

In Rethel, in the Ardennes, you can find a very famous one, for example: it consists only of pork, first choice, raised locally, fresh milk, salt, gray and white pepper, shallots, natural casings and fresh eggs.

At home, no crumbs of bread, therefore, unlike other traditions.

How do you make white pudding? 

It is actually a fairly technical recipe, requiring meticulous work.

"The first step is grinding the meat. We will make it like a fine paste, we really chop the meat. We add eggs, infused milk that we simmer for about thirty minutes with vegetables. Then we will remove the vegetables because we really want to extract only the milk ", described on Europe 1 Joffrey Mauvignier, butcher in Merignac (Gironde), where we pass the recipe for blood sausage from father to son since 1963. "Then we are going to pour this milk a little warm, at about 60 to 65 degrees, which we have incorporated into the lean matter of pig and eggs. And finally, we will add alcohol, cognac, armagnac ", continues the specialist. 

What to cook white pudding with? 

For example, it can be cooked with mussels.

We slice it into small pieces, we fry them to caramelize.

We take mussels, throw them in the pan: the mussels open.

You can then add a touch of cream or white wine.

We make a small reduction, we accompany blood sausage and mussels: this gives an iodized side, with the softness and suave of the sausage.

You can also do it with chanterelles, chestnuts, which can be reduced in a small broth, by cooking everything in the same pan.

Be careful, however, that it does not explode during cooking.

With a medium heat, high, but not too strong anyway, therefore.