Making sausage is no more difficult than making meatloaf. Ground ingredients are seasoned, shaped, and cooked. That’s it. In the first chapter, you’ll learn the techniques necessary to make sausages either in casings or as patties, as well as how to cook them properly. In the chapters that follow are recipes for some of the world’s classic sausages—from spicy Andouille Sausage of Cajun fame to delicate French Garlic Sausage to hearty Sweet Italian Sausage.

While sausage making has an illustrious past, it also is a contemporary food open to endless interpretations and improvisations. Included are my own innovative recipes for Lamb Sausage with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Pine Nuts and Minnesota Boudin made with wild rice.

The sausage recipes are divided into chapters by the type of protein used as the main ingredient—pork, beef, lamb, veal, chicken and turkey, fish and seafood, and a few vegetarian options. The last chapter includes the plain and fancy cousins of sausages—homey scrapple from Pennsylvania and elegant country pork terrine from France.