Sausages are popular all over Europe, and many of the recipes are quite similar from one country to another. Indeed, the map of Europe tends to change faster than old cultural ties. Other recipes in remote regions are quite unique, as far as cookbooks go, and are not likely to have broad appeal for modern readers. On the island of Corsica, for example, one may find tripa —sheep casings stuffed with spinach, beets, herbs, and sheep’s blood, cooked in salted water.
In any case, here are some European favorites to try, along with some classical recipes that call for sausage.
The traditional Polish sausage, which is also popular in other European countries as well as in the United States, is called kielbasa. It is usually made with pork. Other meats can be added, but pork is the main ingredient. It is seasoned generously, and almost always contains garlic. The kielbasa sold in American markets is usually lightly smoked, but traditionally the sausage is consumed fresh. A middling to large sausage, it is sometimes stuffed in beef rounds. The larger hog casings will do. Kielbasa is about 12 inches long and 1½ inches in diameter. It is marketed in the shape of a horseshoe. The recipe below is rather basic.
10 pounds fatty fresh pork (butt will do), partially frozen
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
2 cups ice water
beef casings or large hog casings
Cut the partially frozen meat into cubes. Spread the cubes out on your work surface, then sprinkle evenly with all the other ingredients except for the ice water and casings. Grind the meat with a 3⁄16-inch plate, mix in the ice water thoroughly with your hands, and stuff in large hog casings or small beef rounds, tying off in 12-inch or longer lengths. Dry the sausages overnight in a cool, airy place or in your refrigerator. These sausages are best when simmered for an hour or so, or used in stews such as bigos, a Polish national stew. They are also delicious when baked at 425°F for 45 minutes, or when grilled slowly over charcoal.
These sausages can be cold-smoked for an hour or two for flavor, but they should not be considered cured. Note that most of the kielbasa sold in American supermarkets is lightly smoked and precooked.
Variations: Reduce the pork measure and add a little beef or veal. Also, vary the spices, adding, perhaps, a little allspice and summer savory.
This old stew was originally made with bear, venison, boar, and other game. These days, pork and beef are used, along with spicy sausage to flavor the whole.
¼ pound salt pork, diced
1 large onion, chopped
8–12 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
½ pound pork, cut into 1-inch cubes
½ pound beef, cut into 1-inch cubes
½ pound kielbasa, cut into 1-inch wheels
2 cups beef broth
½ cup white wine
1 tablespoon Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
2 pounds sauerkraut
Fry the salt pork until crisp in a large stove-top dutch oven. Remove and drain the salt pork, leaving the drippings in the pot. Sauté the onion and mushrooms for 5 to 6 minutes. Brown the cubed pork and beef. Add the sausage, beef broth, wine, paprika, black pepper, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 2 hours. Add the sauerkraut. Bring to a new boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for a few minutes. Serve hot, along with a hot crusty bread. Save the salt pork cracklings for salad or baked potatoes, or perhaps sprinkle them over each serving of bigos.
Like bigos, this is an old hunter’s dish, often made in camp. Leftovers are especially good, according to Jack Czarnecki, author of Joe’s Book of Mushroom Cookery, from which this recipe has been adapted. Like many good camp dishes, exact measurements of ingredients aren’t necessary. The dish is best cooked in a large pot. I use a cast-iron, stove-top dutch oven.
bacon strips
potatoes, sliced
carrots, sliced
fresh mushrooms, sliced
onions, sliced
kielbasa, sliced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a few cabbage leaves (red or white)
Line the bottom of the pot with bacon strips. Add a layer of potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and sausage, in that order. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Repeat the layers until the pot is full. Cover the layers with cabbage leaves and a tight lid. Place on low heat. Cook for 1 hour, or, if you prefer, bake in a 350°F oven for 1 hour.
Buckwheat sausage of one sort or another is made in Russia and several other parts of Europe. Sometimes the sausage is made with the aid of blood, and sometimes with liver, trotters, or snouts, along with various other ingredients. I have added a little beef broth to the recipe below, just in case the buckwheat turns out a little on the dry side. Whole buckwheat groats can be purchased from King Arthur Flour (see Sources of Materials and Supplies, page 373) and possibly other outlets.
6 pounds fresh pork butt
3 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground dried marjoram
4 pounds cooked and cooled buckwheat groats
beef broth, if needed
hog casings
Cut the pork into chunks suitable for grinding, spread it over your work surface, and sprinkle evenly with the salt, pepper, and marjoram. Grind with a ¼- or ⅜-inch plate. Mix in buckwheat and some beef broth if needed. Stuff into hog casings. Cook by simmering the links in broth or by baking.
The fresh pork used in this recipe should be about 25 percent fat. If in doubt, separate the lean meat and fat, using 6 pounds lean and 2 pounds fat.
8 pounds fresh Boston butt or picnic ham
2 pounds lean beef
¼ cup minced or crushed fresh garlic
¼ cup salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup Hungarian paprika, sweet or mild
2 teaspoons Prague Powder 1 (optional)
½ teaspoon ground clove
hog casings
Trim the meat, cut it into chunks, and spread out on your work surface, mixing it more or less equally. Sprinkle on the garlic. Thoroughly mix the salt, pepper, paprika, Prague Powder, and clove; sprinkle evenly on the meat.
Grind the meat using a ¼- or ⅜-inch plate. Stuff into hog casings, tying off in convenient lengths. Cold-smoke the meat for several hours at a temperature of less than 90°F. Or, if you have a small commercial unit, smoke it at 150°F or so for about an hour. If in doubt about the temperature, use a thermometer. (It’s best to avoid the temperate range between 90°F and 150°F.) Air-dry the sausage in a cool, airy place for 2 days. Cook thoroughly before eating, remembering to punch a few holes in the casing. I like to cook these in a little oil in an electric skillet, tightly covered, so that the cooking process is a combination of frying and steaming.
The sausage will keep for several days in the refrigerator. Freeze for longer storage.
In addition to paprikash recipes, the Hungarians also make an excellent sausage with cooked pork and rice.
5 pounds fatty pork (Boston butt or shoulder will do)
2 pounds pork heart
2 pounds pork jowl
1 pound pork liver
2 medium to large onions
lard
⅓ cup salt
1½ tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground dried marjoram
5 pounds cooked rice
medium hog casings
Cut the meats into chunks suitable for grinding, keeping the liver separate. Put the pork, heart, and jowl into a pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes; add the liver during the last 10 minutes. Drain, saving the stock. Chop and sauté the onions in a little lard. Spread the drained meats out on your work surface, mixing evenly. Sprinkle evenly with the salt, pepper, marjoram, and sautéed onions. Grind the meats with a 3⁄16-inch plate. Using your hands, mix with the cooked rice and 1 cup of the stock from the boiled meats. Stuff into medium hog casings. Drop the links into boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes. Dry and refrigerate until needed. Freeze for longer storage.
Variations: Omit the liver if you prefer. If you like the liver, however, try a mix of 4 pounds butt, 2 pounds liver, 2 pounds lights (lungs), and 2 pounds heart. Also, use beef heart instead of pork if it is more readily available, and substitute pork belly for jowls if it is more convenient.
Several sausage recipes from the region once known as Yugoslavia call for pig’s blood, along with the head, heart, lungs (or lights), and a pork butt. Unless you butcher your own hogs, it may be difficult to obtain all the ingredients. Here’s a recipe, adapted from The Sausage-Making Cookbook, by Jerry Predika, that is more easily managed. I find it interesting because it makes use of barley, one of my favorite groats.
1½ cups dried pearl barley
4 pounds cooked pork butt
2 teaspoons vinegar
2 quarts fresh pork blood
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground allspice
2 tablespoons salt
hog casings
Soak the barley overnight in water. Cut the pork butt into chunks, cover with water, and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain, reserving the broth, and refrigerate the pork. Put 3 cups of the broth into a pot, bring to a boil, and add the barley. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Add a little water if needed and simmer for another 5 minutes. Stir the vinegar into the pork blood. Grind the cooked pork with a 3⁄16-inch plate. Mix in the other ingredients. Stuff into hog casings. Simmer the sausage for 15 minutes. Serve warm or chilled. Refrigerate for several days, or freeze for longer storage.
Note: For other interesting recipes for Yugoslavian blood sausages, see The Sausage- Making Cookbook, by Jerry Predika.
Here’s an easy sausage recipe from Lithuania. Although heavy on onion, it is rather mild—and very good.
10 pounds pork butt
2 pounds minced onion
5 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
1 tablespoon ground allspice
medium hog casings
Trim a little fat from the meat and heat it in a skillet until you fry out a little oil. Sauté the onion for a few minutes, until it turns transparent. Set aside. Cut the meat into chunks and sprinkle it with salt, pepper, and allspice. Grind with a 3⁄16-inch plate. Mix in the cooked onion and any grease from the skillet. Stuff into medium hog casings, twisting into 5-inch connected lengths. Let dry to the touch. Heat some salted water in a large pot. Simmer (do not boil) the sausage links for about 20 minutes. Dry and refrigerate or freeze. To prepare for the table, brown the links nicely in a little oil or butter in a skillet.
Romanian sausages, of which there are several, tend to have some pleasant surprises in the ingredient list, such as dill seeds and lovage. Here’s an all-beef recipe calling for baking soda, olive oil, and lots of parsley.
10 pounds beef (such as chuck roast)
¾ cup dried parsley
3 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons baking soda
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
15 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
1½ cups olive oil
medium hog casings
Cut the beef into chunks suitable for grinding, mix in the dry seasonings, and grind with a 3⁄16-inch plate. Mix in the garlic, water, and olive oil. Stuff into hog casings. Dry and cook, refrigerate for a few days, or freeze. To cook, grill over charcoal, bake, or broil.
I’ve seen several recipes for Bulgarian sausages, and all of them had one thing in common: a short list of ingredients. Here’s one that is made from either beef or lamb. I tried it a couple of times, with great success, but I used 1 pound of meat (instead of 10) because I didn’t want to store excess sausage that contained uncooked chicken eggs.
1 pound veal or lamb
1 medium onion, minced
1 large chicken egg
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cut the meat into chunks, then grind it twice with a ⅛- or 3⁄16-inch plate. Mix in the other ingredients. Take out small portions with a tablespoon measure and roll into small sausages about 2 inches long. Fry, broil, or grill over charcoal. These require careful handling.
Switzerland enjoys a number of sausages, mostly variations on German, French, and Italian themes, depending on the region and its influences. If there is a truly national Swiss sausage, it would probably be a farmer’s recipe making good use of milk or cream, as in the following recipe, or some other dairy product. Because this sausage is hot-smoked, it’s a good choice for backyard chefs. Note, however, that this sausage is very mild, which is typical of sausages from cold lands. Add a tablespoon of freshly ground black pepper if you long for it.
6 pounds beef chuck
4 pounds pork butt
salt
2 tablespoons caraway seed
1 tablespoon ground allspice
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup cold water
brown sugar to taste
medium hog casings
Cut the beef and pork into chunks suitable for grinding, spread the chunks out on your work surface, and sprinkle evenly with 4 tablespoons salt, the caraway seed, and allspice. Grind with a 3⁄16-inch plate, then grind again with a ⅛-inch plate. Mix in the cream and water. Stuff into medium hog casings, tying off in 6-inch connected links. Sprinkle with salt and brown sugar. Refrigerate overnight. Also soak some hardwood chips in water. When you are ready to cook, build a charcoal fire on one side of a large grill. Place some wood chips on the fire. Hot-smoke the sausages for about 3 hours, or until done. (The lower the temperature, the longer the cooking time and the greater the smoke. Much depends on your fire, grill, draft settings, and so on.) If in doubt, check the internal temperature of the sausage before serving, making sure it is at least 150°F. This sausage can also be baked slowly in the oven.
Although sausage was mentioned in both The Iliad and The Odyssey, as well as in other ancient writings, neither ancient nor modern Greece has left us a sausage of worldwide renown. I have read that the sausage originated in Greece, but this claim is difficult to prove. Who knows? The Greeks were very important in the history of the sausage, however, for they influenced the Silesians and Romans. Although several sausages are made in modern Greece, most of these are similar to European sausages. One exception, it seems to me, is the following, which uses orange zest.
10 pounds pork butt
4 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons dried coriander
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried marjoram
2 crushed bay leaves
2 cups red wine
3 tablespoons freshly grated orange zest
15 cloves garlic, minced
hog casings
Cut the pork into chunks suitable for grinding. Spread these out on your work surface, sprinkle evenly with the salt and dry ingredients, and grind with a 3⁄16-inch plate. Mix in the wine, orange zest, and garlic. Stuff into hog casings or shape into patties. Cook immediately, refrigerate for 2 days, or freeze. To cook, poach the sausage in a little simmering water for 10 minutes, dry, and grill or fry. These sausages can also be used in soups, stews, and casseroles. Try some in bulk form in a batch of Greek-style moussaka.