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.

When used as an uncountable noun, the word ''sausage'' can refer to the loose sausage meat, which can be used loose, formed into patties, or stuffed into a casing. When referred to as "a sausage", the product is usually cylindrical and enclosed in a casing.

Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made from intestine, but sometimes from synthetic materials. Sausages that are sold raw are cooked in many ways, including pan-frying, broiling and barbecuing. Some sausages are cooked during processing, and the casing may then be removed.

Sausage making is a traditional food preservation technique. Sausages may be preserved by curing, drying (often in association with fermentation or culturing, which can contribute to preservation), smoking, or freezing. Some cured or smoked sausages can be stored without refrigeration. Most fresh sausages must be refrigerated or frozen until they are cooked.

Sausages are made in a wide range of national and regional varieties, which differ by the types of meats that are used, the flavouring or spicing ingredients (e.g., garlic, peppers, wine, etc.), and the manner of preparation. In the 21st century, vegetarian and vegan varieties of sausage in which plant-based ingredients are used instead of meat have become much more widely available and consumed.

Etymology

The word ''sausage'' was first used in English in the mid-15th century, spelled . This word came from Old North French (Modern French ). The French word came from Vulgar Latin ("sausage"), from ("seasoned with salt").

History

Sausage making is a natural outcome of efficient butchery. Traditionally, sausage makers salted various tissues and organs such as scraps, organ meats, blood, and fat to help preserve them. They then stuffed them into tubular casings made from the cleaned intestines of the animal, producing the characteristic cylindrical shape.

An Akkadian cuneiform tablet records a dish of intestine casings filled with some sort of forcemeat.

The Greek poet Homer mentioned a kind of blood sausage in the '' Odyssey'', Epicharmus wrote a comedy titled ''The Sausage'', and Aristophanes' play '' The Knights'' is about a sausage vendor who is elected leader. Evidence suggests that sausages were already popular both among the ancient Greeks and Romans and most likely with the various tribes occupying the larger part of Europe. Eleonora Trojan, Julian Piotrowski
''Tradycyjne wędzenie''
AA Publishing. 96 pages.

The most famous sausage in ancient Italy was from Lucania (modern Basilicata) and was called '' lucanica'', a name which lives on in a variety of modern sausages in the Mediterranean. During the reign of the Roman emperor Nero, sausages were associated with the Lupercalia festival. Early in the 10th century during the Byzantine Empire, Leo VI the Wise outlawed the production of blood sausages following cases of food poisoning.

A Chinese type of sausage has been described, ''lap cheong'' () from the Northern and Southern dynasties ( 420 589). The modern type of ''lap cheong'' has a comparatively long shelf life, mainly because of a high content of lactobacilli—so high that it is considered sour by many.

Casings

Traditionally, sausage casings were made of the cleaned intestines, or stomachs in the case of haggis and other traditional puddings. Today, natural casings are often replaced by collagen, cellulose, or even plastic casings, especially in the case of industrially manufactured sausages. However, in some parts of the southern United States, companies like Snowden's, Monroe Sausage, Conecuh Sausage, and Kelly Foods still use natural casings, primarily from hog or sheep intestines.

Ingredients

A sausage consists of meat cut into pieces or ground, mixed with other ingredients, and filled into a casing. Ingredients may include a cheap starch filler such as breadcrumbs or grains, seasoning and flavourings such as spices, and sometimes others such as apple and leek.BBC: Pork sausage recipes
. "The meat may be mixed with breadcrumbs, cereals or other ingredients such as leek or apple." The meat may be from any animal but is often pork, beef or veal, or poultry. The lean meat-to-fat ratio depends upon the style and producer. The meat content as labelled may exceed 100%, which happens when the weight of meat exceeds the total weight of the sausage after it has been made, sometimes including a drying process which reduces water content.

In some jurisdictions foods described as sausages must meet regulations governing their content. For example, in the United States, the Department of Agriculture specifies that the fat content of different defined types of sausage may not exceed 30%, 35% or 50% by weight; some sausages may contain binders or extenders.

Many traditional styles of sausage from Asia and mainland Europe use no bread-based filler and include only meat (lean meat and fat) and flavorings. In the United Kingdom and other countries with English cuisine traditions, many sausages contain a significant proportion of bread and starch-based fillers, which may comprise 30% of ingredients. The filler in many sausages helps them to keep their shape as they are cooked. As the meat contracts in the heat, the filler expands and absorbs moisture and fat from the meat.

When the food processing industry produces sausages for a low price point, almost any part of the animal can end up in sausages, varying from cheap, fatty specimens stuffed with meat blasted off the carcasses ( mechanically recovered meat, MRM) and rusk. On the other hand, the finest quality contain only choice cuts of meat and seasoning. In Britain, "meat" declared on labels could in the past include fat, connective tissue, and MRM. These ingredients may still be used but must be labelled as such, and up to 10% water may be included without being labelled.

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.

Asia

Brunei

is the traditional Bruneian beef sausage. It is made with minced beef and tallow, marinated with garlic, salt, chillies and spices, and stuffed into cow's or buffalo's small intestines. It is then fermented through dehydration. Belutak is a common side dish alongside ambuyat.

China

A European-style smoked savory ''hóng cháng'' ( ''red sausage'') is produced in Harbin, China's northernmost major city.
It is similar to Lithuanian and Polish sausages including kiełbasa and ''podhalańska'' and tends to have a more European flavour than other Chinese sausages. This kind of sausage was first produced in a Russian-capitalized factory named Churin sausage factory in 1909. Harbin-style sausage has become popular in China, especially in northern regions.

Lap cheong (; also lap chong, lap chung, lop chong) are dried pork sausages 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.

Taiwan

Small sausage in large sausage, a segment of Taiwanese pork sausage is wrapped in a sticky rice sausage to make this delicacy, usually served chargrilled.

Laos

There are several Lao sausage types, but the most popular are sai ua and sai gork that have a unique taste and are different from most sausages found internationally. Sai oua is an ancient Lao word that literally combines sai (intestine) with ua (stuffed). It originated from Luang Prabang, an ancient royal capital of the former Lan Xang kingdom (1353–1707) located in Northern Laos. Sai ua moo (Lao sausage made with pork meat) was listed among a collection of hand-written recipes from Phia Sing (1898–1967), the king's personal chef and master of ceremonies. Both sai ua and sai gork are some of the most popular traditional Lao dishes enjoyed by Lao people not only in Laos but also in countries where Lao people have migrated to.

Philippines

In the Philippines, sausages are generally called '' longaniza'' ( Filipino: ''longganisa'') in the northern regions and '' chorizo'' ( Visayan: ''choriso'', ''tsoriso'' or ''soriso'') in the southern regions. They are usually fresh or smoked sausages, distinguished primarily by either being sweet (''jamonado'' or ''hamonado'') or garlicky (''de recado'' or ''derecado''). There are numerous kinds of sausages in the Philippines, usually unique to a specific region like Vigan longganisa, Alaminos longganisa, and Chorizo de Cebu. The most widely known sausages in Philippine cuisine is the Pampanga longganisa. Bulk sausage versions are also known in Philippine English as "skinless sausages". There are also a few dry sausages like Chorizo de Bilbao and Chorizo de Macao. Most Filipino sausages are made from pork, but they can also be made from chicken, beef, or even tuna.

Thailand

There are many varieties of sausages known to Thai cuisine, some of which are specialities of a specific region of Thailand. From northern Thailand comes '' sai ua'', a grilled minced pork sausage flavored with curry paste and fresh herbs. Another grilled sausage is called '' sai krok Isan'', a fermented sausage with a distinctive slightly sour taste from northeastern Thailand (the region also known as Isan).

Vietnam

Europe

Britain and Ireland

In the UK and Ireland, sausages are a very popular and common feature of the national diet and popular culture. British sausages and Irish sausages are normally made from raw (i.e., uncooked, uncured, unsmoked) pork, beef, venison or other meats mixed with a variety of herbs and spices and cereals, many recipes of which are traditionally associated with particular regions (for example Cumberland sausages and Lincolnshire sausage). They normally contain a certain amount of rusk or bread-rusk, and are traditionally cooked by frying, grilling or baking. They are most typically long, the filling compressed by twisting the casing into concatenated "links" into the sausage skin, traditionally made from the prepared intestine of the slaughtered animal; most commonly a pig.

Due to their habit of often exploding due to shrinkage of the tight skin during cooking, they are often referred to as ''bangers'', particularly when served with the most common accompaniment of mashed potatoes to form a bi-national dish known as bangers and mash.

Pigs in blankets is a dish consisting of small sausages (usually chipolatas) wrapped in bacon. They are a popular and traditional accompaniment to roast turkey in a Christmas dinner and are served as a side dish

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