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Sausage
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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.
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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.
History
Sausage is a result of economical butchery. Traditionally, sausage-makers put to use meat and animal parts equally 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.
The first sausages were made by early humans, stuffing roasted intestines into animal stomachs. Already in 589 BC a Chinese sausage làcháng (??/??) was first mentioned. It consisted of goat and lamb meat. 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. During the reign of the Roman emperor Nero, sausages were associated with the Lupercalia festival. 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. 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). 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 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:
- Cooked sausages are made with fresh meats and then fully cooked. They are either eaten immediately after cooking or must be refrigerated. Examples include hot dogs, Braunschweiger and liver sausages.
- Cooked smoked sausages are cooked and then smoked or smoke-cooked. They are eaten hot or cold, but need to be refrigerated. Examples include Gyulai kolbász, kielbasa and Mortadella.
- Fresh sausages are made from meats that have not been previously cured. They must be refrigerated and thoroughly cooked before eating. Examples include Boerewors, Italian pork sausage and breakfast sausage.
- Fresh smoked sausages are fresh sausages that are smoked. They should be refrigerated and cooked thoroughly before eating. Examples include Mettwurst and Romanian sausage.
- Dry sausages are cured sausages that are fermented and dried. They are generally eaten cold and will keep for a long time. Examples include salami, Droë wors, Sucuk, Landjäger, and summer sausage.
- Bulk sausage, or sometimes sausage meat, refers to raw, ground, spiced meat, usually sold without any casing.
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.
- Raw sausages are made with raw meat and are not cooked. They are preserved by lactic acid fermentation, and may be dried, brined or smoked. Most raw sausages will keep for a long time. Examples include cervelat, mettwurst and salami.
- Cooked sausages may include water and emulsifiers and are always cooked. They will not keep long. Examples include Jagdwurst and Weißwurst.
- Pre-cooked sausages are made with cooked meat, and may include raw organ meat. They may be heated after casing, and will keep only for a few days. Examples include Saumagen and Blutwurst.
In Italy, the basic distinction is:
- Raw sausage (salsiccia)
- Cured or cooked sausage (salume)
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:
- France: Montbéliard, Morteau, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Merguez...
- Germany: Frankfurt, Thuringia, Nuremberg, Pomerania, ...
- Austria: Vienna, ...
- Italy: Merano (Meran)
- UK: Cumberland, Chiltern, Lincolnshire, Glamorgan, ...
- Slovenia: Kranjska (klobasa), after the Slovenian name for the province of Carniola
- Spain: botifarra catalana, chorizo riojano, chorizo gallego, chorizo de Teror, longaniza de Aragón, morcilla de Burgos, morcilla de Ronda, morcilla extremeña, morcilla dulce canaria, llonganissa de Vic, fuet d'Olot, sobrassada mallorquina, botillo de León, llonganissa de Valencia, farinato de Salamanca, ...
- Poland: kielbasa krakowska (Kraków-style), torunska (Torun), zywiecka (Zywiec), bydgoska (Bydgoszcz), krotoszynska (Krotoszyn), podwawelska (literally: "from under Wawel"), zielonogórska (Zielona Góra), rzeszowska (Rzeszów), slaska (Silesia), swojska, wiejska, jalowcowa, zwyczajna, polska, krajanska, szynkowa, parówkowa, ...
- Hungary: kolbász gyulai (after the town of Gyula), csabai (after the city of Békéscsaba), Debrecener (after the city of Debrecen).
National varieties
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 additionally contain horse meat, but only a few brands contain it anymore, mostly due to the high cost of production. There is also meetvursti with additional reindeer meat.
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
Germany is known for its broad variety and long tradition of preparing sausages. German sausages, or Würste, cover 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. 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 (Greek and Republic of 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 rotmos (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.
Poland
Polish sausages, Kielbasa, come in a wide range of styles such as Swojska, Krajanska, Szynkowa, Biala, slaska, Krakowska, podhalanska, and others. Sausages in Poland are generally made of pork, rarely beef. Sausages with low meat content and additions like soy protein, potato flour or water binding additions are regarded as of low quality. Because of climate conditions sausages were traditionally preserved by smoking, rather than drying, like in Mediterranean countries.
Since the 14th century Poland excelled in the production of sausages, thanks in part to the royal hunting excursions across virgin forests with game delivered as gifts to friendly noble families and religious hierarchy across the country. The extended list of beneficiaries of such diplomatic generosity included city magistrates, academy professors, voivodes, szlachta and kapitula. Usually the raw meat was delivered in winter, but the processed meat, throughout the rest of the year. With regard to varieties, early Italian, French and German influences played a role. Meat commonly preserved in fat and by smoking was mentioned by historian Jan Dlugosz in his annals called Annales seu cronici incliti regni Poloniae covering events from 965 to 1480, where the hunting castle in Niepolomice is being mentioned along with King Wladyslaw sending game to Queen Zofia from Niepolomice Forest, the most popular hunting ground for the Polish royalty beginning in 13th century. It became popular in Germany occupied Poland in World War II to soak the sausage ground in goro sprout creme, a native fermented mayonaisse, and such methods are considered gourmet nowadays.
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
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 a full English breakfast. In the UK alone there are believed to be over 470 different types of sausages; 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 and are known as Pigs in a Blanket or "Pigs in Blankets". They are also 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.
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 & Canada
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, while mild, thin-sliced, dried salami is often eaten in sandwiches. Many other 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. Another popular variation of the hot dog is the "corn dog", which is a hot dog fried in cornmeal batter and served on a stick.
Mexico
The most common Mexican sausage by far is the unique Mexican version of chorizo, which is fresh, deep red in color and filled with very finely ground meat (in most of the rest of Latin America, chorizo is uncolored and coarsely chopped). Some chorizo is so loose that it spills out of its casing as soon as it is cut; this crumbled chorizo is a popular filling for torta sandwiches and tacos. Salchichas (essentially identical to hot dogs), longaniza (a long, thin, coarse chopped pork sausage) and head cheese are also widely consumed.
South America
In most of Spanish South America a few basic types of sausages are consumed, with slight regional variations on each recipe. Beef tends to be more predominant than in their pork-heavy Spanish equivilants. These are chorizo (moister and fresher than its Spanish counterpart), longaniza (usually very similar to chorizo but longer and thinner), morcilla or relleno (blood sausage), and salchichas (any kind of highly-processed sausage similar to hot dogs or Vienna sausages).
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.
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.
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.
Colombia
A grilled choizo served with a buttered arepa is one of the most common street foods in Colombia.
In addition to the standard Latin American sausages, dried pork sausages are served cold as a snack, often to accompany beer drinking. These include cábanos (salty, short, thin, and served individually), butifarra (of Catalan origin; spicier, shorter, fatter and moister than cábanos) and salchichón (a long, thin and heavily processed sausage served in slices).
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.
While Longanisa is widely accepted as the term for native sausages, in some parts of the Vizayas and Mindanao Choriso is a more common term. There are regional varieties such as Vigan (with lots of garlic and not sweet) Lucban (lots of oreganao and pork fat is chunky) Most longanisas contain Prague powder and are hardly smoked and is usually sold fresh. In general there are several common variants:
- Matamis (sweet)
- Hamonado (with lots of garlic, black pepper and other spices)
- skinless (sans the usual natural casing instead rolled in plastic sheets)
- macao (in reference to Chinese Macao. sweet and dried with lots of chunky fat and also identified with the red colored abacca twine)
- Corizo de Bilbao (with lots of paprika and usually kept in a can with lard) the best and most popular brand is Marca el Rey and contrary to popular belief that it comes from Bilbao Spain this is manufactured in the USA. Chorizo de Bilbao seems to be a Filipino invention and the variant does not exist in Spain.
Vietnam
See Ch?
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.
Oceania
Australia
English style sausages, known colloquially as "snags" and popular at barbecues, are made in Australia using traditional meats such as beef, pork and chicken. European style smoked and dry sausages made with kangaroo meat have become available in recent years. Sausages made with Australian game meats typically have a much lower fat content than beef or pork sausages made by the same methods.
Devon is a spiced pork sausage similar to Bologna sausage and Gelbwurst. It is usually made in a large diameter, and often thinly sliced and eaten cold in sandwiches.
A local variation on cabanossi, developed by Italian migrants after World War II using local cuts of meat, is a popular party snack.
New Zealand
Locally manufactured cabanossi is a popular snack and party food.
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. 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.
See also
External links
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