Pigs in a blanket
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pigs in a blanket (also known as pigs in blankets and biscuit dogs) is the name of a few different foods in the United States and United Kingdom.
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[edit] History
Pigs in a blanket was originally pork and rice inside cooked cabbage leaves, a German meal called "Schweine in einer Decke." Cooks in the British Isles adapted the idea, using a form of processed meat called a chipolata sausage (a sort of 17th Century hot dog) to make a dish which was essentially a sausage wrapped first in a piece of bacon, and then in pastry dough, and baked.
[edit] In the UK
In British cuisine, pigs in blankets are chipolata sausages wrapped in bacon (streaky bacon is most common). These are cooked in the oven along with roast chicken or turkey and served as an accompaniment to these dishes, often as part of a Sunday dinner or Christmas dinner. At Christmas time, supermarkets sometimes sell prepared versions.
[edit] In the USA
In the United States, the term "pigs in a blanket" refers to hot dogs, Vienna sausages, or link sausages wrapped in biscuit dough or crescent-roll dough, and baked. A common variation is to slit the hot dog or sausage and stuff it with cheese before wrapping in dough. The dough is sometimes homemade, but canned dough is most common.
They are somewhat similar to a sausage roll or (by more extreme extension) a baked corn dog. They are served as an hors d'oeuvre or as a children's food, or sometimes as a breakfast food, with syrup on the side.
A "pig in a pig" variation, a baked hors d'oeuvre of Vienna sausages or hot dog pieces in bacon, also exists in informal US cuisine.
In some parts of the country the name can also refer to a breakfast dish of a sausage wrapped in a pancake or sometimes just in squishy bread.
Another variation, is to slit the hot dog and stuff it with cheese before wrapping it in bacon, and placing it on a hot dog bun.
[edit] Elsewhere
The name can also refer to a kolache filled with sausage or ham slices, or to a Slavic dish (gołąbki) of ground meat and rice wrapped in cabbage leaves and braised, usually in a tomato sauce.
In Israel, a dish similar to the American pigs in a blanket is made with puff pastry dough. As this dish is kosher, it is made without pork, and is called "Moses in a Boat" (משה בתיבה). This is a reference to the Biblical Moses, who was sent away on the Nile in a tiny boat when he was a baby; the sausage inside the pastry is likened to Moses, and the dough itself is likened to the small boat he was in when the Egyptian princess found him.
[edit] Holiday
In the U. S., National Pigs-in-a-Blanket Day is celebrated on April 24[1].
