SOME love it and some hate it, but black pudding is here to stay and has just been named a 'superfood' of 2016. Our token southern reporter Ian Proctor has never tried this northern delicacy - so we sent him to sample it.

BLACK pudding is apparently an acquired taste and our office was divided between those who loved it, those who hated it and those - like me - who had never tried it.

Being a southerner and somewhat less aware of the Bury delicacy's roots, I gamely decided to sample the sausage-like savoury institution.

We chose Odessa Cafe and Salad Bar in Exchange Bar, Bolton, which sells more than 100 plates a week.

The Bolton News:

For £2.50 you get a black pudding from The Bury Black Pudding Company, four slices of toast and a pot of English mustard.

The iron-rich pudding is made of a more than century-old recipe containing among other ingredients pig's blood, pork fat, herbs and spices, onion, pepper, barley, rusk and oatmeal in a natural beef skin.

The version from Bury contains just 7 per cent fat.

The Bolton News: HERE GOES: Reporter Ian tries his first ever forkful of Bury black pudding at Odessa Cafe and Salad Bar in Bolton

It is simmered for 10 minutes at Odessa to cook through whereas I had only ever seen it fried in slices and slapped on the side of a full English breakfast.

Did I like it?

Disbelieving traditionalists will have to forgive me - but unfortunately not.

Maybe I'd been drawn into a false sense of optimism with the sausage shape but the texture is not the meaty one I was expecting.

The pudding has a drier and crumblier cake-like consistency with an extremely rich taste and quite a powerful spiced flavour.

I can appreciate how people enjoy it though with its unrivalled distinct and strong taste.

Complimented by the kick of the mustard and the crunchy toast, it could be a lunch delight.

Just not for me.