Lunches
Pudding and Souse
Ingredients
- - 1 kg (2.2 lb) pork trotters and shoulder, cut into pieces
- - 2 limes, juiced
- - 1 cucumber, thinly sliced
- - 1 onion, thinly sliced
- - 2 hot peppers, thinly sliced
- - 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
- - 1 tsp salt
- - 500 ml (2 cups) water, for pickle
- - 60 ml (1/4 cup) white vinegar
- - 1 kg (2.2 lb) sweet potatoes, peeled and grated
- - 1 onion, finely chopped (for pudding)
- - 1/2 tsp ground clove
- - 1/2 tsp thyme, chopped
- - Sausage casing or foil-lined mould
Method
- Rub the pork pieces with lime juice and rinse well; place in a pot, cover with water, and simmer for 45-60 minutes until tender.
- Drain the pork, cool, and slice thinly. Combine with cucumber, onion, hot pepper, peppercorns and salt in a bowl.
- Whisk the vinegar into the pickling water and pour over the pork mixture. Chill for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight.
- For the pudding, mix the grated sweet potato with chopped onion, clove and thyme until evenly combined.
- Pack the mixture into prepared casing (or a foil-lined mould) and tie off the ends.
- Steam the pudding for about 1 hour, until firm and cooked through.
- Slice the pudding into rounds and serve alongside the chilled souse.
Introduction: Barbados’s best-known Saturday lunch, pudding and souse traces back to plantation-era cooking, where every part of the pig was used.
Cultural Background: Barbados’s best-known Saturday lunch, pudding and souse traces back to plantation-era cooking, where every part of the pig was used. ‘Souse’ is pickled, pepper-spiked pork (traditionally head, trotters or ears) served cold with cucumber, while ‘pudding’ is sweet potato steamed inside cleaned pig intestine casing. Together they form a dish so central to Bajan Saturdays that many families and roadside cook-up stalls serve nothing else that day.
Tips: Chill the souse well before serving — it is traditionally eaten cold, not warm. If casing isn’t available, steam the sweet potato mixture in a lightly greased heatproof bowl instead.
Variations: A lighter, boneless-pork version of souse is common in home kitchens outside of Saturday tradition. Some cooks add beetroot to the pudding mixture for a naturally pink colour.
Storage: Store souse and pudding separately, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Reheating: Souse is served cold and not reheated; warm pudding gently in a steamer if preferred hot.
Nutrition: Approx. 380 kcal, 21 g protein, 32 g carbohydrates, 17 g fat per serving.
FAQs:
Q: Is souse always served cold?
A: Yes — chilling is essential to the dish’s character and safety after pickling.
Q: Can pudding be made without meat casing?
A: Yes, using a greased mould is a common modern substitute.