Blood is yummy (thing)

Czarnina (Polish Duck Blood Soup)

This is a recipe for a traditional sweet/sour Polish soup made with duck blood. It is somewhat infamous in my family because my great-grandmother once served up one of my cousins' pet ducks this way. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 large duck (live)
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp salt
5 whole allspice berries
5 whole cloves
1 small onion
1 stalk celery
1 tart apple (Granny Smith is good)
1 cup chopped prunes
1 cup other dried fruit, such as raisins or cranberries
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup sour cream or whipping cream
salt and vinegar, to taste

Kill the duck and collect its blood in a glass bowl containing 1/4 cup of vinegar. The way my great-grandmother did this was to cut the ducks neck and bleed it into the bowl. Stir well and refrigerate, the vinegar prevents the blood from coagulating. Pluck and clean the duck in the usual manner, and cut off most of the meat for use in other dishes. Break the bones and place the carcass in a pot and cover with water (some folks also use some pork ribs in the stock). To this, 1 tsp salt, the allspice, cloves, onion, parsley and celery. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, occasionally skimming off any scum that forms. Strain the stock then add the fruit and simmer a further 30 minutes. Remove the prunes (some people leave the raisins, some remove them). While it is simmering, strip the rest of the meat off of the duck carcass and chop it up along with the giblets and pork, if used. Set aside. Add the sugar and flour to the cream and slowly whisk in the blood/vinegar mixture. Stir in about 1/2 cup of the hot stock to temper the blood/cream mixture, then add the mixture to the stock, stirring constantly. Bring the soup back to a boil to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in the duck meat, giblets, and shredded pork, if used. Add salt and vinegar to taste, and serve over noodles, boiled potatoes, or potato dumplings.