Ingredient: Sausages - General
Category: Meat - Butchery
Season: All
Sausage is a logical outcome of efficient butchery.
Sausage-makers put to use meat and animal parts that are edible and nutritious, but not particularly appealing, such as scraps, organ meats, blood, and fat, and that allow the preservation of meat that can not be consumed immediately.
Sausages are among the oldest of prepared foods.
Traditionally, sausage casings were made of the intestines of animals. Today, however, natural casings are often replaced by collagen, cellulose or even plastic casings, especially in the case of industrially manufactured sausages.
Additionally, luncheon meat (such as Spam) and sausage meat are now available without casings in tins and jars.
Sausages may be classified in any number of ways, for instance by the type of meat and other ingredients they contain, or by their consistency.
The most popular classification is probably by type of preparation, but even this is subject to regional differences of opinion.
The most basic sausage consists of meat cut into pieces or ground and filled into a casing, such as an animal intestine. The meat may be from any animal, but traditionally is pork, beef or veal.
In the UK and other countries with English cooking traditions, bread and starch-based fillers account for up to 25% of ingredients. The filler used in many sausages helps them to keep their shape as they are cooked. As the meat contracts in the heat so the filler expands.
In the United States,the meat/fat ratio is dependent upon the style and producer, fat content is legally limited to a maximum of 30%, 35% or 50%, by weight, depending on the style. The USDA defines the content for various sausages and generally prohibits fillers and extenders.
Most traditional styles of sausage from Europe and Asia use no bread-based filler and are 100% meat and fat (excluding salt and other flavorings, such as herbs).
Sausage classification by country and regions, click here
Sausages national varieties, click here |