How to make the Great British Sausages

Pork Sausages

The word ‘sausage’ actually comes from the Latin, salsicius, prepared by salting, which in turn comes from sulsus, meaning ‘salted’. As a food, sausages have been around in Britain since Roman times. The Anglo-Saxons developed their own varieties, and the Normans introduced their French ideas, among them the pure pork sausage, the black pudding, made with blood, and the andouille, an entrail sausage known in England as chitterlings.

More or less every country in the world has a variety of sausages on offer, both fresh and dried or smoked, but what about the Great British sausage? We have a number of choices — the Yorkshire, Oxford, Cumberland, Cambridge and the country pork sausage — and we eat them for breakfast, lunch, high tea and dinner. At first our sausages would have been dried, and then possibly smoked, but now we tend only to eat them fresh.

This is my recipe for pork sausages. I’m using the classic cut associated with sausages, the shoulder, but I’ve also added pork cheek, which has a wonderfully lean texture and a good pork taste. Since first putting this recipe together, I’ve tried replacing the meat and pork fat with just a piece of pork belly. This works well, because pork belly has a good but not excessive fat content. If you take 1 kg (2 1/4 lb) of pork belly and mix it with an extra 150-200 g (5-7 oz) pork fat, you will have a perfect balance for a good pork sausage.

The sausage skins should be readily available from most butchers. The skins will have been salted; this preserves them, keeping them fresh. Before using, soak in cold water, preferably running water. To be completely sure of cleaning and taking out all the salt flavour, run the tap water through the actual skin. Now dry with a cloth before using. I also always cut 25 cm (10 in) lengths of skin, tying a knot in one end before filling. This will then leave you with 5-8 cm (2-3 in) spare. During cooking, this will shrink around the filling, but, due to the excess, will not burst.

MAKES APPROX. 16 SAUSAGES

900 g (2 lb) boned and rinded shoulder of pork
4 pigs’ cheeks, trimmed (optional)
225 g (8 oz) rinded pork back fat
1 onion, very finely chopped
25 g (1 oz) unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
1 garlic clove, crushed (optional)
Pinch of ground mace
2 slices of white bread, crusted and crumbled
1 egg, beaten
Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
About 4 metres (4 1/2 yards) sausage skins, well washed
25-50 g (1-2 oz) lard, for frying

Mince the shoulder, cheeks and back fat (or belly and fat) through a medium mincer. This will give you a medium-coarse finish. If you prefer a finer sausage and smoother texture, then pass through the mincer once or twice more. Refrigerate the meats. To make mincing easier, always cut up the meats and fat quite finely before mincing. Also make sure they are well chilled; they will then mince very quickly and easily. Sweat the chopped onion in butter with the herbs and garlic (if using) for 2-3 minutes until soft. Leave to cool. Once cold, the onion can be mixed with the pork meat. Season with salt, pepper and the ground mace. Add the breadcrumbs and egg. A few drops of Worcestershire sauce can now be added to finish the sausage mix, being careful not to overdo it, as the Worcestershire sauce can become the most predominant flavour.

I always make a small sausage ‘burger’ and pan-fry it at this stage. This will tell you if you have the right flavour, in particular with the seasonings and mace. Now it’s time to fill the skins, while the sausage mix is at this temperature and workable. Here’s a tip for filling. Use a 1 cm (1/2 in) plain tubed piping bag. Only half-fill the bag. This gives you more control. If it’s overfilled, you can almost break your hand trying to squeeze the meat from it.

Take the skin and pull back to the knot, sit over the end of the piping tube and squeeze. Once the skin has been filled to the size of a standard sausage, remove the bag, and make sure to push the sausage meat further in to give a good, plump shape. Push out any air left in the remaining skin and then tie at the end. Repeat the process with the remaining sausages. It’s best to rest the sausages in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before cooking.

The sausages can be grilled or pan-fried. I prefer to pan-fry. With this cooking method you have total control of the heat. Melt the lard in a warm frying-pan. Lay the sausages in the pan and fry gently, letting them take on a golden edge. The excess skin will quickly shrink around the sausage. Extreme heat will burst the sausage. I never prick the sausage skin – I really can’t see any point in it. The casing is there to hold all of those flavours and juices in. If released, the meat will be left very dry.

Beautifully, slowly cooked sausages will take 15-20 minutes. Well worth waiting every second. These sausages will eat very well with your breakfast, lunch or dinner. I can’t resist eating home-made sausages (or any sausages for that matter) with Mashed Potatoes and Onion Gravy. Another great accompaniment is Braised Split Peas.

Note: The shoulder and cheeks can be replaced with 1.1 kg (2 lb 6 oz) of pork belly, reducing the pork fat quantity to be added to 150-200 g (5-7 oz).

Cumberland Sausage

This is probably one of the most famous of British sausages, thought to be the meatiest of them all. Some butchers in Cumberland actually claim they are made with 98 per cent pork. But there are a number of people who feel that the real Cumberland has long gone. The sausages were once made from a special breed of pig and they say its last sow died in 1960.

The most instantly recognizable feature of Cumberland sausage is that it is not twisted into individual sausages, but made in long lengths, sometimes several feet long, and traditionally rolled like a Catherine wheel. You buy by the length, rather than weight, which is twisted and then cut off for you.

I remember just before I retired, I was taking a trip up to the North East. My staff – many of who were ‘Geordies’, asked me to bring back Cumberland Sausage for them. It worked out at about 20 kilos for the order. I placed the order with the local butcher who actually specialised in Cumberland sausage – he thought it was his birthday receiving such a large order. It wasn’t until we were half way back to London that I realised – I had forgotten to pick up the sausage!

Another speciality of the sausage is its seasoning, which is made up of several spices: 1 per cent ground cayenne pepper, 1 per cent ground nutmeg, 24 per cent ground white pepper, and 74 per cent fine salt, to be precise. For every 450 g (1 lb) of meat, you will need 15 g (1/2 oz) of this seasoning.

If you are going to have a go at these, it’s probably best just to pipe two or three long sausages and roll into Cumberlands. These can then be pan-fried, grilled or baked.

MAKES 2-3 GOOD-SIZED CUMBERLANDS

450 g (1 lb) lean shoulder pork, cut into rough dice
250 g (9 oz) pork belly, rind removed, cut into rough dice
125 g (4 1/2 oz) rindless pork back fat, cut into rough dice
100 g (4 oz) white breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
2-3 metres (2-3 yards) sausage skins, soaked and washed in water
Butter, lard or cooking oil, for frying

For the Cumberland Sausage Seasoning
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of cayenne pepper

The meats can be minced to your choice. The Cumberland sausage has always come in different textures, depending on where it has been made. For a good medium texture, mince once through a coarse disc, and then through a medium disc. This will have broken the texture just a little more, giving it a finer consistency. Mix in the breadcrumbs, seasonings and herbs.

The skins are ready to be filled. The easiest way is to follow the method used for Pork Sausages, using a piping bag and tube. Once made, refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before cooking. To bake, pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Brush the sausages with butter and place in a roasting tray. The sausages can now be baked for 25-35 minutes, basting with the butter. Once ready, cut into portions.

To pan-fry, heat a frying-pan with a knob of lard or drop of cooking oil. Place the sausages in the pan once warm. This can now be gently fried until golden (this will take 12-15 minutes). Turn the Cumberlands over and cook for a further 8-10 minutes. To grill, brush with butter and place under a medium-hot grill. Cook for 8-10 minutes on each side and then serve.

A good bowl of Mashed Potatoes and classic Apple Sauce will eat very well with this dish. Or there’s also a recipe for Cumberland Apple Sauce that has an extra spicy touch, just perfect for this recipe. Note: Individual, smaller-sized sausages can also be made.

Bill & Sheila’s Barbecue

If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest.

Get the best website builder available anywhere –SBI! Lick here for more information

Return from sausages to Home Page

If you want to increase your site popularity and gain thousands of visitors – check out these sites THEY ARE FREE. Spanishchef more than doubled its ‘New Visitors’ last month simply by signing up to these sites:







Follow spanishchef.net on TWITTER