[Sca-cooks] Sausage results

[Carol Smith]

Dear Gunthar, 
 
Did you make any in casings which weren't soaked in saffron? 
I've made Zervelat twice now, and for some of the second batch we did not soak the last few casings in saffron.  The color was definitely different.  They're not really yellow, but have a yellowish cast to them, and I think that's what is expected here.  It's definitely not the usual color of sausages, which is normally a redder color.  They definitely had a yellowish cast to them when we used soaked casings.
They were a hit at the Baronial Investiture next door, and my apprentice is the one who did most of the work on our redaction of the recipe.  Very spicy, with a strong cinnamon flavor.
 
Regards,
Brekke



> From: countgunthar at hotmail.com> To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org> Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2008 10:22:05 -0600> Subject: [Sca-cooks] Sausage results> > > This weekend I finally made all of the zervelat for my A&S> display. Well, I kind of went overboard, I just can't seem to > figure out less than feast quantities. So I made an easy> 10 lbs of sausage.> > I hand minced around 2 lbs for my entry and Mistress Clara> is sending me her large ceramic funnel so they can be hand> stuffed. My display sausage will be as authentic as I can make> them.> > The rest I ground in my Kitchenade because hand mincing is a> lot of work and a bit time consuming. I also took pity on our > long suffering downstairs neighbor and spared them a couple hours> of me pounding on my cutting board mincing. > > I used pork shoulder with a nice layer of fat and skin (much of the> skin was discarded because it was too hard), pork belly (approx> 20% - 25% in weight) and smoked Black German Bacon (approx> 10% total weight) So I used 8 lbs of shoulder, 2 lbs of belly and> 1 lb of bacon. These were ground first on a coarse grind. Then> grated cave-aged Emmentalier cheese, sugar, cinnamon, cloves,> nutmeg, salt, black pepper, and ginger were mixed in. The> mixture was then ground a second time on a finer grind to> incorporate the spices and make a smoother filling.> > The hog casings sat in fresh water to soak out the brine and then> soaked a long time with saffron to color them. Although the instructions> state to soak in saffron so the sausages are yellow, they never turn> that color when cooked after several tries.> > The casings were stuffed (except for the 2 lbs or so of the hand> minced forcemeat that is in the freezer awaiting delivery of the> funnel) and the sausages boiled for 15 minutes.> > Final result is perfect texture. I've been very unhappy with the> texture of my previous two sausage attempts. They have been too> lean and dry. The meat was also a bit crumbly. But not this time.> Juicy and fatty with the correct mouth feel. My only unhappiness> is the spicing is a little too light. They need a bit of salt. But they> should go well with the mustard I'm serving with it which also has> cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, etc....> > The machined sausage will be served with the period sausage to> look at the differences and similarities between modern processed> sausage and that produced entirely by hand. Besides, this way I'll> have lots because people always want to try more.> > Thanks for the help and advice, it really worked out this time.> > Gunthar> > > > > _________________________________________________________________> Need to know the score, the latest news, or you need your Hotmail®-get your "fix".> http://www.msnmobilefix.com/Default.aspx> _______________________________________________> Sca-cooks mailing list> Sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org> http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/sca-cooks-ansteorra.org