Saucisson () or saucisson sec is a family of thick, dry-cured

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. ...

s in

French cuisine French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the re ...

. Typically made of pork, or a mixture of pork and other meats, saucisson are a type of

charcuterie Charcuterie ( , also ; ; from french: chair, , flesh, label=none, and french: cuit, , cooked, label=none) is a French term for a branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, ''galantines'', ''ballo ...

similar to

salami Salami ( ) is a cured sausage consisting of fermented and air-dried meat, typically pork. Historically, salami was popular among Southern, Eastern, and Central European peasants because it can be stored at room temperature for up to 45 ...

or summer sausage.

Origin

Saucisson comes from the Latin ' meaning ''salted''. It is sometimes called '. There are saucisson recipes dating from Roman times, and Gaulish recipes for dried pork. The word ''saucisson'' first appeared in France in 1546 in the ''Tiers Livre'' of Rabelais.

Production

Stuffing

Saucisson stuffing is generally made of two-thirds to three-quarters lean meat and the rest fat (largely pork back-fat called '). The mixture is ground to different fineness depending on the type of saucisson and mixed with salt, sugar, spices, nitrites and/or

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 ...

, and with

fermenting Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food p ...

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were am ...

. For instance,

antilisterial ''Listeria'' is a genus of bacteria that acts as an intracellular parasite in mammals. Until 1992, 17 species were known, each containing two subspecies. By 2020, 21 species had been identified. The genus is named in honour of the British pio ...

strains of ''

Lactobacillus sakei ''Latilactobacillus sakei'' is the type species of the genus ''Latilactobacillus'' that was previously classified in the genus ''Lactobacillus''. It is homofermentative; hexoses are metabolized via glycolysis to lactic acid as main metabolite; ...

'' are used in Europe for the production of saucisson and can be used for the conservation of fresh meat. Some versions of saucisson also contain pepper seeds, garlic, mushrooms, bits of dried fruits or nuts (such as pistachios, figs, or olives), cheeses such as

Roquefort Roquefort is a sheep milk cheese from Southern France, and is one of the world's best known blue cheeses. Though similar cheeses are produced elsewhere, EU law dictates that only those cheeses aged in the natural Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur ...

Laguiole Laguiole (; ''La Guiòla'' in Languedocien) is a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France. It is known for its Laguiole cheese, which has an '' Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (label of guaranteed origin), and as the birthpl ...

, or alcohols such as wines or

Génépi ''Génépi'' or génépy () or ''genepì'' (in Italian) is a traditional herbal liqueur or aperitif popularized in the Alpine regions of Europe. ''Genepi'' also refers to alpine plants of the genus '' Artemisia'' (commonly called ''wormwood' ...

liquor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saucisson French sausages Pork Fermented sausages

Origin

Production

Stuffing

See also

Further reading

References