Eating Food With Blood On It If you’ve ever worked with anyone who’s had to handle blood and other bodily fluids, you’ll know that it presents a challenging hygiene situation. But what are the guidelines and rules around eating food with blood on it? Are they different to normal food hygiene rules? Let’s find out.
Eating Food With Blood On It
01/10Recipes made with blood around the world
From charcoal to grounded coffee and blackened garlic, we have seen many weird ingredients find their place in food cultures around the world. But the most unconventional of them all has to be blood. Yes, it might sound revolting to some but blood has been a part of the culinary history in many countries. It has long been used as an ingredient in various food items around the world. Here are 9 out of them…
02/10Blood Sausages (Worldwide)
Blood sausages are made with minced meat and blood that is dried and combined with filler until it becomes thick and solid. The meat and blood coming from goat, duck, sheep, donkey, horse, cow or pig may be used in making these. Different variants of the sausages are available worldwide. In France, they are known as boudin. But they are most popular in America.
03/10Tiết Canh (Vietnam)
Tiết Canh is a traditional preparation of the country which is made with pure duck blood, viscera and duck meat. The freshly extracted blood is mixed with a certain amount of fish sauce to prevent coagulation. Usually, one quart of blood is thinned using five to six teaspoons of fish sauce. The prepared dish is stored in the fridge so that the coagulated state of the blood can remain maintained.
04/10Blodplättar (Sweden & Finland)
Blood is the last thing on our mind when we think about pancakes. But the Blodplättar sold in Sweden and Finland uses fresh pig blood whipped with onion, flour and some other spices. And it is popular in both countries. It is served with sweet syrup or fruit jam.
05/10Jadoh Snam (Shillong, India)
Jadoh Snam is a delicacy of the Khasi tribe in Shillong. This is a biryani type dish where they pour in chicken or pork blood while cooking it. Sometimes they might also add pork fat to enhance the taste further.
06/10Black Tofu (China)
How can something associated with vegetarianism or veganism make it to this list? That’s what we are all asking! This is a type of Tofu made in China, where fresh blood from pig, chicken or duck is used to darken the colour. The black tofu is supposed to be rich in nutritional value and also has medicinal properties.
07/10Thai Boat Noodles (Thailand)
Thai Boat Noodles use the blood from pig, duck or goose to darken the colour of the soup. The noodle soup gets it luscious, thick and dark broth from the blood. It is served with noodles loaded with veggies, seafood and meat.
08/10Cabidela (Portugal)
This tasty looking Portugal recipe is cooked with rabbit or chicken meat along with their blood. Using the blood along with the meat is a part of many cultures. Vinegar is also mixed to add savouriness to the curry. It is customarily served with steamed rice.
09/10Dinuguan (Philippines)
Dinuguan is a casserole dish made with pork and its blood. It uses garlic, pepper, capsicum, vinegar for flavouring the dish and the blood is well-cooked so the end result is thick and meaty. This one is also typically served with steamed rice.
10/10Pig Blood Sundae (United States)
When it comes to crazy food experiments, the United States is also not far behind. This dish makes blood pancakes look like losers. To improve the texture of the ice-cream and give it a thicker, custard type consistency, pig blood is used in the place of eggs.
5 Unexpected Blood Dishes You’ll Actually Want to Try
It’s one thing to taste the detestable iron of blood when you accidentally bite your tongue, but it sure is another to deliberately infuse the metallic taste into food to create a delicacy. Many cuisines utilize blood, a rather bizarre ingredient, to cook dishes dear to the culture. Here are five blood dishes whose unforgettable flavors will make eating blood seem not so crazy after all.
1. Soondae (South Korea)
Photo courtesy of Flickr user Sharon R
Having animal blood incorporated into food is nothing unusual if you are of Asian descent. South Korea, like other Asian countries, enjoys blood in various shapes and forms, with soondae being its most popular blood dish. Unfortunately, this “sundae” doesn’t involve any frozen treats. Instead, it is served with glass noodles and glutinous rice mixed with pig blood, all stuffed into pig intestines. I’ll admit, the written explanation doesn’t nearly do its taste justice, so you may just have to give it a try to see what all the hype is about.
2. Blodplättar (Sweden and Finland)
Photo courtesy of Flickr user Chris Heathcote
The name of this dish sounds intense, but it just means blood pancakes. This dish seems quite ordinary until the recipe calls for a gallon of cow blood instead of milk. The fact that some prefer to have their pancakes with blood instead of maple syrup and bacon must be proof that the blood pancakes are worth a try.
3. Drisheen (Ireland)
Photo courtesy of Andy2boyz
There are puddings that taste like vanilla and then there are puddings that taste like iron and actually mean blood sausage. Drisheen is black pudding, or blood sausage, a common breakfast item in Ireland. Don’t be alarmed when you’re served baked sheep blood instead of a sweet dessert.
4. Sunjiguk (South Korea)
Photo courtesy of Flickr user James
Blood has found its way into the world of hangover cuisine in South Korea. Sunjiguk is a type of haejangguk, which means hangover soup, that uses coagulated pig blood as its main ingredient. The pudding-like texture of blood cubes can scare away some, but their unique taste can surely make them come back.
5. Morcilla (Spain)
Photo courtesy of Flickr user Allan Reyes
Blood sausages are rather common in the culinary world, and morcillas are Spain’s delicious take on them. Made with onion, garlic, rice, paprika, and other spices, the blood sausages are fried in olive oil and eaten with bread. If you’re a fan of Spanish tapas, morcilla fritas will be worth a try.
The use of animal blood comes from the idea of putting each and every part of the animal to good use, and many cuisines have perfected their blood dishes over the years. Many of these dishes have a whole new taste you do not want to miss out on — far from the metallic, iron flavor one might expect. Bizarre, indeed, but delicious, nonetheless.
Can the order you eat your food alter blood glucose?
A rise in blood glucose levels is a very normal response after eating a meal. But now new research has found that the order in which parts of the meal are eaten can change how the body releases glucose into the bloodstream.
Keeping blood glucose levels in check is a core principle of looking after diabetes and this is where diet and lifestyle choices are important. A typical mixed meal will contain a range of nutrients including carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
Both the type and quantity of carbohydrates in a meal can give rise to different blood glucose responses and this forms the basis of the glycaemic index ranking of foods.
One novel area of research has looked at how the order of eating the main nutrient components of a meal can affect the blood glucose response.
Called sequential nutrient ingestion, the idea is that eating the protein and non-starchy vegetable components of a meal before the carbohydrates will lead to a lower glucose response. Think of it as having the meat and salad first followed by the potatoes.
Extending the research into sequential nutrient ingestion, a research team in New York looked at how meal component eating order affected blood glucose responses in 15 people with pre-diabetes.
Under controlled laboratory conditions, the participants ate the same meal on three different days but changed to the order of eating of the meal components.
One day the carbohydrates were eaten first followed 10 minutes later by protein and vegetables. Another day involved having the protein and vegetables first followed 10 minutes later by carbohydrates. And the third day was vegetables first followed by protein and carbohydrates.
Looking at the glucose responses in the three hours after the meal, the standout finding was that eating the carbohydrates last saw a lower and flatter glucose response compared to eating the carbohydrates first. Less insulin was also needed to be secreted as well. For someone on the way to developing type 2 diabetes, this is a good thing.
So why the difference in glucose response when carbohydrates are eaten last? While the mechanism is not certain, it is thought that the fat and fibre eaten first helps to provide a buffer to slow down the digestion of the carbohydrates.
Implications
For someone with diabetes or prediabetes, eating a varied healthy diet is important, but this new research shows that there could be some merit to eating the main carbohydrate part of a meal last.