Blood as food

Some cultures consume blood as food, often in combination with meat. This may be in the form of black pudding, as a thickener for sauces, a cured salted form for times of food scarcity, or in a blood soup.

Types of food with blood
Black pudding is any sausage made by cooking animal blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled. Pig or cattle blood is most often used. Typical fillers include meat, fat, suet, bread, barley and oatmeal. Varieties include drisheen, moronga, blood tongue, kishka (kaszanka), biroldo, mustamakkara, and many types of boudin.

Blood soups and stews include curry mee, czernina, dinuguan, haejangguk, mykyrokka, pig's organ soup, and svartsoppa.

Blood is also used as a thickener in sauces, such as coq au vin, and puddings, such as tiết canh. It can provide flavor or color for meat, as in cabidela.

Cultural considerations
Some cultures consider blood to be a taboo form of food. In Jewish and Muslim cultures, for instance, consumption of blood is proscribed by religious law. Some Christian cultures also avoid eating blood, and for this reason blood is not commonly consumed in the United States.