Today is Robbie Burns day. To be honest I don’t think I had any inkling of him growing up (that’s my growing up, not his. I’m not THAT old), Newfoundland heritage is predominately Irish and English, and while I may have learned of him in school, it never stuck with me. Nowadays, his birthday is a day of Scottish celebration, and this being New Scotland, he’s pretty popular here.
One thing everyone associates with Scottish culture is haggis. I’ve had it once or twice, but to be honest was always with a few beverages, and I can’t really recall many thoughts. It does though remind me of a common thing I did enjoy growing up; white pudding and to a lesser extent blood pudding.
I’m sure wiki has the ingredients (apparently oatmeal, suet, etc), but to me white pudding has a texture similar to turkey dressing (stuffing) with lots of pepper. you could get it in sausage size as seen here or in big slices. Both ways were usually fried till the outside was a little scorched and crispy, and the inner pudding was exploding out. I liked to eat it scalding hot myself, but know people who preferred to eat it as a cold leftover.
Blood pudding or for the weak of stomach black pudding was a similar food, but additionally prepared with the blood of an animal. Yes it sounds disgusting, but it was and is in some places a tasty food.
It may not be Scottish (though I’m sure they have their variation), and its not haggis, but its not crap either! I’m sure others may remember other foods we ate back home that we rarely if ever think of now. Leave comments with yours, love to read them and bring back memories.
Raised in outport Newfoundland in a town of 65 people, I pursued a post secondary diploma in Information Technology right out of High School.
I’ve always been a geek at heart, but yet I love the rural life I grew up with. Fishing, hunting, camping and the great outdoors are still loves of mine, even if I don’t pursue them as often as I once did. Sports were always a big part of our lives, and I played many (badly) and loved them all.
