Boudin noir

Method

1. Braise the pig’s head in the same way as the pig’s tails or ears.
2. Remove the braised pig’s head from the cooking stock and dice all the meat and skin with a little of the fat. Set aside.
3. Heat a large heavy-based saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add the oil and the onions and garlic. Sauté until soft and caramelised. Add the apples, spices and curry paste and cook for another 15 minutes, stirring from time to time to stop the spices burning.
4. Tip into a large mixing bowl and leave to cool. Add the reserved pig’s meat and back fat and mix well. Drain the sultanas and add them to the mixture.
5. Put the pig’s blood into a blender and blitz for 20 minutes to aerate. This is important for a smooth, light sausage. Fold the blood gently into the sausage mixture and season well.
6. Put the sausage mixture into a piping bag and use to fill the sausage skins to make around 20 sausages. Be careful to ease the sausage-meat in without any air pockets and do not overfill the skins or they may expand and burst as you cook them.
7. Heat a large stockpot of water to 80°C. Add the sausages and cover with a plate to keep them submerged in the water. Poach gently at a steady temperature for 30 minutes. Make sure the temperature doesn’t go above 80°C, or the sausages will burst and become grainy.
8. Remove the pan from the heat and leave the sausages to cool in the water. It is important that they are cooled slowly, as too abrupt a temperature change will also spoil their texture. Wrap them tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.