Cereals may not be the first thing that come to mind when people think about butchery. However, cereals play a significant role in creating some of the nation’s favourite meat and meat-based products.
Sausages - the stalwart of butchery
We will start with the main player which is, of course, the sausage. Sausages come in many varieties depending on where they originate from or what the current trends are.
They can be made with various meats and meat alternatives, plus come in ‘free-from’ and skinless forms. Some types of sausage may also be preserved by curing, drying or smoking.
Traditionally, sausages are made using minced meat, such as pork or beef, combined with seasonings and spices, and encased in a skin. Other ingredients, known as fillers, such as grains, breadcrumbs or rusk, can also be added. Fillers act as bulking agents, reducing costs by replacing more expensive meat. Additionally, they enhance texture and stability.
Cooked grains such as pearled barley, oats and buckwheat groats can be used as fillers though flours and starches are more commonly used. Flours, such as wheat, barley, rice, potato, soy, and corn, provide a firmer structure, while starch helps bind water and improve texture. Burgers, meatballs, and faggots may also contain these binders.
An interesting fact: you may have heard sausages being referred to as “bangers”. This originates from the war when meat was incredibly scarce and lots of fillers were used in sausages as a replacement. The fillers expanded and caused the sausages to explode with a bang when fried.
Black pudding - the breakfast hero
Black pudding is a type of blood sausage originating from the UK and Ireland and is most often eaten as part of a cooked breakfast. It is made from pork or beef blood, with pork fat or beef suet, cereal and seasonings.
The inclusion of cereal in UK black pudding is what differentiates it from blood sausages eaten in other parts of the world. The grains used are typically coarsely milled oats, pearled barley and sometimes barley flour. The addition of the grains ensures a firm consistency in the cooked product, as they soak up the juices present and give the sausage its “pudding” texture.
Pearled barley is used because it cooks faster and is less chewy than other, less-processed forms of the grain. Pearled barley is barley that has been processed to remove its fibrous outer hull and polished to remove some or all of the bran layer.
Haggis – a Scottish icon
Traditionally haggis is made from sheep’s offal mixed with oats, suet, onion and seasonings, cooked inside a sheep’s stomach. Today, various meats are used, such as lamb, beef, pork and even venison, and the stomach has been replaced with synthetic casings.
Haggis has a crumbly texture with a distinct peppery flavour. The addition of the oats not only bulks out the haggis mixture it also adds to the texture and flavour.
Haggis is traditionally served with neeps and tatties (mashed turnip and potatoes) but can also be fried and eaten as part of breakfast or used as a stuffing for poultry and game.
White pudding – less gore, more grain
White pudding - essentially black pudding without the blood - is a grain-based mix, flavoured with fat and then stuffed into a sausage casing. It was created by butchers to use up animal fat and offal. One thing to note is that it’s not actually white, but rather a light brown or beige colour. It is sometimes known as oatmeal pudding or mealy pudding.
The grain used in white pudding is either oatmeal and/or pearled barley. The grains in the white pudding help to keep it firm and bind the fat, as well as giving flavour and texture. It is mixed with pork or beef suet, breadcrumbs, spices, and occasionally onions, pork meat or pork liver.
White pudding is a popular addition to both Irish and Scottish breakfasts and can be used as stuffing.
Vegetarian and vegan options
Vegetarian and vegan options of traditional butchery items have increased as consumers want to eat more plant foods but not miss out on their favourites.
Grains are a great way to boost plant protein in your plant-based haggis, sausage or pudding, as they hold their texture and add body and flavour.
What can Silvery Tweed offer?
Silvery Tweed supplies pearled barley and barley flours to the butchery industry.
If you’re looking for different ingredients to try, we have a few suggestions. Try swapping pinhead oats with kibbled toasted pearled barley or add pearled spelt to your vegetarian haggis. Or consider using barley flour in place of wheat flour. If you’re looking to add some colour, flavour or natural sweetness we have a range of barley malt flours. Steam-cooked rice flakes could also be an interesting addition.
To find out more, or to get a free sample box of ingredients, get in touch with us today.