[Sca-cooks] Andouille Sausage?

[Philip & Susan Troy]

>While reading through lots of fantastic online resources in preparation for
>an al fresco banquet that I'll be doing in June, I found a reference to
>andouille sausage in "Du Fait de Cuisine".
>
>All they mention is how it was served, what it was served with, etc.
>
>I am curious, how would an andouille sausage of that period been spiced?

Purely speculation, but salt, possibly pepper, _maybe_ garlic, would
seem like likely candidates, but the article on andouille in the
Larousse Gastronomique (and since the subject is French food it may
even be reliable in this case) seems to suggest that long smoking is
essential. I'm assuming that the addition of cayenne or other chili
product is a recent development, still not adopted by everyone in the
areas where andouille is found.

>I've already played with bratwurst recipes, the one Sabine Welserin wrote
>was received with great gusto by my guinea pigs already.  The spicing
>difference between it and the modern version of the recipe was very marked.

IIRC, I've found it (the Welserin version) to be far more similar to
fresh [uncooked] commercial bratwurst than to smoked commercial
bratwurst (a much more common product), so if commercial brats are
your basis for comparison, it may be that a lot of the flavor
difference may be based on whether or how the product is smoked. Not
that I mean to do anyone an injustice and suggest you wouldn't make
your own bratwurst in and for a modern setting. It just occurred to
me as a possibility.

Other local/regional differences between different versions of
andouille have to do with the meat and casing used: all intestine;
intestine with stomach; intestine, stomach, and shoulder or breast
meat; spam, egg, bacon, tomato and spam.  All of these, along with
different smoking techniques, can result in a pretty broad range of
flavors, before you even consider the spices involved.

Andouille are also, apparently, mentioned in the writings of Rabelais.

Adamantius