Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Blowing Boudin Blanc...casings that is

Boudin Blanc aux Pommes

The chef placed the pig intestine sausage casings to his lips and blew. The sausage casing filled like a balloon for a clown’s animal sculpture. The chef then grimaced and wiped his lips clear of the juicy casing liquids and explained “here’s a trick for checking for holes in your casing”--yum; I’m thinking I can’t wait to try that trick.



Boudin blanc is a traditional sausage made from pork, pork and veal or chicken and pork fat (of course, since it’s sausage and it’s French sausage). Traditionally a Christmas food, it is now found year round.

I prefer boudin blanc to making boudin noir sausage which is 50% animal blood, but soon I’ll have to use blood in making coq en barbouille.


After checking out my casing, I decided to try the balloon trick without actually touching the guts part—kind of like giving mouth to mouth without any lip action; I was pretty effective—see my results.

I asked in class if there were any non-animal casing options and was told there were edible plastics. Some research revealed casings available from cellulose (cotton or wood fibers), inedible collagen and plastic but none of which can be consumed. There is an edible collagen from skins and hides, but I found no sources of edible plastic. So if you’ve heard of this unnatural animal, I’d appreciate any input.

Chef also said that serving apples with the sausage was traditional because the apples aided in digestion. Apples do contain tartaric and malic acids that can aid with digestion as well as pectin which is promotes probiotic bacteria in the intestinal tract.


I’ve listed the nutritional content for typical boudin blanc from a French website, but am suspicious of the low amount of saturated fat listed, but fully believe the generous sodium listed.

100 g (3 1/3oz)
Calories: 242
Protein: 10 gram
Fat: 20g (6.8 saturated)
Carbs: 5.5 grams
Sodium: 703 grams





http://www.i-dietetique.com/

No comments:

Post a Comment