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We're working with some 16th century recipes for sauces that call for blood (among other things). However, several members of the group try to keep kosher, and besides, I have no idea where or how one would acquire blood for cooking.

I know I can substitute egg for the protein/thickener aspect, but what about the flavor? What does blood actually taste like (when cooked)? I've had blood sausage, but all I remember about its flavor is the generous quantity of black pepper. Would a red wine and some salt come anywhere close?

JPmiaou
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    for what recipe ? it'll help answer the question. You should be able to order pork blood from your local butcher shop. – Max Mar 06 '20 at 19:45
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    Pork blood isn't very good from a Kosher aspect @Max! – GdD Mar 06 '20 at 20:30
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    @Max, blood isn't kosher. (Doesn't matter what species.) That's why I'm primarily looking for a substitution, not ways to get it. – JPmiaou Mar 06 '20 at 21:33
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    yeah but part of the question is " I have no idea where or how one would acquire blood for cooking." – Max Mar 06 '20 at 23:09

2 Answers2

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Depending on the animal, blood would impart a somewhat metallic taste and a certain “richness” - not really the umami-meatiness of red meat, more like the earthiness of liver - with a slight sweetness.

The flavor profile will be quite different depending on the animal, with pork being more neutral than the more intense and metallic beef.

A substitute would depend on the recipe. But the acidity of red wine is very much not what blood would contribute to a dish. If the binding properties are to be ignored, think “beets plus sautéed mushrooms”, as a very, very vague flavor approximation. But if your sauce is rich per se, you can probably just skip the blood without doing much culinary harm.

Stephie
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  • Most of the recipes call for both vinegar and (white) wine in addition to the blood, so I'm not worried about the acidity of the wine; I'm more wondering if the "liquefied barrel" flavor of red wine would approximate the metallic flavor of blood. – JPmiaou Mar 06 '20 at 21:42
  • @JPmiaou “liquefied barrel” as in the tannins? Probably not. – Stephie Mar 06 '20 at 21:56
  • The recipes mostly do not specify a species for the blood, and they made blood-based sauces for everything from chicken and rabbit to beef and game. But hmm: there's one that says that if there's no blood available, then use walnuts. Opinions? – JPmiaou Mar 06 '20 at 21:57
  • In old recipes, you would (as a rule of thumb) use the blood of the animal at hand. Walnuts (like other nuts) can act as thickeners, that’s standard procedure in Indian (predominantly vegetarian) cuisine, and they would have been easy enough to obtain. – Stephie Mar 06 '20 at 21:59
  • @Stephie you call out liver in flavor profile. It is not a profile I enjoy so I have not experimented there, but I agree that the profile can be similar. That makes me wonder is an amount of ground liver added would approach the taste pattern? One would then still need to examine kosher rules for the dish. – dlb Mar 07 '20 at 16:14
  • @dlb probably worth an experiment. But blood is smoother (liver gets grainy in an instant) and has a slight sweetness whereas liver is “darker” (for lack of a better word). I confess, I did buy a few slices of blood sausage today, just to refresh my memory. – Stephie Mar 07 '20 at 18:24
  • I'd definitely include beet juice as part of any blood substitute. Maybe beet juice & walnuts? Hmmm, no, had that in a Georgian dish, and it didn't taste much like blood at all. – FuzzyChef Mar 10 '20 at 05:36
  • Liver is also forbidden for kosher food, because of the blood. – FuzzyChef Mar 10 '20 at 05:37
  • At pig-butchering time, Hungarians make two kinds of fresh sausage: liver and blood. I don't know if it's the traditional spicing or what, but they taste quite different to me. I like them both, but some people love one and hate the other, so the perception of difference is not just me. – JPmiaou Mar 10 '20 at 13:06
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How about chicken liver-? The texture of raw chopped chicken liver could mimic blood when it is cooked In an old- 70 yr old recipe from mapuca in goa,goat curry cooked in spices ground in vinegar ,used chicken liver- not minced but chopped . An imitation of sorpotel.

Niloufer Gupta
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  • That’s a really good idea. Grinding raw liver produces a lot of liquid which isn’t actually blood but is somewhat similar in taste and likely behaves the same texturally when cooked. – Sneftel Dec 07 '20 at 13:46
  • Do you have any experience on how the (very strong) flavor of liver compares to that of blood? (This is purely curiosity, because liver is no more kosher than blood, so it will not suit my purposes in any case.) – JPmiaou Dec 09 '20 at 17:29
  • @JPmiaou it's possible to make liver kosher, but may be challenging/expensive to find; also, since the kashering process is intended to draw out as much blood as possible, it may well eliminate the flavor profile of interest! – Erica Dec 11 '20 at 02:57