This is a recipe demonstrated to us by our French friends Annie and Albert Dubois. My apologies for the translation. There are many recipes for Quatre Épices on the internet – I have put one at the end.

Ingredients:

1 pig’s head with ears and neck
4 pig’s trotters
10 metres of pigs casing
2 litres of blood
1 kg onion
1 kg of leeks
10g of salt per kilo
4g of pepper per kilogram
5g of 4 épices per kg

Method:

In a large pot, bring the head, feet, green leek, thyme, bay, or other spices, cover with salt water and cook on low heat for about 2 hours. Meat should taken off with a fork.

Meanwhile, chop the onions and white part of the leeks. Put them in a saucepan with 3 tablespoons of pork fat or oil. Simmer for 2 hours.

When meat is cooked, debone and cut into 1 cm cubes. (Cool??) Add the blood, and weigh the whole.

Add the spices according to the weight. Stir everything.

With a funnel, fill the casing. Tie up the black puddings every 25 cm. Put the sausages in a large pot, cover with cold water, bring to medium heat and bring to a simmer between 95 and 98 degrees. Keep at this temperature for about one hour. Pierce the air bubbles with a large needle when the puddings rise to the surface. Stir the puddings gently from time to time. The cooking is complete when the blood does not leave the puddings after the needle goes in.

Remove hot water with a siphon (hazardous).

Wait 15 minutes and remove the puddings, to a table. The next day, cut the sausages and put them in the fridge, not wrapped. You now have permission to eat them. In case you would not eat them all after this time, you can put some in the freezer; they keep very well for 6 months

4 Épices recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon white pepper
rounded 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg