Sausage

Biała, szynkowa, kiełbaska śląska, podhalańska (Poland)
Plate with German Wurst (liver, blood and ham sausage)

A sausage is a prepared food, usually made from ground meat, animal fat, salt, and spices (sometimes with other ingredients such as herbs), typically packed in a casing. Sausage making is a traditional food preservation technique.

Traditionally, casings are made of animal intestines though are now often synthetic. Some sausages are cooked during processing, and the casing may be removed after that. Sausages may be preserved by curing, drying in cool air, or smoking. When cooking sausages it is important to ensure they are pricked with a fork or similar implement first in order to prevent their disintegration and to prevent loss of flavour.

Contents

History

Ordinary sausage making
Australian "snags" cooking on a campfire

Sausage is an outcome of efficient butchery. Sausage-makers put to use meat and animal parts that are edible and nutritious, but not particularly appealing -such as scraps, organ meats, blood, and fat- in a form that allows for preservation: typically, salted and stuffed into a tubular casing made from the cleaned intestine of the animal, producing the characteristic cylindrical shape. Hence, sausages, puddings and salami are amongst the oldest of prepared foods, whether cooked and eaten immediately or dried to varying degrees. The sausage can also be shaped in a square, such as in Africa the sausage is sometimes shaped like a square hamburger patty.

It is believed that sausages were invented by Sumerians in what is present day　Iraq, around 3000 BC. Chinese sausage làcháng (臘腸/腊肠), which consisted of goat and lamb meat, was first mentioned in 589 BC. Homer, the poet of Ancient Greece, mentioned a kind of blood sausage in the Odyssey (book 20, verse 25), and Epicharmus (ca. 550 BC – ca. 460 BC) wrote a comedy titled The Sausage. Evidence suggests that sausages were already popular both among the ancient Greeks and Romans, and most likely with the non-literate tribes occupying the larger part of Europe.

Sausage in Italy has its roots in Lucania, the actual Basilicata. Philosophers such as Cicero and Martial stated a kind of sausage called "lucanica", actually widespread in Italy, was introduced by Lucanian slaves during the Roman empire.[1] During the reign of the Roman emperor Nero, sausages were associated with the Lupercalia festival. The early Catholic Church outlawed the Lupercalia Festival and made eating sausage a sin. For this reason, the Roman emperor Constantine banned the eating of sausages. Early in the 10th century in the Byzantine Empire, Leo VI the Wise outlawed the production of blood sausages following cases of food poisoning.

Traditionally, sausage casings were made of the cleaned intestines (or stomachs in the case of haggis and other traditional puddings) of animals. Today, however, natural casings are often replaced by collagen, cellulose or even plastic casings, especially in the case of industrially manufactured sausages. Additionally, luncheon meat (such as Spam) and sausage meat are now available without casings in tins and jars.

The most basic sausage consists of meat, cut into pieces or ground, and filled into a casing. The meat may be from any animal, but traditionally is pork, beef or veal. The meat/fat ratio is dependent upon the style and producer, but in the United States, fat content is legally limited to a maximum of 30%, 35% or 50%, by weight, depending on the style. The USDA defines the content for various sausages and generally prohibits fillers and extenders.[2] Most traditional styles of sausage from Europe and Asia use no bread-based filler and are 100% meat and fat (excluding salt and other flavorings, such as herbs).[3] In the UK and other countries with English cooking traditions, bread and starch-based fillers account for up to 25% of ingredients. The filler used in many sausages helps them to keep their shape as they are cooked. As the meat contracts in the heat so the filler expands.

The word sausage is derived from Old French saussiche, from the Latin word salsus, meaning salted.

Classification of sausages

Sausages from Reunion Island
Swojska (Polish)
Krajańska (Polish)
Szynkowa (Polish)
A frankfurter sausage contains a lot of protein, yet low calories/fat (for meat)

Sausages may be classified in any number of ways, for instance by the type of meat and other ingredients they contain, or by their consistency. The most popular classification is probably by type of preparation, but even this is subject to regional differences of opinion. In the English-speaking world, the following distinction between fresh sausages, cooked sausages and dry sausages seems to be more or less accepted:

The distinct flavor of some sausages is due to fermentation by Lactobacillus, Pediococcus and/or Micrococcus (added as starter cultures) or natural flora during curing.

Other countries, however, use different systems of classification. Germany, for instance, which boasts more than 1200 types of sausage, distinguishes raw, cooked and pre-cooked sausages.

In Italy, the basic distinction is:

The US has a particular type called pickled sausages, commonly found in gas stations and small roadside delicatessens. These are usually smoked and/or boiled sausages of a highly processed frankfurter (hot dog) or kielbasa style plunged into a boiling brine of vinegar, salt, spices (red pepper, paprika...) and often a pink coloring, then canned in wide-mouth jars. They are available in single blister packs, e.g., Slim Jim meat snacks, or in jars atop the deli cooler. They are shelf stable, and are a frequently offered alternative to beef jerky, beef stick, and kippered beef snacks.

Certain countries classify sausage types according to the region in which the sausage was traditionally produced:

National varieties

Sausage making in Russia

Many nations and regions have their own characteristic sausages, using meats and other ingredients native to the region and employed in traditional dishes.

Europe

Finland

One local Finnish variety is mustamakkara, a "black sausage" prepared with blood, which is a specialty of Tampere. It is very close to the Scottish black pudding.

Makkara is typically similar in appearance to Polish sausages or bratwursts, but have a very different taste and texture. Most makkara is very light on spices and is therefore frequently eaten with mustard, ketchup, or other table condiments without a bun. Makkara is usually grilled, roasted over coals, or cooked on sauna heating stones until the outer skin begins to darken and crack.

When a steak made out of makkara is eaten inside a sliced, fried bun with cucumber salad and other fillings, it becomes a porilainen after the town of Pori. Pickled makkara intended to consumed as slices is called kestomakkara. This class includes various mettwurst, salami and Balkanesque styles. The most popular kestomakkara in Finland is meetvursti (etymologically this word comes from mettwurst), which contains finely ground full meat, ground fat and various spices. It is not unlike salami, but usually thicker and less salty. Meetvursti used to contain horse meat, but only a few brands contain it anymore, mostly due to the high cost of production.

France

Saucisson is perhaps one of the most popularized forms of dried sausage in France, with many different variations from region to region. Usually saucisson contains pork, cured with a mixture of salt, wine and/or spirits. Regional varieties have been known to contain more unorthodox ingredients such as nuts and fruits.

Germany

German sausages, or würste, cover a variety of uncooked and unfilled things (no casing), like frankfurters, bratwürste, rindswürste, blargenwurst, knackwürste, and bockwürste.

Hungary

Hungarian sausages called kolbász, are two types, the smoked, cured sausages like ”Gyulai” and “Csabai” sausage. Hungarian The other type are the boiled sausages called "Hurka". Rice Liver Sausage ("Májas") and Rice Blood Sausage ("Véres"). In the first case the main ingredient is the liver and the stuffing consist of rice. In the other case the blood is mixed with rice, or pieces of bread roll. Spices, pepper, salt and marjoram are added. See even winter salami,

Italy

Italian sausages are often a mix of pork and veal.

Macedonia

Macedonian sausages (kabasa, lukanec) are made from fried pork, onions, and leeks, with herbs and spices.

Malta

Maltese sausage zalzett tal-Malti is typically made of pork, sea salt, black peppercorns, coriander seeds, garlic and parsley.

Nordic countries

Nordic sausages (Finnish: makkara, Danish and Norwegian: pølse, Icelandic: bjúga/pylsa, Swedish: korv) are usually made of 60-75% very finely ground pork, very sparsely spiced with pepper, nutmeg, allspice or similar sweet spices (ground mustard seed, onion and sugar may also be added). Water, lard, rind, potato flour and soy or milk protein are often added for binding and filling. In southern Norway, grill- and wiener sausages are often wrapped in a potato lompe, a kind of lefse.

Virtually all sausages will be industrially precooked and either fried or warmed in hot water by the consumer or at the hot dog stand. Since hot dog stands are ubiquitous in Denmark some people regard pølser one of the national dishes, perhaps along with medisterpølse, a fried, finely ground pork and bacon sausage. The most noticeable aspect of Danish boiled sausages (never the fried ones) is that the cover often contains a traditional bright-red dye. They are also called wienerpølser and legend has it they originate from Vienna where it was once ordered that day-old sausages be dyed as a means of warning. The Swedish falukorv is a similarly red-dyed sausage, but about 5 cm thick, usually baked in the oven coated in mustard or cut in slices and fried. Unlike ordinary sausages it is a typical home dish, not sold at hot dog stands. Other Swedish sausages include prinskorv, fläskkorv, and isterband; all of these, in addition to falukorv, are often accompanied by potato mash or rotmo (a root vegetable mash) rather than bread. In Iceland, lamb may be added to sausages, giving them a distinct taste. Horse sausage and mutton sausage are also traditional foods in Iceland, although their popularity is waning.

Sixteen raw sausages in a wooden bowl.

Poland

Polish sausages, (Kiełbasa), come in a wide range of styles such as Swojska, Krajańska, Szynkowa, Biała, śląska, and podhalańska.

Portugal, Spain and Brazil (in regions of Portuguese colonization)

Embutidos or Enchidos generally contain hashed meat, particularly pork, seasoned with aromatic herbs or spices (pepper, red pepper, paprika, garlic, rosemary, thyme, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, etc.)

In Spain a special kind of embutido called salchicha is the most similar one to English or German sausages. Spanish sausages can be red or white. Red sausages contain paprika ( pimentón in Spanish) and are usually fried. White sausages don't have paprika and can be fried or cooked in wine.

Although Spanish embutidos as chorizo or salchichón could be called "sausages", they are not "salchichas" for Spanish speakers at all.

Switzerland

Cervelat.

The cervelat, a cooked sausage, is often referred to as Switzerland's national sausage. A great number of regional sausage specialties exist as well.

Turkey

In Turkey sausage is known as sosis which is made of beef.

Sucuk (pronounced tsudjuck or soudjouk or sujuk with accent on the last syllable) is a type of sausage made in Turkey and neighboring Balkan countries.

There are many types of sucuk, but it is mostly made from beef. It is fermented, spiced (with garlic and pepper) and filled in an inedible casing that needs to be peeled off before consuming. Slightly smoked sucuk is considered superior. The taste is spicy, salty and a little raw, similar to pepperoni. Some varieties are extremely hot and/or greasy. Some are "adulterated" with turkey, water buffalo meat, sheep fat or chicken.

There are many dishes made with sucuk, but grilled sucuk remains the most popular. Smoke dried varieties are consumed "raw" in sandwiches. An intestinal loop is one sucuk. Smoked sucuk is usually straight.

United Kingdom

In the UK sausages are very popular. British sausages are normally made from pork or beef mixed with a variety of herbs and spices, many recipes of which are traditionally associated with particular regions (for example Bucks sausages). They normally contain a certain amount of Rusk, or Bread-Rusk, and are traditionally cooked by frying, grilling or roasting prior to eating. Due to their habit of often exploding due to shrinkage of the tight skin during cooking, they are commonly referred to as bangers particularly when served with the most common accompaniment of mashed potatoes to form the national dish known as Bangers and Mash. (The designation banger is also said to have arisen during World War II, when scarcity of meat led many sausage makers to add water to the mixture, making it more likely to explode on heating. Although it is sometimes stated that the term "bangers" has its origins in World War II, the term was actually in use at least as far back as 1919.) They may also be baked in a Yorkshire pudding batter to create 'Toad in the Hole', often served with gravy and onions.

Famously, they are an essential component of both a Full English Breakfast. In the UK alone there are believed to be over 470 different types of sausages[4]; some made to traditional regional recipes such as those from Cumberland or Lincolnshire, and increasingly to modern recipes which combine fruit such as apples or apricots with the meat, or are influenced by European styles such as the Toulouse or Chorizo.

In many areas "sausage meat" for frying and stuffing into poultry and meat, is sold as slices cut from an oblong block of pressed meat without casing: in Scotland this is known as Lorne Sausage or often sliced or square while the usual form is sometimes called sausage links. Lorne Sausage is very popular in and around Glasgow. It is usually grilled, though frying is not unusual.

A popular and widespread snack is the sausage roll made from sausage-meat rolled in puff pastry; they are sold from most bakeries and often made in the home.

Battered sausage, consisting of a sausage dipped in batter, and fried, is sold throughout Britain from Fish and Chip shops. In England, Saveloy is a type of pre-cooked sausage, larger than a typical hot-dog which is served hot. A saveloy skin was traditionally colored with bismarck-brown dye giving saveloy a distinctive bright red color.

A short variety of sausage, known as the chipolata or 'cocktail sausage' is often wrapped in bacon and served alongside roast turkey at Christmas time, or served cold at children's parties throughout the year.

Due to health concerns over the quality of the meat contained in many commercially produced sausages (heightened by the BSE crisis in the 1990s) there has been a marked improvement in the quality of meat content in commonly available British sausages with a marked return to the artisanal production of high quality traditional recipes, which had previously been in decline. There are currently organisations in a number of UK counties such as Lincolnshire who are seeking European Protected designation of origin (PDO) for their sausages so that they can be made only in the appropriate region and to an attested recipe and quality.[5]

North America

North American breakfast or country sausage is made from uncooked ground pork mixed with pepper, sage, and other spices. It is usually sold in a large synthetic plastic casing, or in links which may have a protein casing. In some markets it is available sold by the pound without a casing. It is commonly sliced into small patties and pan-fried, or cooked and crumbled into scrambled eggs or gravy.

The frankfurter or hot dog is the most common sausage in the US and Canada. If proper terminology is observed in manufacture and marketing (it often is not), "frankfurters" are more mildly seasoned, "hot dogs" more robustly so.

United States

In the USA, precooked sausages (wieners, franks and hot dogs) are most often consumed. Fresh-cooked sausages in the form of cased links (Italian, bratwurst, chorizo, andouille) are widely available, but fresh or precooked "breakfast sausages," in patty, log, or link form are consumed much more often, and are usually what is referred to by the term "sausage". Pepperoni and Italian crumbles are popular pizza toppings. Many types of "ethnic" sausages are used as sliced sandwich toppings, with Lebanon bologna and several examples of Italian salume examples being some of the more unique adaptations. Head cheese and scrapple are examples of square sausage-like products in this category.

South America

Argentina and Uruguay

In Argentina and Uruguay many sausages are consumed. Eaten as part of the traditional asado, Chorizo (beef and/or pork, flavored with spices) and Morcilla (Blood Sausage or Black pudding) are the most popular. Both of them share a Spanish origin. A local type is the salchicha Argentina, criolla (Argentinian sausage) or parrillera (literally BBQ-style), made of the same ingredients as the Chorizo but thinner.[6]

There are hundreds of salami-style sausages. A very popular is the Salame Tandilero, from the city of Tandil. Others examples are: Longaniza, Cantimpalo and Sopresatta.[7]

Vienna sausages are eaten as an appetizer or in hot dogs (called panchos) which are usually served with different sauces and salads.

Leberwurst is usually found in every market and it is eaten as a cold cut or a Pâté.

Weisswurst is also a common dish, eaten usually with mashed potatoes or chucrut (Sauerkraut), in some regions.[8][9]

Asia

China

Lap cheong (also lap chong, lap chung, lop chong). Dried pork sausages flavored with char siu that look and feel like pepperoni, but are much sweeter. In southwestern China, sausages are flavored with salt, red pepper and wild pepper. People often cure sausages by smoking and air drying.

Korea

Sundae, a form of blood sausage, is a traditional Korean sausage. A popular street food, sundae is normally prepared by steaming or boiling cow or pig intestines stuffed with various ingredients. The most common variation is composed of pork blood, cellophane noodles, and barley stuffed into pig intestines, but other regional variations include squid or Alaskan pollock casings. Sundae is eaten plain, in stews, or as part of a stir-fry.

The Philippines

In the Philippines, there are different kinds of sausages called "Longaniza" or "Longanisa" with mixes dependent on their size of origin: Vigan Longaniza, Lucban Longaniza are examples.

Vietnam

See Chả

Africa

South Africa

In South Africa, traditional sausages are known as boerewors or farmer's sausage. Ingredients include game and beef, usually mixed with pork or lamb and with a high percentage of fat. Coriander and vinegar are the two most common seasoning ingredients, although many variations exist. The coarsely-ground nature of the mincemeat as well as the long continuous spiral of sausage are two of its recognisable qualities. Boerewors is traditionally cooked on a braai (barbecue).

Boerewors can be dried out in a dry-curing process similar to biltong, in which case it's called droë wors.

Other variations

Sausages may be served as hors d'oeuvre, in a sandwich, in a bread roll as a hot dog, wrapped in a tortilla, or as an ingredient in dishes such as stews and casseroles. It can be served on a stick (like the corn dog) or on a bone as well.[10] Sausage without casing is called sausage meat and can be fried or used as stuffing for poultry, or for wrapping foods like Scotch eggs. Similarly, sausage meat encased in puff pastry is called a sausage roll.

Sausages can also be modified to use indigenous ingredients. Mexican styles add oregano and the "guajillo" red pepper to the Spanish chorizo to give it an even hotter spicy touch.

Certain sausages also contain ingredients such as cheese and apple; or types of vegetable.

Vegetarian sausage

Vegetarian and vegan sausages are also available in some countries, or can be made from scratch. These may be made from tofu, seitan, nuts, pulses, mycoprotein, soya protein, vegetables or any combination of similar ingredients that will hold together during cooking. These sausages, like most meat-replacement products, generally fall into two camps: some are shaped, colored, flavored, etc. to replicate the taste and texture of meat as accurately as possible; others such as the Glamorgan sausage rely on spices and vegetables to lend their natural flavor to the product and no attempt is made to imitate meat.

Sausage fingers

"Sausage fingers" is an English saying suggesting a person with clumsy hands, for example somebody who finds it difficult to play the Piano.

References

  1. ↑ Touring Club Italiano Le città dell'olio, 2001, Touring Editore pag. 237 ISBN 883652141X
  2. ↑ USDA Standards of Identity; see Subparts E, F & G
  3. ↑ Joy of Cooking, Rombauer & Becker; The Fine Art of Italian Cooking, Bugialli
  4. ↑ According to Sausagefans.com
  5. ↑ protect the lincolnshire sausage
  6. ↑ Asado Argentina » Sausage-Chorizo
  7. ↑ http://www.argentina.ar/_en/country/C161-the-gastronomy-in-the-world.php
  8. ↑ La salchicha de viena cumple 200 años
  9. ↑ La inmigración
  10. ↑ Sausage on a bone, a relatively recent phenomenon.

See also

  • Andouille
  • Black pudding (or Blood Sausage)
  • Boudin
  • Butifarra
  • Chinese sausage
  • Chipolata
  • Currywurst
  • Fuet
  • Glamorgan sausage
  • Haggis
  • Hot Dog
  • Käsekrainer
  • Kishka
  • Knackwurst
  • Kovbasa
  • Kransky
  • Landjäger
  • Linguiça
  • Liver sausage
  • Loukaniko
  • Lukanka
  • Merguez
  • Mettwurst
  • Mincemeat
  • Mustamakkara
  • Pølsevogn
  • Rookworst
  • Salami
  • Sausage Race
  • Soujouk
  • Tasso
  • Thüringer
  • Usinger's
  • White pudding

External links