Sausage Recipes

Sausage then...

Sausage is thought to be the oldest 'prepared' food, dating back to the Sumerians over five thousand years ago. Sausage is a frugal food and uses all the 'left-over' bits of meat from the animal, the entrails and so on, that might be unappetizing served on their own. Bits of meat and fat were finely chopped or ground, seasoned with herbs and spices, both to flavor and preserve the meat, and tightly packed in animal intestines.

Sausage that is appropriately made stays edible for long periods of time without being refrigerated. So, in olden, pre-refrigerator days, it was a natural and non-wasteful way to use up all the nutritious parts of a slaughtered animal.

... and now

Today, sausage is usually not encased in intestine, but in a manufactured casing. Some sausage casings are edible but most are not, and the sausage must first be 'peeled' before eating.

The term 'sausage' also can refer to meat ground up and seasoned with herbs and spices that give it the sausage flavor, but the meat itself is sold 'loose'. Purchased in this manner, the sausage can be used for forming into sausage patties or used as a ground meat in casseroles, on a pizza or in a white gravy for biscuits 'n' gravy.

Sausage flavors

In America, sausage is often associated with breakfast, and is served in patties or little links. These can be smoked or uncured links. The primary flavoring in breakfast style sausage is sage and other savory herbs.

Italian sausage can be mild or hot, and is spicy, with the hot variety having much more pepper and other hot spices to give it the characteristic burn.

Smoked cured sausage is very salty with a smoky flavor imparted by the curing method. It is often eaten 'out of hand' or as cold cuts in sandwiches or salads. Russian 'zacuska' or appetizer plates prominently feature sausage and other smoked treats such as smoked trout.

Sausage is invariably a high-fat food, so people watching their consumption of fats would do well to limit sausage in their diet to an occasional treat.