Squeamish about offal? Morcilla and boudin gross you out? Then avoid a dish that's come back from the dead in Chad - fried blood.

Modestine Danbe, who lives in the N'Djamena makes it with peppers, salt, onions, spicy sauce and Maggi [a Swiss brand of stock cubes]. "I fry it all up like that; it's good," she told the BBC. (And you thought Susan Boyle was the only curiosity to come off British television...)

The dish is called "Vampire" and she makes plates of it to sell on the street for 2 cents each. Even at that low price, her profit is $7 for 40 helpings because each bucket of fresh blood that she needs to produce that number she buys from the abattoir near where she lives for only $1. Are you surprised she can sell 40 helpings? Apparently it tastes like liver.

She's not the only woman selling Vampire. Meat plays an important in the diet of Chad, eaten on special celebratory occasions. But a surge in food prices makes it too expensive for a huge swathe of the population. So this traditional dish has been revived.

It's a good alternative, say nutritionists, to the goat and sheep that commonly provide the meat intake, especially for children.

"It's actually an excellent source of nutrients, especially for children," Robert Johnston, a nutritional specialist for Unicef in Chad, told the BBC. "Blood pudding and liver have been used in other countries to promote high-protein intake for families who don't have daily access to meat."

So next time you're offered blood pudding or liver, don't turn your nose down at it. Just thank your lucky stars you have the means to afford it.

BBC NEWS
Chadians get fangs into 'vampire'
By Celeste Hicks
BBC News, N'Djamena

Hungry people in the central African nation of Chad have raised an old culinary fad from the dead - to get their fangs stuck into fried blood.

"Vampire", as it is jokingly dubbed, is a traditional dish making a comeback amid a global surge in food prices that has left meat too expensive for many.

Meat is often eaten only on special occasions such as religious holidays.

Nutritionists say "vampire" is actually an excellent alternative to goat and sheep, especially for children.

"I make it with peppers, salt, onions, spicy sauce and maggi [stock cubes]. I fry it all up like that; it's good," said Modestine Danbe, who lives in the N'Djamena.

“ Perhaps it will give me the strength of a vampire ”
James Saturday-morning drinker

Ms Danbe is one of many women in the city's Walia neighbourhood, close to the Cameroonian border, who has taken to frying up huge vats of blood and selling it to her neighbours on the streets.

She buys buckets of fresh blood from the abattoir near her home for about $1 (£0.61), which makes about 40 plates of "vampire".

Each plate sells for about $0.2 (£0.1), so after the costs of the other ingredients her profit is about $7 (£4.3).

"It's actually an excellent source of nutrients, especially for children," said Robert Johnston, a nutritional specialist for Unicef in Chad.

"Blood pudding and liver have been used in other countries to promote high-protein intake for families who don't have daily access to meat."

Making a killing

Meat-based products make up a large part of the average Chadian diet.

Many people in the north of the country come from nomadic backgrounds, where drinking an animal's blood without actually killing the beast is a survival technique in lean times.

Vampire is making a killing in Walia's ubiquitous bili bili (local millet brew) bars, where liquid diets require some supplements.

"The taste is good, a bit like liver. I really like it," said James, a Saturday-morning drinker.

"I suppose it doesn't sound very good to be associated with sucking blood, but I don't really care. Perhaps it will give me the strength of a vampire!"