Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (June 26, 2013)
A&E Sausages S ausages are one of the oldest prepared foods. In ancient times efficient butchers saved the various scraps of organ meats, blood and fat, salted them, stuffed them into tubular casings then preserved them by curing, drying, or smoking. Traditional sausage casings are cleaned pig intestines, however today they are often collagen or cellulose. Modern sausage meat is ground pork, beef or veal. In the USA fat content is legally limited to 30 percent, 35 percent or 50 percent depending on the type of sausage. The USDA defines the content for various sausages and generally pro- hibits the fillers or extenders used in English cuisine where they add up to 25 percent of bread and starch. Breakfast or Country Sausage is made from ground pork spiced with black pepper, sage, marjoram, brown sugar, red pepper, cloves, rosemary and nutmeg. It is com- monly sliced into patties and pan-fried, or cooked and crumbled into scrambled eggs or gravy. Merguez is a red, spicy sausage from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. It is made of lamb, beef, or a mixture of both flavored with a wide range of spices, such as sumac, paprika, Cayenne pepper, or a hot chili paste. It is stuffed into a lamb casing and traditionally eaten grilled with cous- cous. Boerewors, or farmer's sausage, of South Africa is made of game and beef, mixed with pork or lamb and with a high percentage of fat. Coriander and vinegar are the seasoning ingredients. The long continuous spiral sausage is tradition- ally cooked on a barbecue. Loukaniko of Greece is a pork sausage flavored with orange peel and fennel seed. Salsiccia of Italy is made of pure pork spiced with fennel seeds and chilli in the south, or black pepper and garlic in the north. Sucuk of Turkey and the Balkans is made from beef that is fermented then spiced with garlic and pepper and lightly smoked. The taste extremely hot, spicy and greasy. Sausage Roll of England is a sheet of puff pastry formed into a tube around sausage meat and glazed with egg or milk then baked and served either hot or cold. Blood sausages are made in America, Europa and Asia by cooking pig, cattle, sheep, duck, or goat blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal. In Europe and America typical fillers are meat, fat, suet, bread, cornmeal, sweet potato, onion, chestnuts, barley, and oatmeal. In Spain, Por- tugal and Asia, potato is replaced with rice. Frankfurters and hot dogs are the most common pre- cooked sausages in the USA. Frankfurters are more mild, hot dogs are more heavily seasoned. Other popular ready-to-eat sausages, often eaten in sand- wiches, include salami, American-style bologna, Lebanon bologna, prasky, liverwurst, and head cheese. Pepperoni and Italian are popular pizza toppings. Quick Sausage and Potato Salad Skillet Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Makes 4 servings 2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil 1 medium red or yellow onion, cut into 1/2-inch thick wedges 1 cup chopped red bell pepper See FOOD on page 9 Page 8 The Portland Skanner June 26, 2013
