The Rookworst (; smoked sausage) is a type of

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

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. ...

in which

ground meat Ground meat, called mince or minced meat outside North America, is meat finely chopped by a meat grinder or a chopping knife. A common type of ground meat is ground beef, but many other types of meats are prepared in a similar fashion, includ ...

is mixed with

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

s and

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

and stuffed into a casing (originally made of

intestine The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans an ...

, but these days usually made of bovine

collagen Collagen () is the main structural protein in the extracellular matrix found in the body's various connective tissues. As the main component of connective tissue, it is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up from 25% to 35% of the whol ...

). Described as a Bologna-type sausage, it is common in the Netherlands and is also exported to Great Britain. the Rookworst is a traditional ingredient in the

stamppot ''Stamppot'' (English: 'mash pot') is a traditional Dutch dish made from a combination of potatoes mashed with one or several vegetables. History and description These vegetable pairings traditionally include sauerkraut, endive, kale, spinach, tu ...

. Typical Dutch rookworst is made with pork, but in recent years, turkey-based rookworst is available in most Dutch supermarkets. Rookworst was traditionally

smoked Smoking is the process of flavoring, browning, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. Meat, fish, and '' lapsang souchong'' tea are often smoked. In Europe, alder is the tra ...

over smouldering woodchips. Today, most commercially available rookworst is not smoked, but has smoke aromatics added to give the characteristic flavour. Glucono delta-lactone is added to lower the pH and add to shelf life. There are two types of rookworst: #The most common form of rookworst is a cooked sausage, sold in a vacuum pack. As this sausage leaves the factory already cooked, it is shelf-stable for weeks, and only needs to be reheated. This type of rookworst is also called Gelderse rookworst, i.e., rookworst from (or in the manner of)

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

. #Raw rookworst — also known as crafted, old-fashioned or

butcher A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale food establishm ...

s' rookworst — contains raw meats, and has to be prepared properly. Often this type of rookworst still uses natural intestine for the casing instead of bovine collagen. As the meat is raw, this type needs to be cooked before it can be safely eaten. A common method is to simmer the rookworst. A recipe from a Dutch cookbook of 1940 gives the proportions of ground meat as 4 parts of pork to 3 parts of veal and 3 parts of bacon. The mixture is salted and

saltpeter Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate Salt (chemistry), salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ...

, sugar and

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...

are added before the meat is forced into pig intestines. The sausages are air-dried at 12 to 15 degrees C and then smoked at 18 to 20 degrees C.

References

External links

* Dutch sausages Dutch cuisine Dutch words and phrases Smoked meat {{Netherlands-cuisine-stub

See also

References

External links