Pudding and souse

Ingredients

Souse (pickled pork)

• 1.5 kgpork — a mix of trotters, ears, shoulder and tongue
• 2 tbspsalt
• 3limes, halved, for washing
• 2bay leaves
• 1 sprigthyme
• 3 litreswater

Pickle

• juice of 6 limes (about 120 ml)
• 300 mlcold water
• 2cucumbers, peeled, seeded and finely diced
• 1large onion, very finely sliced
• 4spring onions, finely sliced
• 3 tbspflat parsley, chopped
• 1Scotch bonnet, seeded and minced
• 1 tbspsalt
• 1 tspblack pepper

Sweet potato pudding

• 1.2 kgwhite sweet potato, peeled and finely grated
• 1onion, grated
• 3 tbspBajan green seasoning
• ½Scotch bonnet, minced
• 80 gsugar
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• ½ tspgrated nutmeg
• ½ tspground cloves
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tbspbrowning or dark molasses
• 60 gbutter, melted
• cleaned pig intestine casings, or a greased loaf tin and foil

Directions

1. Scrub the pork hard with salt and the cut limes, rinse well, then cover with fresh water in a big pot with the bay and thyme and bring to the boil, skimming the grey foam off for the first 10 minutes.
2. Simmer 2 to 2 hr 30 min until the trotters are gelatinous and a skewer slides through the ears without resistance. Cool the meat in its liquor, then pick it into bite-sized pieces, keeping some skin and cartilage for texture.
3. Make the pickle: combine lime juice, water, cucumber, onion, spring onion, parsley, Scotch bonnet, salt and pepper. It should taste bracingly sour and salty, because the pork will absorb it.
4. Fold the warm pork into the pickle, cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours, ideally overnight. This is souse, and it is served cold.
5. For the pudding, mix the grated sweet potato with the grated onion, green seasoning, Scotch bonnet, sugar, spices, salt, browning and melted butter until evenly dark and sticky.
6. Fill the casings loosely, no more than two thirds full, and tie them off in lengths — the potato swells and a tight casing bursts. Prick each length two or three times with a pin.
7. Lower the puddings into barely simmering salted water and poach 45–60 minutes, never letting it boil. They are done when a skewer comes out clean and the pudding is firm and springy.
8. If using a tin, pack the mixture into a greased loaf tin, cover tightly with foil and steam over simmering water for 1 hr 15 min, then cool before slicing.
9. Cool the puddings, slice into thick rounds, and serve them at room temperature with the cold souse spooned over, plus extra pickle liquid and pepper sauce.

Technique

• This is the Saturday dish in Barbados, sold from homes and rum shops from mid-morning; pudding and souse are always served together, never apart.
• Souse must be genuinely cold and genuinely sour. Lukewarm souse is unpleasant, and lime juice is the only acid used — vinegar is a shortcut Bajans notice at once.
• Cook the pork long enough that the collagen has broken down. Undercooked trotter is rubbery, and no amount of pickling fixes it.
• Casings must be scrupulously cleaned, and the pudding poached below boiling — a hard boil bursts them and you lose the lot into the water.

Substitutions

• No casings: steam the pudding in a foil-covered loaf tin as described. The flavour is identical, only the round sliced shape is lost.
• White sweet potato is what Barbados uses; orange sweet potato works but is much sweeter and wetter, so cut the sugar to 40 g.

Variations

• Chicken souse, made the same way with poached chicken feet and wings, is common midweek.
• Some cooks add a little grated cassava to the pudding for a firmer slice.

History

Saturday food of pickled pig’s head and trotters with lime and cucumber, eaten with steamed sweet potato pudding in a pig’s-gut casing.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pudding and souse?

Pudding and souse is a main from Barbados: pickled pork with steamed sweet-potato pudding, Saturday ritual. Saturday food of pickled pig’s head and trotters with lime and cucumber, eaten with steamed sweet potato pudding in a pig’s-gut casing.

How long does Pudding and souse take to make?

Pudding and souse takes 1 hr of preparation and 3 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Pudding and souse?

Yes, within limits. No casings: steam the pudding in a foil-covered loaf tin as described. The flavour is identical, only the round sliced shape is lost. White sweet potato is what Barbados uses; orange sweet potato works but is much sweeter and wetter, so cut the sugar to 40 g.

What is the most important thing to get right in Pudding and souse?

Lower the puddings into barely simmering salted water and poach 45–60 minutes, never letting it boil. They are done when a skewer comes out clean and the pudding is firm and springy.