An American home cook has left British food fans astonished after attempting his first-ever full English breakfast and deciding to make one of its most challenging components completely from scratch.
The Mission to Master British Cuisine
Jeffrey Troutman, a cook who describes himself as "on a mission" to understand British food, shares his culinary journey on his YouTube channel, DetailDisoriented. His approach is methodical, tackling "one recipe at a time." On 1st January 2026, he turned his attention to the iconic hangover staple: the full English breakfast.
In his research, Troutman discovered that the exact composition of a full English is a "contentious issue" with regional variations. For his inaugural attempt, he opted for a fairly basic lineup: Irish sausages, bacon, Canadian heirloom tomatoes, baby bella mushrooms, eggs, and Heinz beans. However, one traditional item was conspicuously absent from his shopping list.
The Gory Challenge of Homemade Black Pudding
The missing ingredient was black pudding. Rather than buying it, Troutman revealed he would follow a recipe from his book and make it himself, a decision that immediately captured the attention of his viewers.
He learned that the "earthy, well-spiced" delicacy is typically made from oats and animal blood and fat, often from pigs. Undeterred, he gathered his ingredients:
- 600g of pork or beef fat
- 250g of crushed oats
- 225g of diced onions
- 12g of salt
- 12g of pepper
- 250g of fresh pig's blood
Troutman sourced the blood from a Vietnamese supermarket. Noting its gelatinous texture upon mixing, he used an electric whisk to combine everything. After a messy process that even saw drops of blood on his recipe book, he packed the mixture into a loaf pan to cook in a water bath. The finished pudding was then refrigerated overnight.
The Verdict and Fan Reaction
The next day, Troutman assembled his complete breakfast, complete with toast and PG Tips tea. Tasting his homemade black pudding, he gave his review: "It's tasty. It's very rich; (it) doesn't taste iron-y at all... Sort of a toasted, oat-y, onion-y flavour. Almost like a meat loaf, an American meat loaf, but I definitely like it."
Summing up the entire meal, he awarded the full English breakfast a 9 out of 10, calling it an "amazing idea" and a "big, hearty breakfast." His homemade black pudding received a slightly lower score of 7 out of 10.
The comment section on his video was filled with impressed and awe-struck Brits. One fan wrote, "Home-made black pudding - that's real dedication to the cause. Sterling work. Give that man a medal." Another added, "Every Brit just a little bit in awe of you making your own Black Pudding." A third simply stated, "Making your own black pudding from scratch is a hell of a thing to do! Well done, that looked like a properly good breakfast."
Jeffrey Troutman's deep dive into British culinary tradition has proven that sometimes, the greatest respect for a national dish is shown not just in eating it, but in embracing the entire process of creating it.
