Asausage is a type of food usually consisting of ground meat, animal fat, salt, and spices, and sometimes other ingredients such as herbs, sometimes packed in a casing. Sausage making is a very old food preservation technique.
Historically the casing has been the intestines of the animal, though it is now generally synthetic. Sausage may be fresh or preserved by curingorsmoking.
There is no consensus on whether similar products that are not packed in casings -such as pâté, meatloaf, scrapple and head cheese- should be considered sausage.
Besides being eaten on its own, sausage is also used as an ingredient in other foods.
Sausage is a logical 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, and that allow the preservation of meat that can not be consumed immediately. Hence, sausages are among the oldest of prepared foods.
It is often assumed that sausages were invented by Sumerians in what is Iraq today, 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 poetofAncient 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.[citation needed]
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 intestines 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 such as an animal intestine. 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.[1] 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).[2] 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.
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:
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 jarred. 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:
Many nations and regions have their own characteristic sausages, using meats and other ingredients native to the region and employed in traditional dishes.
In Argentina many sausages are consumed. Eaten as part of the traditional asado, Chorizo (Meat 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 parrilera (literally BBQ-style), made of the same ingredients than the Chorizo but thiner.[3]
Vienna sausages are eaten as an appetizer or in hot dogs (called panchos) which are usually served with different sauces and salads.
The weisswurst is also a very common dish eaten usually with smashed potatoes or chucrut in some regions. [4] [5]
Italian sausages are often a mix of pork and veal. In the USA, these are defined as having a minimum of 85% meat, and must contain salt, pepper, and either fenneloranise.
German sausages, or wurst, cover a wide range of cooked, uncooked and unfilled styles (no casing), such as frankfurters, bratwurst, rindswurst, blargenwurst, knackwurst, and bockwurst.
English, Scottish and Welsh sausages, or bangers, for example, normally have a significant amount of rusk, or bread crumbs, and are less meaty than sausages in other styles. Bangers are also used to make toad in the hole. They are an essential part of both a full English breakfast and an Ulster Fry, and are usually offered with an Irish breakfast. According to Sausagefans.com, in the UK alone there are over 470 different types of sausages. In some areas "sausage meat" for frying is sold as slices cut from an oblong block of pressed meat without any casing: in Scotland this is known as Lorne Sausage or often sliceorsquare while the usual form is sometimes called link sausage.
There are currently organisations in a number of UK counties such as Lincolnshire who are seeking European protected status on their sausages so that, rather like Champagne, they can only be made in the appropriate county.[6]
In England, Saveloy is a type of sausage snack, bigger than general hot-dog sausages.
Scandinavian sausages (Finnish: makkara, Danish and Norwegian: pølse, Icelandic: 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.
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. The most noticeable aspect of Danish cooked 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 cut in slices and fried. Unlike ordinary sausages it is a typical home dish, not sold at hot dog stands. In Sweden sausages are often accompanied by potato mash rather than bread. In Iceland, lamb may be added to sausages, giving them a distinct taste. One local Finnish variety is mustamakkara, a "black sausage" prepared with blood, which is a speciality of Tampere.
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. A special kind of makkara is mustamakkara, a "Black sausage", which is a speciality of Tampere and its surroundings. It is very close to the Scottish black pudding.
When makkara is eaten inside a sliced, fried bun with cucumber salad, 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, which contains finely ground full meat, ground fat and various spices. It is not unlike salami, but usually thicker and less salty.
InSouth 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.
North American breakfast sausage consists of uncooked ground pork, mixed with sage, pepper, or other ingredients. It can be sold uncased, or in links which may have a protein casing. It is commonly pan-fried in small patties, or cooked and crumbled into scrambled eggsorgravy.
InTurkey 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 generally made from beef, water buffalo meat and sheep fat. It is fermented, spiced (with garlic and pepper) and filled in sheep intestines. 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 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.
Maltese sausage zalzett tal-Malti is typically made of pork, sea salt, black peppercorns, coriander seeds, garlic and parsley.
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.[7] 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, and the good old cabeza de pija style.
Certain sausages also contain ingredients such as cheese and apple; or types of vegetable.
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, 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 rely on spices and vegetables to lend their natural flavor to the product and no attempt is made to imitate meat.
