Raw sausages
Sausages are charcuterie
products made of chopped or minced meat and other meat scraps mixed
with spices and herbs and stuffed into a casing. The term sausage
comes from the Latin “salsis”, meaning salted or
preserved. Considering the incredible flexibility offered this
simple method of stuffing minced meat into a casing, it is easy to
understand why there are so many different sausages in the world!
Traditionally, sausages were made with lean meats and pork fat. Though today a huge variety of pork sausages still exists, there are also varieties made with beef, veal, lamb, horse meat and game meats. Quite the selection!
Sausages can also contain water, extender agents such as starch, flour or skim milk, sugar, spices, liquid smoke and preservatives. All these ingredients are cut or chopped and stuffed in a natural casing, usually of cleaned pork or lamb intestines, or a synthetic casing. The synthetic casings made of collagen are edible but those made of cellulose are not and must be removed prior to eating.
Salami is actually a large sausage that is dried or cooked. There is a distinction between cooked and dried salamis.
Raw sausages are those requiring cooking before eating. And what a huge variety of raw sausages there is to choose from! Other than the classicToulouse, merguez, chipolata, Italian, German weisswurst and bratwurst, and breakfast sausages, there are almost as many varieties of sausages as there are charcutiers!
There are in fact several delicious Metro-exclusive Selection Merite sausages like the Toulouse, mild, spicy and with herbs; the Italian, mild and strong; the merguez, honey-garlic or bacon and cheddar; the breakfast sausages; the pork and beef, spicy and mild, BBQ sausages…not to mention the classic smoked sausages, which brings us to the “cooked” sausages.
Cooked sausages are dried, like the chorizo, or smoked, like the Bockwurst or Frankfurter sausage which is cousin to the All-American hot dog! Cocktail sausages and Viennese sausages are also in this category. Almost exclusively made of pork in the past, today some are made with beef or turkey, which makes them much leaner!