sausage!

guido · Site Admin Joined: Oct 18, 2004 Posts: 376 Location: Italy

Forget funny names and fancy flavours, all you need for a great sausage is the right cut from the right pig, put together by the right craftsman, writes Tamasin Day Lewis

What do you want from a sausage? Perhaps it would be easier to define what you don't want.

I don't want a banger whose Marie-Rose shade of pink was clearly created by man. I don't want that mulchy, gungy commercial breed of sausage where the texture is about as similar to meat as mince that has been pulverised, extruded and mechanically recovered. I do not want to wonder why I can only taste the salt that is masking this apology for food. Nor do I want a sausage to shout of spices that have been just as overused.

I do not want a "designer" sausage, or a "speciality" sausage, such as chicken or venison paired improbably with lemongrass, leek or lovage. What I want is a sausage that looks like a sausage, tastes like a sausage, smells like a sausage and has the texture of a sausage.

Now, that could mean one of two things. There is the breakfast sausage, which should be leaner and less chewy than a sausage you would eat later on. It should not contain chunky meat or too much spice. Rusk? No thank you. If you use the right cut of meat from the right breed of pig, fillers and binding agents are superfluous. The perfect breakfast sausage should be made up of twice-minced meat, a little salt and pepper, a light touch with the herbs (rosemary, oregano or thyme) and nothing more.

Later in the day, I want something with a coarser texture that is more obviously meaty. There should be a touch of garlic and the herbs should be a little more to the fore. Typical is the Toulouse sausage, which can afford to be more garlicky and chunky because it contains an unusually high proportion of lean meat and is intended for grilling, or for serving on top of the gooey crust of a cassoulet.

Last year, Geoff Sayers' Well Hung Meat Company entered its sausages and pork in the Soil Association's Organic Food Awards for the first time. The pork won first prize. "We sent a tied, rolled loin of Berkshire pork with the skin on,'' says Sayers. "It has really creamy meat, a fat that renders down well and crackling to die for.''

The sausages didn't make the medals, but they were from an early recipe called "Mark I" which has now evolved into the company's Well Hung sausage, a Toulouse-style blend.

Ken Middlemiss, who works with Sayers, has sausage-making in his blood. As a child, growing up in the Yorkshire Dales, he learnt from his father how to make a lightly-herbed breakfast sausage. His grandmother made a pure sausage out of shoulder and belly. Middlemiss had always wanted to "do pigs'' but, until he joined Sayers, had spent his life working in a bank.

"I loved Mark I, but it was too chewy and coarsely cut for most people,'' he says, over lunch at Sayers' farm in Devon, where I had agreed to taste "Mark II", now marketed as a breakfast sausage. "Mark II has been chopped and minced and we've used the minimum salt you can get away with - 0.5 per cent,'' Middlemiss says.

He doesn't use sodium metabisulphite as a preservative, so these sausages have only a three-day shelf life. Well Hung will send them to you overnight and they can be eaten immediately or frozen. "There are very few people rearing entirely organic pigs,'' he says.

"We tried several and ended up with Sue Filder's Berkshires. She's got the breed just right - she's selected and selected and selected.'' Filder's Berkshires are outdoor pigs that live in social groups overlooking the River Dart.

"Stockmanship is crucial,'' adds Sayers. "As pigs are intelligent, it's easy to upset them but even easier to build a relationship with them. Sue is passionate about her pigs."
In a stew: good sausages use good basic ingredients and shouldn't be gimicky

Sayers wife Zoe has roasted the sausages for lunch, but Middlemiss always grills his, as he believes they dry out more in the oven. Just how many ways are there to cook a fine sausage? I have already decided to casserole the coarser Well Hung version on my return home.

This is a mighty fine sausage which has retained all the moisture and flavour you could wish for. The meat has bite and the garlic comes through but doesn't intrude too far. The herbs counterbalance well and the natural casing means the sausage is slightly porous so it cooks well without bursting. Ken Middlemiss's father and grandmother would be proud.

• To order Breakfast or Well Hung sausages, pork or a monthly meat box, call 0845 230 3131 or visit www.wellhungmeat.com.
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In vino veritas!

Kate · Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 6:54 pm Post subject:

This is a great article, but I have to admit, the name of the sausage company had me rolling on the floor. Ok, maybe I need to get my mind out of the gutter....but I wonder if they know what that means over here? Of course the Brits think it's crazy that we name men Randy over here...go figure.
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A closed mouth gathers no feet.

paulamathers · Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 10:43 am Post subject:

well hung - he he he! thats funny!!! in england that means a good size! im not that much of a fan of sausages - when i was growing up my dad was a single parent and we didnt have much money so i am put off by the memories of tomato sausages filled with gristle or value thick sausages fried served with mash and the sausage grease poured over the mash! yuk!! if i buy them now i have to buy either the 99% fat free variety or the really expensive ones that have no rubbish in them. they taste great on the bbq with the smokey flavour from the coals. yum yum!!

Kate · Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:17 pm Post subject:

I like good sausages. I loved the sausage I had in Italy, very lean and flavorfull. I like to make my own with my Kitchen Aid. Guido thinks sausage with anything but pork and salt is a waste haha. Wait till I make chicken and artichoke sausage...will I get heck!
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A closed mouth gathers no feet.

paulamathers · Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 8:56 am Post subject:

i like chicken sausages too, he should broaden his tastes! herbs taste great in sausages.

p.s, im apprentice chef! yay!

Kate · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:37 am Post subject:

I'm working on him, no worries. And congrats on the step up!
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A closed mouth gathers no feet.

paulamathers · Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 9:43 pm Post subject:

i found some pork, stuffing and cranberry sausages at Tesco (supernarket), they look weird but sound nice, ill let you know how they are!