SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #124

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Greetings,

As far as the topic of non-period ingredients in the landjager sausage is
concerned:

1.  Prague Powder is a brand name for an ingredient which is simply a curing
salt.  94% salt, 6% sodium nitrate/nitrites, and a touch of pink coloring so
you can distinguish it from salt.  Having a brand name to a salt is
distinctly unperiod.  However, most natural salt deposits contain nitrates at
some concentration.  In period times they would have used salt in the sausage
from the local source thereby including nitrates.  The period recipes
therefore wouldn't have included this ingredient, but would have included
nitrates.  They have the benefit of being the only food additive to meat
products allowed by the USDA that prevent botulism.  

2. Dextrose is used in modern sausage-making because it tastes less sweet
than other sugars.  To be period don't use refined sugars.  Use a touch of
honey or leave it out entirely.

3.  Spices will change from recipe to recipe, I was more concerned with the
process being period and I could haggle about individual flavors later.

4.  Fermento.  This one takes a little more explanation.  It is a lactic acid
producing bacterial culture.  Live germs in a freeze dried powder.  Again, as
an additive it is non-period.  However, considering period sanitation
practices, it is extremely likely that these opportunistic germs were hanging
around the sausage shop.  After infecting a few batches, it wouldn't take
long for the sausage maker to realize they weren't all bad.  They add a
pleasant tangy flavor to the sausages they are used in.  By lowering the ph
of the sausage they also help to preserve it against other microbes.  The way
it was explained to me, before modern sanitation techniques, the sausage
maker would use some of the last batch to infect the next one.  Sort of like
working with sourdough, a piece of the last one is the starter for the new
batch.  How far back in time this practice was done I do not know.

Anyway, I hope that clears up some of the mysteries.  And again, if anyone
knows if this particular series of steps was used in period, I would
appreciate the information.

Thank you,

Michael Farrell