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Verivorst (Estonian Blood Sausage)

Name: Verivorst (Estonian Blood Sausage)
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Estonian
Ingredients: 300 ml pork blood; 200 g pearl barley; 400 ml pork or beef stock, for the barley; 150 g pork back fat, finely diced; 2 onions, finely chopped; 1 tbsp dried marjoram; 2 tsp salt; 1 tsp black pepper; 0.5 tsp ground allspice; 2 natural hog casings, rinsed; 200 g sauerkraut; 4 tbsp lingonberry jam

Estonian blood sausage: barley, blood and marjoram in a casing, baked until the skin blisters

Ingredients

300 ml pork blood

200 g pearl barley

400 ml pork or beef stock, for the barley

150 g pork back fat, finely diced

2 onions, finely chopped

1 tbsp dried marjoram

2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

0.5 tsp ground allspice

2 natural hog casings, rinsed

200 g sauerkraut

4 tbsp lingonberry jam

Method

Cook the barley in the stock until tender and the liquid has gone, about 30 minutes. Spread it out and let it cool - warm barley will start to set the blood.

Render the diced fat gently in a pan, then soften the onions in it until golden. Let this cool too.

Strain the blood through a sieve to catch any clots, then stir it into the cooled barley with the onions and their fat.

Season heavily with the marjoram, salt, pepper and allspice. Fry a teaspoonful in a pan and taste it: cold blood mixture tastes of almost nothing, so under-seasoning here is the usual mistake.

Fill the casings loosely - about three quarters full - and tie them into lengths. Barley swells, and a tightly packed sausage bursts.

Prick each sausage several times with a needle and lower them into barely simmering water for 15 minutes to set. The water must not boil.

Bake at 180°C for 30-40 minutes, turning once, until the skin is dark and blistered.

Serve hot with sauerkraut and lingonberry jam.