Making sausage at The Awaiting Table in Lecce

Making fresh sausage is usually one of the high points of the week. Not only is it a lot of fun, but it’s sobering when you think of how much more your average person knew about food preparation, even say, only three generations back. Nearly all of us have not-so-distant relatives that used to make fresh sausage, every autumn, right after the pig reached the point when he wasn’t going to get any fatter.

One could also argue that making sausages appears to be hard-wired into all of us, like the fear of snakes or a childhood fondness for sweet: there aren’t too many cultures in the world that don’t produce their own form of sausage, nor many cultures that haven’t been doing it since long before anyone started to write down such things.

Salt. The word ‘sausage’ actually comes from the word for ‘salt’ (as does ‘salad’, ‘salary’, ‘salumi’ and ‘salami’). Not only does the mineral amplify existing flavours, but it also aids in halting bacterial growth, something one need always be aware of when dealing with meat, never more so than when it’s minced (ground).

Keep everything cold. Chill your machine, your work bowls and even the meat until the very last moment. This is not just bout hygiene, but chilled meat is less gummy and much easier to work with. If buying meat, as opposed to ‘procuring’ it from the late Mr. Wiggles, ask your butcher to grind it for you: it’s no less authentic or genuine, and home mincers tend to be rubbish, adding nothing to the actual process.

Remember while cooking them-either on the grill, best, or in a sauté pan with peppers and onions, still excellent, -that slow, even heat is best. You didn’t take all that care just to rupture them on the grill. Fire still too high when you’re ready to grill? Dribble some water on the coals before you toss them on (a garden watering can works wonders). They come off when there is still just a blush of pink in the absolute centre. They’ll continue to cook as you open more wine. If you operate on the precept that most sausages are overcooked, you will be extra sensitive to overcooking. And you’ll be rewarded with the most mouth-watering sausage you’re likely to ever have.

Making fresh sausages…..do it once and you’ll be the best cook most of your friends know.

Here is our classic recipe for fresh sausages.

You’ve heard the phrase, eating high on the hog. It’s actually a reference to the fact that the most tender cuts are on the back of any quadruped- ‘higher up’ on the animal, or further away from the ground’- the part of the animal that you want your grilling steaks cut from, just not your pot roast. You only need to think of the difference between a duck’s red breast and a chicken’s white to understand that it’s habitual use that darkens, but also flavours, any particular cut. Best split the difference. Ask your butcher for 70 % ground pork belly and 30% shoulder, which should give you the right amount of fat to lean meat, the right balance between the unctuous richness of the belly, and the robust and macho flavours of the shoulder. If you don’t know how fatty your average local pig is coming to market, ask your butcher his or her sausage recipe. Ask anyway. Not only is it fascinating but you’ll find that your new status will award you more attention and probably even better meat. Few things will endear you to your local butcher quite like taking an active interest in his craft.

Ingredients.
Sausage meat (at least a few kilos)
Casings (hog or mutton, depending on size of funnel. You’ll buy both from your butcher, who will calculate the proper length)
Fennel seeds
Anisette (Sambuca, or whatever you have. Pastis even works).
Salt, 16 grams per kilo of meat.
Ground chilli flakes to taste*
Dried herbs, such as a French dried herb blend (we use this only for sausage making, where you need the concentrated flavours of dried herbs. A single jar lasts us a year and we make these all the time.)

Specialty machine, a sausage stuffer. Perhaps a kitchen scale, if you come from a ‘volume’ (versus ‘weight’) nation. A kilo is 2.2 pounds.

The morning of, soak the fennel seeds in anisette, preferably uncovered as to allow the alcohol to evaporate. Invite best friends over.

Keep everything as cold as possible, even the machine itself. Place meat in a large bowl, and add salt as evenly as possible. Mix in herbs, fennel seeds and chilli peppers to taste (see note). Mix thoroughly, say, for 25 seconds but not more.
Slip casings on front of machine and follow manufactures instructions. Grill or sauté. Don’t overcook. If sautéing, start with onions and bell peppers and a little white wine.

*Note. When seasoning, form a tiny patty and sauté until cooked through. Taste and adjust seasoning.

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