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