Franz Dormayer

The Austrian king of black pudding is undoubtedly the Lion of Langenzersdorf, Franz Dormayer. He has been Austrian black pudding champion no less than eight times and was crowned world champion in 2000. From the butcher’s in Langenzersdorf, a few miles north of Vienna, the Dormayers have been creating a huge variety of blunzen for over 60 years to a recipe created by Franz’s grandfather.

Franz Dormayer at work

Franz Dormayer at Work

Franz is a great believer in experimentation and what makes him stand out from the black pudding crowd is that he makes over 50 different types of it. Among his diverse range are blunzen with pineapple, Asian spices, chillis, seafood, ginger, kiwi fruit, chocolate and even pistachio. Little wonder then that fans come from all over the German-speaking world to make pilgrimages to Langenzersdorf to sample his fare.

Franz has also begun his own black pudding dynasty and his son Markus won the Austrian championship in 2003 when just 15. Franz, his wife Margarete, son Markus and daughter Gabrielle are all members of the brotherhood Blunznritter. Franz is also a knight of the black pudding after being inducted by Jean-Claude Gotteri.

Franz’s working day begins at 6.00am as he begins the process of making blunzen in the back of his butcher shop, creating coils of traditional black pudding and foot-long sticks of his flavoured varieties.

In the summer months, the Dormayer blunzen is much in demand at barbeques and parties where it is the food of choice. Such is the renown and status of his product, that Franz is also regularly asked to cater for formal events.

The Dormayer shop in Langenzensdorf is soon to be taken over by Markus, who recently qualified as a master butcher after finishing his qualifications in Germany, as Franz takes a well-earned retirement. His passion for innovation will be carried on by Markus who was the creator of the fabulous choco-chilli black pudding which is one of the Dormayer’s bestsellers.