Boudin Blanc from Rethel

The French boudin blanc is a speciality from the town of Rethel in the Champagne Ardenne region. This traditional dish of the French gastronomy is often mixed up with the usual blood sausages or pudding but the boudin blanc is actually a fine–textured white sausage, originally eaten for Christmas in the Champagne region of France.

The traditional boudin blanc recipe originates from the small town of Rethel in Champagne Ardenne. Cooking such delicate and tasty sausage requires specific skills and know-how - for which French porkbutchers are renowned worldwide! The moist, white sausage called "boudin blanc" is in fact a fine mixture of meat, eggs, starch, spices and milk or cream.

The authentic Champagne Ardenne recipe does not include blood, which makes the boudin blanc completely different from any blood sausage. The French food speciality also differs from its greatest rival, the Louisiana-style White Pudding known as the "boudin blanc Créole" (based on rice). The boudin blanc must not be mixed up with the typical "white" or "oatmeal pudding" famous in Scotland and Ireland.

The Irish speciality is made from lard chunks and oatmeal, and it is served sliced and fried.

The meat used to prepare a rich, authentic boudin blanc can be either pork, pork & veal or chicken. After having finely minced the meat, Rethel's butchers traditionally blend it with bread and cream and season the mixture with marjoram and sage.

Provided its complex and long cooking, the French white sausage was mainly enjoyed for the Christmas meal, complemented with Champagne Ardenne productslike truffles, mushrooms and/ or raisins.

Nevertheless, the boudin blanc is now sold all year round and generally already cooked - just needing to be heated. The boudin de Rethel has become a common sight for wintry friendly dinners or barbecue, often served grilled with mashed or roasted potatoes and a glass of French white wine like Loire Muscadet or Alsace Riesling.