In Italy, there’s a well-known saying: “nothing of the pig is wasted”, and Italians have truly taken this to heart. A traditional Neapolitan dish, for example, is a sweet custard made with pig’s blood called sanguinaccio. This unique “blood custard” was prepared with fresh pig’s blood, dark bitter chocolate, cooked grape must, cinnamon, and chopped walnuts. However, it’s not exclusively a Neapolitan specialty – similar recipes can also be found in Umbria (meaccio), Emilia Romagna (migliaccio), and Tuscany (migliaccio pistoiese).
In Italy, the term “sanguinaccio” actually refers to two distinct culinary preparations: one is the sweet custard mentioned above, while the other is a savory version, a type of sausage that combines blood with various meats or other ingredients like rice, bread, potatoes, and ricotta. The idea of consuming pig’s blood might be unappealing to many today, but it was once a widespread practice.
After all, animal blood was long used for therapeutic purposes – it was given to women during their menstrual cycles or to those suffering from severe anemia due to iron deficiency. Similar traditions can be found across Europe, as evidenced by Germany’s blutwurst, Spain’s morcilla, Portugal’s morcela, the UK’s black pudding, Finland’s mustamakkara, and Sweden’s blodpudding.
Despite these traditions, since 1992, the sale and use of animal blood have been banned in Italy for health and hygiene reasons. Nevertheless, in some rural areas, it is still possible to find people who, raising and slaughtering their pigs themselves, make this custard using pig’s blood according to their nonna’s recipe. But don’t expect to find it in restaurants – if you see sanguinaccio on a menu today, it’s only a modern version completely free of pig’s blood. Authentic sanguinaccio, whether sweet or savory, has become a true rarity.
The Origins of the Sweet Custard Made with Pig’s Blood
Sanguinaccio dates back to Roman times when, thanks to the plentiful supply of pigs, coagulated blood began to be used. After the pig was slaughtered, the warm blood flowing from the carotid artery was collected in a large container. It was then continuously stirred to prevent clotting; the clots that did form were skimmed off until the blood remained in liquid form, ready for the preparation of sanguinaccio.
In Neapolitan tradition, this custard made with pig’s blood is closely associated with Carnival, a time when it was savored alongside traditional chiacchiere pastries. However, it was traditionally prepared on January 17th, the feast day of Saint Anthony the Abbot. The reason is simple: as the patron saint of animals, the countryside, farms, and farmers, Saint Anthony is often depicted in classical iconography accompanied by a pig. It was, in fact, the Antonine monks who first reintroduced pig farming, defying the taboo that saw the animal as a symbol of the devil, and used it to produce various products beneficial to people, such as emollient creams to treat the sick or fat to soothe shingles (commonly known in Italy as “Saint Anthony’s fire”).
However, Saint Anthony himself has little to do with the origin of this dessert: it’s a recipe born out of necessity and ingenuity, a clever way to make use of everything the animal had to offer (remember the saying, “nothing of the pig is wasted”).
To prepare sanguinaccio, the filtered pig’s blood was poured into a pot along with cooked grape must and simmered slowly, with constant stirring. The mixture was ready when it reached the consistency of a spreadable custard. Midway through cooking, walnuts and cinnamon were typically added to enhance its flavor.
On the Subject of Blood
Nutritionally speaking, blood is a powerhouse: it’s rich in protein, packed with iron, and abundant in vitamin D and other essential nutrients. It’s what we might call a “superfood” today. Its thickening properties are similar to those of eggs but with much lower cholesterol. Moreover, depending on the animal, blood can account for up to 10% of its body weight, which explains why it has always been too valuable a resource to discard.
The culinary use of blood has seen a fluctuating history. In ancient religions, it symbolized fertility and was often poured onto the ground after a sacrificial ritual to ensure a bountiful harvest. But those were different times. In response, Jews, early Christians, and later Muslims, distanced themselves from these practices through strict prohibitions against consuming blood.
By the early centuries of the Christian era, however, the taboo began to relax. Food historian Massimo Montanari, in his book Mangiare da Cristiani (“Eating Like Christians”), describes this shifting attitude and quotes Evantius, a 7th-century abbot, who remarked: “It is ridiculous to eat meat and refuse blood, as if God had made the meat pure and the blood, which nourishes and sustains it, impure”.
It wasn’t until the late Middle Ages that blood started appearing in cookbooks. Laurent Jobert, a 16th-century French physician, also highlighted the communal nature of pig slaughtering: “Offering blood is a sign of friendship”. It was a matter of practicality too: when something was likely to spoil in a few days, it was shared with everyone.
But beyond the traditional “waste nothing” mentality and the need to utilize every available calorie during times when food scarcity was often a reality, there might be another reason for the gradual disappearance of blood from culinary habits. Sarah Wassberg Johnson, an expert in American food history, suggests that the lack of traditional blood-based dishes in the United States is linked to the abundance of land and livestock the colonists found in the New World. The early settlers left not only old Europe behind but also traditions like blutwurst and black pudding.
Today, the stigma around consuming blood is so strong that we associate blood drinkers with monsters. It’s not hard to imagine that this cultural taboo, along with the observed behavior of certain bats, contributed to the legend of the vampire.
