I would like to know the country of origin for blood sausage. I think I am correct in saying black pudding is Ireland's version of blood sausage, but who invented — if that's the right term — blood sausage?

 We will answer your question if you will tell us where pigs were first killed for meat. Because the practice of not wasting any portion of the animal has been in effect since the earliest days, and that includes the blood, which is nutritious but highly perishible. Of course, there is no record of who first used other ingredients to soak up the blood and make a kind of sausage, but Jeffrey Steingarten, writing in the exceptionally informative and periodically hilarious It Must've Been Something I Ate, says his sources indicate that blood pudding was invented (the very word he uses) by Aphtonite, a cook in ancient Greece.

There is also a reference in Homer's Odyssey to a stomach stuffed with blood and fat and roasted over a fire, that dates from approximately 1,000 B.C. The oldest blood sausage recipe dates from the first centuries A.D., and included hard-boiled egg yolks, pine nuts, onions, and leeks in a pig's intestine.

Even though blood pudding is not in the mainstream in this country, there are many versions made throughout the world.The French boudin noir is essentially an equal mix of onions, pork fat, and blood, with flavorings, although it may be stretched with cream or bread. There are also variations that include apples, brandy, spinach, currants or raisins, butter, eggs, and other ingredients. Black pudding in England and Ireland are often stretched with oatmeal or occasionally rice. In Sweden it is often made with rye meal and raisins. A version in Spain includes almonds, pimentos, and parsley.

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