The counters of any large market are littered with sausage and such an abundance is perceived favorably. But not so long ago, sausage was obtained through large connections and every bite was treasured. You can argue as much as you like about the benefits or dangers of sausage, about the technology of its preparation and the original ingredients, there are definitely lovers and connoisseurs of this product with a difficult history.
Initially, sausage was invented as a new way of serving food, a method of preserving a large amount of meat and was a natural minced meat that was generously flavored with spices, salt, oil and pressed into the intestine. Sausage quickly became popular because it was very convenient to store and sell such a product. The assortment expanded, new additives and recipes were invented.
For the first time, the ancient Chinese and Greeks mentioned sausage in 500 BC. The Greeks are especially generous with descriptions of this dish, but it has not been established for certain that they are the authors of the sausage.
Roman cooks, so that the meat would not spoil in the heat, stuffed the guts with minced meat, shifting it with spices, and hung it up to dry in the shade of trees. This product has been stored for a long time.
Smoking sausages also did not pursue the goal of changing the taste – the sausages suspended over the fire dried faster, simultaneously being saturated with the aroma of fragrant branches. In addition, the smoke kept insects out of the meat. Initially, sausages contained one type of meat, and only over time, expanding the range of tastes, minced meat appeared on the basis of several types.
Unlike modern sausages, the first sausages were completely natural and very expensive. It consisted of the best cuts of meat, the best alcohol and spices. Each chef was proud of his recipe and tried to make his sausage to the taste of as many customers as possible.
Around the Middle Ages, sausage-making processes were geographically divided. In cold climates, it was customary to dry raw sausages with smoke; in hot ones, sausages were dried in the sun – sujuk and basturma.
Sausage geography
Different countries develop their own sausage traditions.
In Asian countries, in the Caucasus, sausages from a whole piece of meat are still popular – basturma, sujuk, kazy. Basturma is made from beef tenderloin, which is salted, folded under a press, rolled in spices (garlic, chaman, red and black pepper) and hung to dry. Sujuk and kazy are made from horse meat, only minced meat is used in sudjuk, and a whole piece of the best tenderloin from horse ribs is used for kazy.
In Italy, they love salami – a sausage made from several types of meat and traditional Italian spices: aromatic herbs, white pepper, garlic, vinegar and wine. Salami is dried in the sun, and the shell is covered with mold for better product storage.
In France, they cook homemade sausage from veal with cognac, from rabbit meat with Provencal herbs, from goose meat in apples.
Lithuanians eat smoked game sausage, while fried with the addition of alcohol, which must certainly burn.
Sausage business has gained particular popularity in Germany and Austria, today their sausages are a kind of standard of taste and quality, and are also distinguished by a wide variety. Frankfurt-based Viennese sausage maker Johan Georg Laner invented sausages – small sausages that don’t need to be sliced into one serving.
Blood sausage is also a traditional German dish; it is made from minced liver and pork with the addition of blood and spices – cloves, marjoram, black and red peppers.
In Slovenia, Kranjska sausage is prepared – from minced pork, bacon, sea salt, garlic and pepper. It is smoked, which ultimately gives the sausage a haze aroma.
The Spaniards eat chorizo, a delicacy made from minced pork and paprika. These sausages are deep red, damp-fried and damp smoked.
Hungarian Debrecen sausages are made from sheep intestines stuffed with minced beef and pork, seasoned with paprika. Then the sausages are slightly smoked.
Why sausage
Why sausage is called sausage, there is no single version. In different languages there is something consonant – a phrase or several words that fit the meaning. For example, the Turkic k’ol – “hand” and bass – “to press” or külbastı – “fried in a pan”. In Hebrew, kolbāsār (כלבשר) means “all flesh.” The Russian kolobok is also considered in the sausage version, although in Russia koloboks were called round bread. English calabash, German Die Kalebasse and French calebasse translate as pumpkin bottle, and the sausage in the gut is somewhat reminiscent of a pumpkin bottle.
Slavic sausage
Contrary to popular belief, the Slavic peoples were not taught to make sausage by the Germans. Back in the 12th century, sausage was already in the usual diet, which is mentioned in a birch bark letter found in Veliky Novgorod. The Novgorodians traded with northern Europe and did not communicate with the Turks. Until the 16th century, there are no more references to sausage in written sources, perhaps the dish did not take root or was not worthy of much attention. In the 17th century, the Germans actively open sausage workshops in Russia. It was they who taught the masters from Uglich, whose sausages were popular at the end of the 17th century.
By decree of Peter I, new workshops were opened with the involvement of foreign sausage masters, and already at the end of the 18th century, own Slavic sausages were not inferior in taste and quality to foreign ones. In those days, the sausage craft was not designed for mass production, although there were some. Sausage produced in small quantities according to the original recipe was appreciated.
Strictly prescription
Boiled sausage appeared in Soviet times. It was a dietetic sausage without smoking and with a delicate texture, created especially for patients who underwent surgery or suffering from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. They called the new sausage “doctor’s” and included it in diets and hospital-sanatorium rations.
100 kg of “Doctor’s” sausage contained 25 kg of premium beef, 70 kg of semi-fat pork, 3 kg of eggs and 2 kg of cow’s milk. The quality of the sausage was at its best, but over time, its composition and taste changed, in 1974 starch was added for the uniformity of the structure, the meat content was gradually reduced, flavoring additives were allowed to enhance the taste and extend the shelf life.
In Soviet times, the varieties of sausages “Lyubitelskaya”, “Cervelat”, “Tea”, “Krakovskaya”, “Livernaya”, “Hunting sausages” were also popular. Sausage was smoked, dried, boiled, smoked sausage was in short supply.
During the war years, most of the sausage-producing enterprises were destroyed, and raw materials also became scarce. The priority in the manufacture of any products has become at speed and long storage, as well as the search for alternative raw materials – satisfying and as inexpensive as possible. Used gelatin, albumin, agar-agar, even grass and tops, peas, cereals and flour.
Some Soviet sausage amazed with its composition. For example, the sausage “For breakfast” was prepared from sodium caseinate, wheat flour and potato starch. Other sausages were advertised so skillfully that they were immediately swept off the shelves, despite the poor quality and inedible taste. For a long time there was a legend that “Ostankinskaya” was made from the remains of enemies of socialism, and the novelty “Member of the Politburo” will open a slice where Lenin’s profile will be drawn with fat.
Modern sausage
The variety and the possibility of export-import give us the opportunity to choose according to our taste and wallet, without really thinking about the origin of the sausage. However, the main varieties can be distinguished.
Boiled sausage – not stored for long, contains 20-30% fat. It is considered dietary and low in calories, but also low in meat, high in water, soy, and additives.
Cooked smoked sausage contains 30-40% fat and is stored for about 15 days. Also contains many additives – starch, bacon, flour, milk, cream and water.
Semi-smoked sausage contains 20-40% fat, is stored for a couple of weeks, additionally processed with cold – water and ice are added to the minced meat. The sausage is kept at a temperature of 0 degrees for about 6 hours, after which it is smoked.
Raw smoked sausage contains 28-55% fat, stored for a month. This sausage is prepared with the addition of alcohol and spices, at first the minced meat ripens for almost 2 months, and then the sausage is smoked in smoke.
Cured sausage contains 30-40% fat and is stored for a very long time. It contains many spices, honey, garlic, cumin and cognac. Minced meat is made from premium meat, and sausage is dried naturally.
Some interesting facts about sausage
– There is a sausage addiction in the world. She suffers from David Harding – he is even being treated for sausage addiction by a psychiatrist. He eats an average of 13 sausages a day and panics if there are no additional sausages in the house.
– The German supermarket chain has divided the sausage into men and women. A sausage for women is twice as thin and less than a sausage for men, and a woman’s sausage is more expensive.
– There is a Sausage Academy in Germany, where any student can get a certificate for eating sausage. Of course, not only this is done by the students of the academy. They study the history, the specifics of cooking, recipes, sausage techniques and everything related to this meat product.
– In Germany, there is a museum of currywurst – pork sausages with a spicy curry sauce and ketchup. This museum is interactive: there are spice chambers, snuff stations and a sofa made of real sausage.
– The longest sausage is a 59,14 km long sausage. It takes an average person 20 hours to go through it from start to finish.