Boudin

Back before refrigerators & freezers were available, people that lived in the country would raise their own livestock for survival. So, not being able to preserve meat in bulk after livestock was slaughtered, families would slaughter hogs or cattle every week but at a different family location every week. The families, which had their own groups, would separate all the meat from that weeks kill. When a hog was butchered, the process was call a “Couchon Boucherie”, although much smaller in size than cattle, it took 3 times longer to process. The making of Boudin at the boucherie dates back 200 plus years if not longer, though the process was different back then. Hog casing today is synthetic, before this was available, the actual hog intestine was used, hardly anything would go to waste on a hog. With the hog casting, boudin was made but instead of rice as a filler back then, families would actually use the blood from the hog, mixed with the boiled meat to make the boudin to help the stuffing process. Back in the days of my ancestors, they had to use the horn from cow or bull to stuff boudin, they would cut the horn where there was hole on each side & the intestines was on one end of the horn. The intestines was then stuffed by the meat mixed with blood by pushing the meat from the opposite end of the horn with a stick. When my ancestors settled in South Louisiana, rice was abundant & instead of mixing the boiled pork meat with blood, rice was then used as the filler, however; the hog’s blood was & still is used in boudin today but it cannot be sold in stores.

This is my process to make homemade boudin.

Yields approximately 25 lbs of boudin:

  1. 15 lbs Hog Head or Boston Butt
  2. 3.5 lbs Pork Liver
  3. 12 cups Cooked Rice
  4. Hog Casing
  5. 2 large onions
  6. 2 large bell peppers
  7. 2 cloves garlic
  8. 2 bunches chopped onion tops
  9. 2 bunches chopped parsley

Preparation:

  1. Boil hog’s head or boston butt & pork liver until meat very tender, liver will stay firm through entire boiling. After boudin meat boiled, remove all contents & let cool to room temp in preparation for grinding. Keep all remaining water left over from boiling to use in mixing process.
  2. Spread cooked rice in large container big enough to hold the rest of all other ingredients.
  3. With a meat grinder, grind pork meat, liver, onion, bell pepper, & garlic directly into container with rice.
  4. After grinding complete, add chopped onion tops & parsley along with 2 quarts of water from boiling pot: more water from boiling process may need to be added, you will want to stuff boudin with mixture very, very, soft & loose. Mix well until mixed evenly.
  5. Now, you must season mixture to your taste with your favorite seasonings or prepared Creole Seasoning. Careful if using cayenne & black pepper, boudin will taste spicier after boiling boudin to eat.

Stuffing Instructions:

  1. With a sausage stuffer, apply hog casing to stuffer funnel & begin to stuff boudin links. Links are made per your choice in length. DO NOT STUFF BOUDIN TO STIFF, IT INCREASES CHANCE OF BURSTING WHILE COOKING.
  2. Leave approximately 1 1/2” of casting on both sides of links, rice will expand when cooking.

Cooking Boudin:

  1. Place however many desired links of boudin in warm water & turn heat to medium high. 
  2. Once water has started to boil heavily, boudin should be cooked, remove from water. Boiling for a long period will cause boudin to burst.
  3. If boudin is frozen when added to water, obviously it will take longer, even in heavy boil.
  4. Once boudin cooked, remove from heat & served hot.