Red Pudding

Red pudding is a meat dish served mainly at chip shops in parts of East Scotland as an alternative to fish (see fish and chips). The ingredients consist of bacon, beef, pork, pork rind, suet, rusks, wheat flour, spices, salt, beef fat and colouring.

This clumpy red-coloured mixture is then formed into a large sausage-like shape of roughly eight inches in length, no different from its black, haggis and white pudding relatives. To encase it, the food is thickly coated in batter, deep fried, and served hot, ready to be taken away. Bought on its own it is known as a single red, or when accompanied by chips it is known as a red pudding supper.

The taste is said to be similar to a saveloy a type of pork sausage although the texture is different by being more fluffy, though battered sausage is also served in Scotland (in addition to red pudding on menus) that could be more akin to saveloy. Some red puddings do not taste like saveloy as they have no smoked meat in them, a large amount of pepper, and are quite pale in colour.

There is also a red pudding which is made entirely of pork, is highly seasoned, and is made in a ring just like black pudding. It is very finely minced, and identified by being in a red casing, just as black pudding is sold in a black casing. This red pudding is completely different from the red pudding available in chip shops. It was traditionally made by "German" pork butchers in parts of Scotland, mostly on the East coast. It was traditionally cooked for breakfast, often replacing sausages.

Red Puddings are referred to as "Russians" in South Africa, usually available at Fish and Chips shops as a popular alternative to fish.