Bury is regarded as the home of black pudding – but as someone who does not eat meat, I have to admit I’ve never tried it.
Luckily for me though, in 2021, The Bury Black Pudding Company released a vegan version of their award-winning century old recipe.
With National Black Pudding Day this Wednesday, March 18, I thought I would mark the occasion by sampling the vegan black pudding.
The company has had a stall on Bury Market for a very long time and, in addition to black puddings, sells eggs, chickens, cheese and sausage.
Its products are also stocked in Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Co-op, Spar, Morrison’s, Iceland and Booker.
I bought my vegan black pudding in Tesco for £1.70 (Image: Ruby Watson)
But it was Tesco where I bought my vegan black pudding, for the price of £1.70.
This seems to be 40p more expensive than its meaty counterpart, as I can see the original recipe is sold on Tesco’s website for £1.30.
Their traditional black pudding includes dried pork blood, pork fat, onion and different seasonings, whereas the vegan version subs out the meaty ingredients for black beans.
Black pudding is a good source of iron because of the red meat in it, and it seems the vegan version is too, because it also has added iron in it.
Since I have never tried black pudding before, vegan or otherwise, I was not exactly sure how to cook it.
I think it is a fun alternative for those who don’t want to eat pork (Image: Ruby Watson)
Unwrapping it, the first thing I noticed was that it didn’t seem to smell of anything and appeared to have a similar texture to normal black pudding, which is almost sausage-like.
I followed the instructions on the packaging and sliced myself some discs of the stuff and fried it up for six to eight minutes until it became crispy around the edges.
Living up to its name, it grew far darker in colour in the frying pan.
It was then I realised that I should have probably marked the occasion with a full English breakfast, as this is how a lot of people choose to enjoy their black pudding, but sadly, I didn’t have the ingredients.
The company have had a stall on Bury Market for a very long time (Image: Ruby Watson)
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by both the flavour and texture.
It was savoury, but not too salty, and I liked how, although it was crispy on the outside, it was still soft in the centre.
Taste-wise, it reminded me a lot of the vegan roll from Greggs, and I could imagine it complementing a cooked breakfast very well.
I was slightly concerned it would taste just like black beans, but it didn’t at all.
The vegan version subs out the meaty ingredients for black beans. (Image: Ruby Watson)
Before trying it, I thought it would just replicate a vegan sausage, but I think the texture offers something different.
Overall, I think it is a fun alternative for those who don’t want to eat pork but still want to get their English breakfast fix.
I know a lot of people would never dream of swapping their black pudding out for a vegan alternative, but I’d urge you to be open-minded about it.
Would you ever try the vegan alternative? Let us know in the comments.
Dining and Cooking