The Canon

Blood pudding and liver sausage

Blóðmör og lifrarpylsais

Also: Blóðmör, Lifrarpylsa, Icelandic blood and liver sausage

A pair of traditional Icelandic sheep sausages — one of blood and suet (blóðmör), one of minced liver (lifrarpylsa) — bound with rye or oat and tallow, sewn into stomach casings and boiled, then eaten boiled or fried.

Identity criteria

  1. 1Made from sheep blood (blóðmör) and sheep liver (lifrarpylsa)
  2. 2Bound with sheep suet/tallow and rye flour or oats
  3. 3Stuffed and sewn into sheep-stomach casings (vömb)
  4. 4Boiled to set, then eaten warm or fried, often pressed and soured (súrt) for keeping
  5. 5A staple of the midwinter þorrablót feast

Components

Protein

Sheep blood (for blóðmör)essentialDefines the blood pudding

Sheep liver (for lifrarpylsa)essentialDefines the liver sausage

Fat

Sheep suet/tallowessentialEnriches and binds

Binder

Rye flour or oatsessentialThickens the mix to hold shape

Sheep-stomach casing (vömb)essentialTraditional sewn casing

Seasoning

Saltessential

Technique

Stuffing and sewing into stomach casings
The casing holds the loose blood/liver mixture so it can be boiled into a sliceable sausage
Boiling
Sets the blood and liver mixtures into firm puddings
Souring (súrt) in whey
Traditional preservation that gives the þorrablót version its characteristic tang

Form & serving

Served
Sliced, eaten boiled or pan-fried
Temperature
warm or cold (soured)
Portion
individual slices on a feast plate
Pairs with
mashed swede/potato · white sauce with sugar · rye bread · súrmjólk

Character

Flavour

savoryironyrichtangy (when soured)

Texture

dense, firm, sliceable; crisp-edged when fried

Eaten

A traditional Icelandic farm and þorrablót feast food from the autumn slaughter, eaten boiled or fried and historically soured for winter keeping.

When

autumn · winter · Þorri (midwinter)

Variations & related

Regional variations

  • Fresh (nýtt) · Iceland

    Eaten freshly boiled or fried

  • Soured (súrt) · Iceland

    Pressed and preserved in whey for the þorrablót feast

Related dishes

  • sibling Blutwurst

    Continental blood sausage tradition

  • pairs-with Hákarl

    Shares the þorrablót feast table

Substitutions

  • Rye flour binder → Oatsadmissible

    Both are traditional binders

  • Sheep blood/liver → Pork blood/liverinadmissible

    Makes a different national blood/liver sausage, not the Icelandic sheep dish

Common mistakes

  • Using pork rather than sheep, which changes the dish entirely
  • Omitting the grain binder so the mixture won't set in the casing
  • Confusing the fresh and soured versions, which have very different flavor

Provenance

A frugal Icelandic nose-to-tail tradition from the autumn sheep slaughter, preserved by souring and central to the midwinter þorrablót.

References

  1. 1.Icelandic culinary tradition

Confidence: high