I find it incredibly difficult doing salads without any meat. I'll whack some into a perfectly good salad at times, and lots of it, as protest against all things non non-vegetarian. That wasn't the case this time round though. The centre piece of this one was the best black pudding in the land. Or so Stornoway black pudding is believed to be. The only other thing I could think of doing, at the time, with the black pudding I bought from Borough Market was to have it with a full English, and that seemed a little inappropriate. And I don't think Braveheart would have approved. So a warm salad it was going to be. If an ingredient has a reputation of being tops then some finesse is warranted.
I have seen some very unpleasant faces being made at the mention of black pudding. Almost as unpleasant as the thought of eating cooked pigs blood might be to the owners of those faces. I for one am a huge fan. I got introduced to it by a friend whilst I was living in Edinburgh and having lived there for almost half a decade I love the bloody thing! The texture and the spicy aroma is to die for. And I am sure Mr. Porky would have agreed if he was around to have a wee bite. The other thing black pudding has going for itself is that it ticks the 'waste not want not' box.
To the salad then. Not much to do. Decided to base the salad on some rocket. Thought the pepperiness would work well with the sweetness of the figs and the salty richness of the unpasteurised Stilton. And it did. Figs and blue cheese is a time tested combination and the availability of some superb figs at the market were the inspiration. Must add here, the figs were a friend's idea, who was with me at the market too. A good cook and the daughter of a great cook.
Piled some rocket on the plate. Drizzled it with some extra virgin olive oil. Laid on the figs and crumbled onto everything the Stilton and fried Stornoway black pudding. And Bob's your uncle.
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