Stornoway Black Pudding: What Makes It Different, and Why the Name Is Protected

Stornoway black pudding is made in and around the town of Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, and it is the black pudding other black puddings get compared to. It is drier, crumblier and more strongly peppered than the dense, fatty English style, and it holds its shape in a pan rather than collapsing into a smear.

It is also, unlike most regional foods that claim distinctiveness, protected by law.

The name is protected

Stornoway Black Pudding holds Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status. It was registered with the EU on 9 May 2013 and carried into the UK scheme on 31 December 2020. On the UK register it sits under class 1.2, meat products (cooked, salted, smoked, etc.) — you can read the register entry here.

The practical effect is straightforward: black pudding made anywhere else cannot be sold as Stornoway black pudding. Producers outside the protected area sell a black pudding; only producers within it, working to the registered specification, sell a Stornoway one.

Scotland has 15 protected food and drink names. This is one of the small number that most people have actually eaten.

What's in it

Four things, and the proportions are the point:

• Beef suet — not pork fat, which is the usual choice elsewhere.
• Oatmeal, and plenty of it.
• Onion, finely chopped.
• Blood, with salt and a heavy hand of black pepper.

The high oatmeal content and the beef suet are what produce the characteristic dry, crumbly texture. A pudding built on pork fat and a smaller cereal load — the standard English approach — is softer, richer and more inclined to melt.

There is no barley and no meat beyond the blood and suet. If that reads as unpromising on paper, it is worth remembering that haggis and skirlie share the same oatmeal-fat-onion-pepper architecture, and Scotland has been getting a great deal out of it for a very long time.

How to cook it

The texture that makes it good is also the texture that makes it fall apart if you mishandle it.

Slice it thick. A centimetre or a little more. Thin slices dry out and crumble before they crisp.

Leave the skin on until after cooking, or slice through it and peel each round after it comes out of the pan. It holds the slice together.

Medium heat, a little fat, three to four minutes a side. You want a crust on both faces and a soft, hot middle. High heat burns the outside while the centre stays cold; low heat dries the whole thing out.

Do not turn it more than once. Every flip is a chance to break it.

Grilling works — four or five minutes a side, on a tray. So does a hot oven, about ten minutes, which is the sensible route if you are cooking a full Scottish breakfast for several people and the hob is already full.

Beyond the breakfast plate

The breakfast use is the obvious one, beside tattie scones and a fried egg. Three others are worth knowing:

• Crumbled over scallops — the standard Scottish restaurant pairing for a reason: sweet shellfish against salty, peppery, crumbling pudding.
• In a stuffing, folded through breadcrumbs or oatmeal for chicken or pork.
• Crumbled into a salad with a warm dressing and something acidic — apple, or a poached egg.

The crumbliness that makes it awkward in a frying pan makes it excellent everywhere it is supposed to be crumbled.

The four producers, and why that matters

The PGI is held collectively rather than by one company: a small number of Stornoway butchers produce it to the registered specification, and each has its own recipe within that. So "Stornoway black pudding" is a category with genuine variation inside it, not a single branded product — some are peppered harder, some are looser in the crumb, some use a coarser oatmeal.

That is worth knowing before anyone tells you a particular maker's is the only real one. They are all real; the protection is what guarantees that. If you find one you like, buy that one, and do not assume the next Stornoway pudding you meet will taste identical.

Buying it

Sold in a horseshoe or in straight sausages, usually vacuum-packed if it has travelled. Good butchers across Scotland stock it, and the Stornoway producers post it.

Two things to check: that the label actually says Stornoway, since the protection means the word is doing legal work rather than marketing; and the date, because it is a fresh product rather than a preserved one. It freezes well for a couple of months, sliced or whole.

Frequently asked questions

What is Stornoway black pudding made of?

Beef suet, oatmeal, onion, blood, salt and black pepper. The beef suet and the high oatmeal content are what give it its characteristically dry, crumbly texture, as against the softer pork-fat puddings made elsewhere.

Is Stornoway black pudding protected?

Yes. It holds Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status, registered with the EU in May 2013 and carried into the UK scheme on 31 December 2020. Black pudding made outside the protected area around Stornoway cannot be sold under the name.

How is Stornoway black pudding different from ordinary black pudding?

It is drier, crumblier and more peppery. Most other black puddings use pork fat and less cereal, producing a softer, richer pudding that tends to melt in the pan. Stornoway's beef suet and high oatmeal content make it hold its shape.

How do you cook Stornoway black pudding without it falling apart?

Slice it about a centimetre thick, leave the skin on while it cooks, use a medium heat with a little fat, and turn it only once — three to four minutes a side. Thin slices and repeated turning are what break it up.

Can you eat black pudding without cooking it?

It is already cooked during manufacture, so it is safe to eat cold, but it is markedly better fried or grilled — the crust is most of the appeal. Check the packet, as with any fresh product.