The origin of sausage making is lost in antiquity but probably began when mankind realized that salt is an effective preservative. Sausage making then evolved as an effort to economize and preserve meat that could not be consumed fresh at slaughter. As for myself, there is no other delightful smell than the one of grilled sausages, perhaps a remnant of my youth, spent in locating things to eat. At that tender age the only thing that matters to most boys is food, not the opposite sex or other contretemps as commonly thought. Good, plentiful, robust food that makes you giddy - the equivalent of liquor to a drunk - is the winning ticket that brings one closer to ventral rapture, boys widely favored state of contentment.
So follow me over the orange bar for the goodies.
I discovered sausage making in Sydney, Australia, out of all places. I had opened my first restaurant aged 23 and little did I know what sort of crazy business I was letting myself in for. But that's another story. One of the very first customer was a policeman of Irish origins and a keen game hunter. Over a few drinks, I had made a deal with him, I'd buy the cartridges and he'd supply me with wild boars, hares and whatnots. Well, I got more than I bargained for as the following week the Irishman dropped a massive beast on the back door. Imagine my surprise on this early morning as I eyed the dead animal with some trepidation. I managed to get my butcher to come out and help. I was left with a hefty amount of meat, as there are so many stews that one can get away with. The best part of the animal was turned into sausages and here I learnt a lesson that I still follow today: buy the meat from your butcher, take it home, season it, make it into sausage stuff and take it back to the same butcher to turn it into perfect sausage links.
However, if you buy your meat from a supermarket there's little chance of that happening. So don't despair as I will explain the procedure of stuffing meat into casings. It's not rocket science! The casing materials may be natural or manufactured. Depends on your lifestyle. Natural casings are the gastrointestinal tracts of cattle, sheep and hogs. Generally, hog casings are the most suitable for home use and work quite well for game and breakfast-type sausages. As for the natural casings, suitable for vegetarians and vegans, I recommend a cellulose-type of casing (they tend to resemble paper and are prone to burst if cooked at high temperature but otherwise are more than adequate). Now for the types of sausages or snags, as I like to call them.
Sausage making remains basically the same today, but recipes have been greatly refined and has become a highly respected culinary art. Sausage is a convenient/comfort food available in a great number of varieties and flavours and can be made from beef, veal, pork, lamb, poultry and wild game, or from any combination of these meats (I used to make a lobster sausage but it proved far too expensive, and a tad esoteric). I'll start with the most common of all, the emperor of all sausages, the mighty pork sausage.
All the following recipes are calling for a kilogram (approx. 2 pounds) of minced meat. I find it best to make 3 or 4 varieties at the same time and you end up with the makings of a barbecue party!
2 pounds pork (medium grounded), 1 tablespoon crushed black pepper, 4 teaspoons salt, 1 tablespoon dried sage, 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 crushed bay leaf and 1 cup cold water. Mix well with hands. Have a funnel ready, fill it up with the meat and force it through your chosen casings with a wooden spoon. Pinch the casing every three inches and twist. Repeat till finished. Refrigerate. You have made your first batch. Congratulations.
Next, my favorite: a Merguez type of sausage, popular in North Africa and made with 100% minced lamb.
My version: 2 pounds of finely minced lamb, 2 tablespoons of fennel seeds, 2 tablespoons of salt, 2 tablespoons of Raz el Hanout (a wonderful Moroccan spice, if you can't source it, substitute with ground cumin), 2 tablespoons of finely chopped dried chillies, 1 tablespoon of paprika, half a cup of olive oil, half a cup of cold water. Mix well and proceed as above.
Now we're moving into the fancy and the exotic. A venison & celeriac version. Also easy to make, providing you can procure yourself a couple of pounds of shoulder meat, best cut for game sausages.
2 pounds venison, finely minced, 1 cup of finely minced celeriac (it adds un certain je ne sais quoi to the equation, believe me) 2 tablespoons of salt, half a tablespoon of crushed junniper, 2 tablespoons of black pepper, 1 1/2 cup of red wine of good quality, and 2 tablespoons of chopped chives. You know the routine.
Now one for the kids. I think we may all agree that kids prefer to eat chicken over anything else except perhaps beef hamburgers. Here's a simple recipe that is extremely popular in our household for my daughters and whenever they have their schoolfriends around: chicken & basil sausage.
2 pounds of finely minced chicken (red and white meat), 200 grams of chopped smoked bacon strips, 2 tablespoons of salt, 1 tablespoon of paprika, 1 cup of water and a handful of freshly chopped basil, dried if you don't have it. Mix well, case and refrigerate. In fact all these recipes can be done the day before, it will add firmness.
A word on cooking/grilling sausages. Over the years I have found that partially pre-baked sausages can be salutary, less fat and less messy to deal with. Finish them over the barbecue or under the grill.
So what's on your plate tonight and why? Don't forget the French dictum: "la cuisine c'est l'art d'accomoder les restes" which roughly translates into "cooking is the art of utilising leftovers!"
PS: this is breaking news, and a reason why I don't use beef these days. Eat safe, eat more poultry & vegetables! And seafood (without the mercury!)