Rokeg Blood Pie (and other bloody concoctions)

Blood Pie*

The Rokeg blood pie is a celebratory Klingon dish traditionally eaten on the Day of Honor. On this day, participants reflect on their past and eat this blood pie as a symbolic gesture of renewal. And who wouldn’t feel rejuvenated after eating this? The blood and meat custard filling offers a slight resistance to the teeth but yields to the tongue to impart a rich, tantalizing umami flavor with a subtle hint of sweetness. The crust, flaky and tender, provides a nice textural contrast to the creamy, unctuous filling.

Wait, what? Where did I lose you? The Klingons? Day of Honor? Don’t tell me you don’t watch Star Trek – the best and the longest running show in UPN history!?

It’s alright. I didn’t know about this Klingon tradition either. Truth be told, I came across this dish while searching for gory sounding recipes to contribute to the fabulous Foodista recipe collection for Halloween. I was a little disappointed to find out that it was a fictional dish. If you are too, despair not. Animal blood has long been a staple food in human history and there are a lot of great non-fictional blood recipes around. Prepared as soups, sauces, pancakes, sausages, or stirred into drinks, blood eating is… how should I put it? In our blood?

Comprised of roughly 80% water and 17% protein, blood thickens at 167 degrees F due to the denaturing of the albumin protein. A common preparation technique is to heat the blood and then bring the temperature back down to allow it to set. Once set, the congealed mixture can be cut into cubes for soups, fried into cakes, or simply rolled with toppings and enjoyed.

To me, Halloween has always been a holiday that encourages people to step out their normal comfort zone, a holiday where we trade in our jeans and t-shirts for bunny costumes and superhero capes. If you are new to blood dishes, what better time to give these recipes a try?

Or perhaps you are a blood eating aficionado? What have you had? How would you describe the taste? Experience? I want to know!

*Not a Klingon blood pie, unfortunately. It’s my Swedish blood pudding baked in a pie pan. It’s my first blood dish, I will let you know how it goes.

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