Historic and Unusual Recipes – – French Canadian Blood Pudding Recipe a.k.a Boudin

51 thoughts on “Historic and Unusual Recipes – – French Canadian Blood Pudding Recipe a.k.a Boudin”

1. My daughter works at the Quebec/Jackman border called the Armstrong -Jackman border crossing nearest Quebec City is Saint-Theophile,QC .
   She bought a log home in Jackman as she will be there 25 years til she retires as Ag Tech .
   But what is wonderful is she does most of her grocery shopping in Quebec as the foods are higher quality like they make a double raspberry jam made by smuckers but has barely any seeds nor much pectin as I remember my fathers sister who lived in Gran Mere but raised in St-Tite told me decades ago that American jam was too thick, gummy and tasteless and she is correct ! I have her pick up the foods I grew up on like blood sausage but can only find blood pudding , creton, the jams and the butters have higher fat content ! OMG if it was not so cold I would move to Quebec as I have such loving memories of my grandmother making creton, my cousin coming home after school and smelling this wonderful aroma in the kitchen and she would ask Meme what she was cooking and my grandmother picking up the lid ! Swearing at that pigs head!
   Too funny and memories of my strong grandmother who could make something beautiful out of nothing!
   I love my French Canadian heritage!

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2. hi, I just found your post– 4 year late. I was going to make ma Mimere’s boudin noir and was trying to remember details. I always helped her slaughter the pigs and catch the blood. I also helped with making the sausage. Although I grew up a few miles south of “la frontiere” in Clinton County, NY, on parla toujours francais chez nous-autres– le francais de la cuisine. la recette de ta tante looks very much like ours except that we sometimes put in oignons. I plan to try your recette really soon. I’ll let you know how it turns out. We always stuffed ours into pig intestine and I’ll probably do that as well. BTW, you should only make boudin in the fall when the chill is in the air– otherwise you could get sick (or that is at least what Mimere thought}. Another BTW, New Orleans Boudin is “boudin blanc” which is totally different: made with pork, rice and aromatic spices. It is good but is a weak sister of our boudin noir. They make both in France, but in NY, New England and La Vallee de la Richelieu and the Cantons de l’Est au Quebec I have never seen boudin blanc.

   Guillaume (Bill) Camp

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   1. When I was young – quite awhile ago – the supermarkets sold boudin. But I haven’t seen it sold in Massachusetts in years. My memere Brouillette moved from Quebec to Boston when she was young. I remember my mother buying boudin & frying it up for her when she’d visit us in Springfield. About white “boudin” – to me it’s 100% different from boudin or Black Pudding. Where’s the blood, for one thing! (Sorry I hadn’t replied before – I’ve been ill for a few years.) I very much enjoyed reading your comment!!!!! 😉😉

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3. I’m a québécoise living in Southern ÇA. It seems quite impossible to get canadienne boudin noir in the states. I can’t imagine making my own. I don’t even know where in Los Angeles I could buy fresh pig blood.
   Does anyone know where I could purchase some fresh boudin noir. BTW New Orléans boudin is not the same. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Merci

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   1. Bonjour, Francyne. Malheureusement, tu\’auras des problèmes a trouver boudin a LA. Tu peux le trouver au NY, VT, MA, NH, ME, et bien sur a Lacolle au Quebec.

      Bill

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4. My grandma made a very similar blood pudding,she also used cinnamon.she used less milk if it was going to be put in casing.Good mixed with mashed potatoes and a vegetable on the side.

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   1. My husband loved boudin fried, with a side of scrambled egga.
      I can just imagine how delicious boudin would with mashed potatoes & vegetables!
      You know, when I was young my French-Canadian grandmother used to love the boudin sold in our town. (Lots of French Canadian people in Massachusetts back when I was young.)
      And I’m pretty sure that boudain had a good amount of cinnamon ’cause I could taste it & smell it – even though I’d only have a small piece.

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5. That’s a good question – whether or not this recipe produces a ‘wet’ boudin!!
   Actually – if cooked accordng to the directions, the boudin doesn’t turn out wet.

   Isn’t it interesting recipes for boudin & meat pies etc. are often different. For instance, my mother’s family uses pork & potatoes in their meat pie. But my husband’s family uses beef, onions & spices … no potatoes & no crackers… which is what one of my aunts does!! 😉😍

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   1. My grandmother from Champlain region Quebec (Sainte-Tite) used to make Boudin Noir when the farmers butchered the animals,my dad used to tell stories on how she made something out of nothing to feed her children as her husband rarely sent home $$ from the woods where he worked as a lumberjack as he drank most of it. She was the best cook and i am happy to see a recipe for blood sausage as i have always wanted to make them. At least I will not have to clean intestines as she had to. I wonder if each region of Quebec has there own spices they use?? Thank you for your recipe.
      Cathy Veillette

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      1. So lovely to hear from you!
         Your grandmother must’ve bern a strong woman – holding everything together all by herself.
         Good question concerning different areas of Quebec possibly using different spices. I tell ya – it serms as if every French Canadian family has handed down their own version of meat pie, so I’m sure the same goes for boudin!! 😉

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6. Hi folks,

   We are slaughtering a pig this weekend and my father remembers the technique to collect the blood but doesn’t quite remember the recipe. He grew up in northern Quebec in a French family. I grew up in British Columbia but had boudin every time I visited and loved it. To my husbands horror (lol) I am attempting this recipe but feeling a little unsure of the amount of milk and no barley? Has anyone here actually tried this recipe? I’m thinking it sounds a bit wet?

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   1. Marie – i just noticed my reply to you never posted … all the way back in September…
      This recipe for boudin was written down as I prepared it with my husband’s aunt’s help – and her recipe. It doesn’t turn out wet at all.
      It’s interesting to see that some people put barley in their boudin.
      I’m going to do a bit of research onthat – I want to see what the Cajun’s put in their boudin.
      I like Louisiane boudin – but it’s nothing like the boudin in Quebec.

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      1. Now I see my reply to you did post … but it’s out of order..
         Would love to hear how the boudin turned out!!!

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7. My Father came from Magog in the Eastern Townships. We had fried pork kidneys and fried boudin every morning for Sunday breakfast. Loved going to the farm to get a fresh loaf of It. Alas I was told that butchers in ON can no longer make it due to govt rules.
   That being said I just had a big feast of fresh pork kidneys. Yummy

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   1. Hi Dianne – or should I say ‘Bonjour’?! I know exactly where Magog is – we lived in Montreal, St. Antoine de Tilly AND Sherbrook. Magog is a beautiful place!!
      I’d never eaten fried kidneys… but I did, once, eat Steak and Kidney Pie in a pub on a trip to London. I found the kidney ‘bits’ chewy but good.
      I’m sorry to hear you can no longer buy boudin in Ontario but I do understand the government’s reasoning. We no longer have our farm – and my husband’s uncle is no longer raising livestock… so it seems that’s the end for me being able to enjoy homemade blood pudding… ; o ( PS I take it you can still buy fresh pork kidneys… which I find so interesting because I don’t remember ever seeing them sold in Quebec.

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8. Beef tongue was one of our favorite dishes. It so after with an aunt who fed it to our 1 1/2 year old daughter who couldn’t get enough
   so it became a regular dinner for years until our younger children refused to even look at it! I ate blood pudding in Normandy France. We were visiting ancestral villages of my French Canadian ancestors
   it was served in a bowl.not solid like sausage they told me it was a regional dish and I had to eat it in honor of my ancestors. After learning its origin, once was enough!

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   1. Hi Annabel – thanks so much for taking the time to comment – I appreciate it! Americans are ‘funny’ about eating tongue, organ meats… and things like Blood Pudding/Sausage. I had a friend who used to LOVE tongue. She would take off the ‘skin’ (or whatever), simmer it, then put it in a bowl and press the tongue down with a can.
      Where do you live? And how do you cook beef tongue … or do you buy it already cooked. You know … my father-in-law, who was French Canadian, loved tongue. But none of his kids would even taste it. I had a tiny, tiny bite one time… which I regret now that I have a more adventuresome palate!! ; o )

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   2. Beef tongue, Pigs feet, Blood sausage and all the wonderful pork recipes like Ragout ( Spicy pork meatball in a browned flour gravy, whcih I made both the traditional with the pigs feet which I did not like as in the states the pigs feet are too big or too old and Quebec butchers have nice small pigs feet , so i just use ground pork) This all brings back memories of my dad who immigrated to the states at 17 to work along side his dad as a Lumberjack. Mom who was born in Maine but her parents immigrated to states from PEI ate different pork dishes like Pot en Pot made each christmas along with meat pie. Mom use to buy creton, blood sausage ,tongue and pigs feet for dad and another thing was tripe pickled.

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      1. Hi Cathy – I so loved reading your comments!
         I ADORE ragout!!! None of my sister-in-laws can make it as good as their mother used to. And my own mother, who loved it, never attempted making it. 😏
         Yup – I sure miss creton etc. etc. since I no longer live in Quebec.
         (If you type “farmhouse” in the searchbar above – you can see photos of our farm in St. Antoine de Tilly!)
         Thanks again for talking the time to comment. It was like having a nice little chat. 🙂

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9. Yes, today we all realize just how special our lives together were. Back then, however, we kids thought everyone led similar lives. I must have been in about 2nd grade when I got my first inkling that we were “different”, but in a good way. A boy and I were name calling and others gathered to watch. Trying to shame me, he said that my house always smelled like spaghetti. Instead of making fun of me, the kids gathered ’round. “What? You eat spaghetti all of the time? ” Of course we didn’t but with 2 families, pasta was served frequently … well, at least enough to “save” me.

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   1. How funny is THAT!! ‘Your house always smells like spaghetti’… damn – who wouldn’t love to live with you?! ; o )

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10. I dunno, my friend. By any standard, I’ve an adventurous palate and have eaten all sorts of things — save large bugs and blood sausage. I just can’t get my wrap my head around either to the point where I want to try them. You spoke of tripe. Now, that’s something I love!!!! When I was a boy, head cheese was made for my Grandpa. Once a year, I would accompany him to the farmer’s market and spend much of the time carrying a hog’s head on my shoulder as he shopped the stalls. In fact, my Zia gave me the recipe years ago as a joke. I’ve yet to prepare it. Maybe one day … 🙂

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    1. Your stories are always delightful John!! The mental picture of you carrying around the head of a pig… while your Grandpa continued shopping… is just perfect. One of the other stories which I still have in my head – and love – is you and your siblings yanking out dandelion greens after church… and hoping none of your friends drove by.
       I think children’s lives are so enriched while the ‘old country traditions’ are still strong. It’s natural they get diluted… esp. when it comes to blood pudding and head cheese … but you had such an amazing childhood. ; o )

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11. Cecile, I bet you get a lot of hits on how to make blood pudding from adventurous cooks. I do have to say though that there are somethings I would never cook in my kitchen and I’m sorry to say that blood pudding is one of them…the other tripe. Now my husband loves both but eats them both at restaurants. 😀

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    1. Does tripe smell when it’s cooking? I knew a wonderful older couple & the husband loved tripe. His eyes would roll back when he talked about Tripe with Milk Sauce! His wife would cook it – but wouldn’t eat it! ; o )

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       1. Cecile, I really don’t know as I’ve never cooked it. My sweet MIL would make it for her family but would make something different for her and I as never of use would eat it. 😀

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          1. Where is was your MIL from? Mine was from near Quebec City but she couldn’t always find ingredients she needed here in western Mass. as the French Canadian population became ‘Americanized’ and pigs’s feet and blood sausage was no longer sold in the local supermarkets.
             Pig’s feet are used in the delicious Quebecois ‘Ragu’ and the sauce is made with browned flour. There were meatballs made from pork. It was/is delicious but only one of my sister-in-laws makes it now – and very rarely.
             My husband said he didn’t like the ragu his sister made. He should’ve been happy she went to all the trouble for him.
             The same aunt with whom I made the blood pudding used to make ragu for Claude every time he went up to the family farm. That man was sooo spoiled by everyone… including me!

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             1. My MIL was from New York originally then later in her life lived in Florida.

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                1. What I actually should’ve asked is what was your MIL’s heritage. I’m curious because she used to cook tripe. So… perhaps your father-in-law was British – or from another country? (I don’t know anyone who has ever eaten tripe… except for my neighbor from England…)

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                   1. Cecile, her heritage was Italian.

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                   2. I love learning new things. And because you said your MIL was Italian, I quickly looked up Italian recipes for tripe – and do they ever look delicious. Leave it to the Italians to make something rather ‘yuck’ into something delicious. I suppose you get used to the texture etc. if you’re brought up eating it… ?? ; o )

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    2. Damn if I didn’t get several hits yesterday on the blood pudding recipe – you were right Karen! And the recipe for How to Cook a Turtle gets a few hits day in and day out – who would’ve ‘thunk it’, right!? ; o )

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       1. It is the unusual things that people want to try and go looking for recipes. I think you have a successful post on your hands. 🙂

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          1. Well…if the recipe includes pig blood or turtles… yeah! That being said, turtles are, for people who live in the country, pretty easy to come by. Fresh pig blood might be a bit more difficult to find.
             You know what… I have to remember that most countries are NOT as squeamish as Americans have come to be. And that our blogs are seen by people from all other the world. Which is just sooo cool. ; o )

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12. Although I don’t have it often, blood pudding is one of my favourites! I’m pretty sure my Dear Mom used to make the Hungarian version, so good!

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    1. Eva – how wonderful to hear that!! ; o ) I believe most cultures tried to make use of every part of an animal they had slaughtered – hence recipes like blood pudding!

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13. I ate black sausage all over the UK and Ireland. I just wasn’t impressed – it was so bland. I think that’s the problem with a lot of traditional recipes. I’d much prefer a gourmetified black sausage recipe. One with flavor! But what fun. A lovely post. Thinking of you this new year.

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    1. Thanks so much Mimi for saying this is a fun post. ; o )
       I do think the French Canadian version of blood pudding (sausage) may be less bland than the ones you ate (I won’t say ‘enjoyed LOL) in the UK.
       French Canadian food, though the ingredients are always simple, does have a lot of flavor. (I guess there’s a reason why Britain was always known for bland food… but that’s changing…. well, maybe not in the ‘sausage department’!! ; o )

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       1. I think the traditional foods are left alone, but I don’t know if that’s true everywhere. I’ve had traditional authentic bouillabaisse and cassoulet in France and thought they were terribly bland as well. But I try to sample everything just for the sake of it, and then move on!

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          1. That’s interesting – how the traditional French dishes tasted rather bland. I think our palates have changed – n’est-ce pas?
             When I was young we all really looked forward to French Canadian Meat Pie every Christmas. To us, way back then, Meat Pie was so flavorful that every bite was a delight.
             But, as the years went by, I started finding the meat pies a bit bland. Several years ago I decided to ‘up the anti’ by adding poultry seasoning. And that seemed to do the trick. In fact, my twin brother told me this Christmas that my meat pies ‘tasted just like mom’s’. And that was QUITE a compliment! ; o )

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             1. Well, I think we’ve gone from traditional food to gourmet food. I don’t know how else to say it. British food is a perfect example. They’ve certainly caught up with the rest of the world there! And traditional American was pretty bland – think southern cuisine. Everything was sweet and not very flavorful. I like eating flavor, myself!

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14. Cecile..Two years ago we purchased blood sausages from a French butcher in Bristol,Ct. .We cooked it in a red Sauce by a French relative. IT SOUNDS BETTER FRIED

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    1. What kind of red sauce? I hope you don’t mean spaghetti sauce – YUCK!!!
       I remember my mother’s mother (my Grammy Broullette, who’s Meat Pie recipe I posted here a few years ago, eating it fried when she came to visit us in Agawam. I doubt if she ever saw Blood Pudding (sausage) sold where she lived near Boston.
       My ‘grammy’ was born in St. Foy, which as you know, is a section of Quebec City. So she ‘loved her some Blood Pudding’!!

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15. Cecile..we enjoyed reading your recipe. Hope you are not insulted if I say I will never make this. Rich is not a fan. Thank God for small favors!

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    1. Well… you may change your mind… if and when you have a large (and fat) dead pig literally ‘hanging around’ your place.
       Sylvie’s husband shot the poor thing in the head – so he didn’t suffer. But pigs are very intelligent and the second pig was freaked out….
       Then the pig got hung up on the front of someone’s front loader and brought over to our friend Ful’s house.. a ways down the street.
       Claude could not believe it. Ful and Sylvie’s husband hung the pig right on Ful’s front door. Oh… the stories I have from St. Antoine de Tilly!! ; o )

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16. Interesting recipe … not that I foresee ever making the sausage myself. I vaguely recall trying it in my younger, more adventurous days. 🙂

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    1. Do you see it being sold in your ‘neck of the woods’ A? Me – I’ll try almost anything. But I just couldn’t eat any part of that poor (big & fat) piggy.

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       1. I haven’t looked but I remember my mom and dad bringing home ‘black pudding’ home from the market. There used to be a lot of European butchers selling things like this including head cheese, of course.

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          1. Oh yes – my husband’s aunt (Ma Tante) made head cheese. Once I arrived to see a pig’s head sitting in a big pot on top of the refrigerator. Now THAT’S something you don’t see every day!

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             1. I haven’t seen a pig’s head in years but I DO remember seeing it. Plus a huge beef tongue which I believe my mom cooked and added to the head cheese.

                As to making blood sausage … we can’t even buy raw milk in Ontario, I don’t think we could buy pig blood. I think people who have pigs or know people who do, can probably get it when pigs are slaughtered in the fall, but it’s not something the average householder can get.

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                1. Exactly – there’s not a lot of homemade head cheese or – blood pudding – being made any more.
                   I just remembered my father-in-law used to love tongue… lamb tongue i think. That’s another thing we don’t see anymore. He would buy it, here in the States, in a jar. We’d all gag watching him eating it..
                   British neighbors of mine, years ago, used to buy beef tongue, cook it and put it in a special press… along with the juices. They would slice the tongue and eat it in sandwiches. I’m sure it’s good. Maybe someday I’ll get to try it!

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