The Dr is IN: When I was assigned in England, I was asked by a fellow Marine (RM) if I liked sausage for breakfast. My answer was that I loved sausage: breakfast, on pizza, with pasta, on long hikes where a fire was a bad idea making sausages a great source of calories, etc.
Letting me rattle on with several nods of the head; his next question brought me up short, "How about blood sausage?" Even today, after many years of eating meat (OK...possibly mystery meat in some instances), just the thought of blood sausage made me queazy. Now, I'd never eaten blood sausage, but I remember a food show when I was old enough to understand and young enough to know what I liked or not.
The program showed the process of making blood sausage...was disgusting.
Here was this bloke up to his elbows in a tub of blood, hand squishing ingredients over and over...adding a bucket of "something" into the mix and happily whistling all the while. Stuffing the soggy mess into the casing was the last straw...off to the loo I charged.
That was then, this is now and the "now" is the Camino.
In the Far East I ate Lap Cheong, Middle East Kiske, Germany Bockwurst, bratwurst, weisswurst, South Africa Boereworst, etc.
But never blood sausage.
On my first Camino (CF), I chose a Basque Chorizo at the market in SJPDP as my carry along snack food. In Burgos, I was at the Cafe Ojeda for my first $$$ sit down meal.
As you can tell from the previous list of sausages, I enjoy sampling local versions. So, I was encouraged to try the Morcilla de Burgos fried with red peppers. What a great addition to the Manita pork. I liked it so much, when I was in the speciality shop I asked the server about the Morcilla. Well folks...it was blood sausage. Right there in the label!
The moral of the story: Often, it's better to try something first and like it ...because if you know how it's made...that...could be wurst!
