Bra sausage (in Piedmontese ''sautissa ëd Bra'') is a

sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. ...

recognized as an Italian Traditional Agri-food Product ( P.A.T.). The sausage is produced in

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, exclusively in the city of

Bra A bra, short for brassiere or brassière (, or ; ), is a form-fitting undergarment that is primarily used to support and cover breasts. It can serve a range of other practical and aesthetic purposes, including enhancing or reducing the appear ...

, by butchers associated with th
Consortium for the Protection and Enhancement of Bra Sausage

Origins

The Bra sausage was once produced without using pork fat and was mainly intended for the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community of

Cherasco Cherasco is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian ...

, which supplied itself with meat at the nearby market of Bra. As members of the Jewish religion, they were prevented from consuming pork-based sausages. A royal decree of 1847 acknowledged the Braidese custom allowing the butchers of the municipality to produce fresh beef sausage, which was prohibited in the rest of the country.

Preparation

The sausage is prepared with lean beef (70-80%) and pork fat for the remainder.Maurizio Bertera, "Dalle Alpi alla Sicilia C'è un pane e salumi per tutti", su ''Il Giornale'' 4 May 2019, p. 29

Consumption

Bra sausage can be eaten both cooked (in particular on the grill) and raw in the fresh state, in this case often as appetizer or as a topping for

pizza Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, onions ...

and

crostini Crostini (meaning "little crusts" in Italian; singular ''crostino'') are an Italian appetizer consisting of small slices of grilled or toasted bread and toppings. The toppings may include a variety of different cheeses, meats, vegetables and c ...

References

{{Cuisine of Italy Italian sausages Italian products with protected designation of origin Cuisine of Piedmont