Putraimdesa

Ingredients

Sausage

• 500 mlfresh pig’s blood, strained
• 400 gpearl barley, cooked until just tender and cooled
• 300 gpork belly or fatty trimmings, chopped small
• 300 gonions, chopped fine
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tbspground black pepper
• 1 tspground allspice
• 1 tspdried marjoram
• wide natural hog casing, about 2 m

To cook and serve

• 3 litreswater
• lard or butter, for frying
• lingonberry jam
• sour cream

Directions

1. Cook the pearl barley until just tender but still with bite, then drain and cool it completely. It will continue to swell inside the sausage, so slightly undercooked here is correct.
2. Sweat the onion in a little of the fat over low heat for 15 minutes until soft but not coloured, then cool. Raw onion never cooks through inside a sausage and stays harsh.
3. Strain the blood through a fine sieve to remove any clots, then mix it with the cooled barley, chopped pork, onion, salt, pepper, allspice and marjoram.
4. Fill the casing no more than two-thirds full and tie into 15 cm lengths. The barley is the reason: it swells considerably and an overfilled sausage splits every time.
5. Prick each sausage three or four times.
6. Bring the water to 80°C (176°F) — barely a bubble breaking — and poach for 45 minutes to an hour, until a skewer comes out clean rather than bloody.
7. Never let it boil. Blood sets hard and the casings burst, which empties the pot and is not recoverable.
8. Cool completely and refrigerate. Fry thick slices in lard until crisp and serve hot with lingonberry jam and sour cream.

Technique

• Two-thirds full and never a boil. Those are the two rules of any grain-filled blood sausage.
• Undercook the barley slightly. It finishes cooking inside the casing.
• Fresh blood on the day it is collected — this is why putraimdesa belongs to the slaughter.

Substitutions

• Buckwheat or pearl rice in place of barley, both of which are used in the Baltic.
• Beef blood, which is easier to source in some places.

Variations

• Asinsdesa is the blood-heavier version; putraimdesa leans on the groats.
• Baked in the oven with bacon over the top rather than fried in slices.

History

A Latvian slaughter-time sausage stuffed with pearl barley, standard on the Christmas table.

Frequently asked questions

What is Putraimdesa?

Putraimdesa is a charcuterie & cured from Latvia: barley groat and blood sausage fried and served with lingonberry. A Latvian slaughter-time sausage stuffed with pearl barley, standard on the Christmas table.

How long does Putraimdesa take to make?

Putraimdesa takes 1 hour of preparation and 1 hour 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes makes 8 sausages. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Putraimdesa?

Yes, within limits. Buckwheat or pearl rice in place of barley, both of which are used in the Baltic. Beef blood, which is easier to source in some places.

What is the most important thing to get right in Putraimdesa?

Sweat the onion in a little of the fat over low heat for 15 minutes until soft but not coloured, then cool. Raw onion never cooks through inside a sausage and stays harsh.