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| click the thumbnails above to learn more about our sausages |
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The word sausage is derived from the Latin ‘salsus’ meaning preserved and salted meat. Sausages are a big part of our history; if you study old recipes you often get an insight into other peoples food resources and cultural way of life. Different people from different times and places all produced sausages or variations of them.
Traditionally sausages were made from the off cuts of pigs, hock meat, fat, cheeks and the cheaper cuts of a butchered side of pork. Unfortunately in more modern times mass production of mechanically reclaimed meat has led to a vast deterioration in the quality of the content of a sausage.
At Pickerings we pride ourselves on traditional methods, we buy whole pigs for manufacturing and use the shoulder of pork for sausages, the loin and leg for bacon production.
Sausage recipes vary from using different meats to a variety of different spices and ingredients, for example the South African ‘Boerewors’- a loose course cut pork & beef sausage, with spices and lots of coriander, is representative of its country just like the French ‘Mergez’- a beef & lamb sausage with paprika, fennel, cayenne pepper & garlic. A good example for England would be the ‘Norwich’ sausage made with Norfolk pork, world famous Colmans mustard and Woodefordes ale.
In the UK there are hundreds of local variations, for instance the Newmarket sausage was a first class product made for a wealthy market with a higher meat content.
The Cambridge sausage contained rice as a filler instead of breadcrumb. Lincolnshire was famous for a pork sausage containing rubbed sage. In Cumberland it was common
to use ground sage & pepper.
There was an area in York called the ‘Shambles’, which was an early meat market, a famous recipe from the area was made with clove. Before the arrival of refrigeration some meat would have been rancid and strong, so spices like clove would have been used to hide this.
There were many sausage recipes containing very little meat. In Scotland the ‘Lorne’ or the ‘Square’ sausage was made in a press and sold sliced and is still available in Scotland today. In the north east ‘Savloys’ contain very little meat and are dyed red.
Up to the middle of the last century bread was used in sausages as the filler. When cooked this gave off a gas which would cause the sausage to split, earning its nickname the ‘Banger’. Today a yeast less rusk is used, hence no need to prick a sausage before you cook it. Now the market has changed, various health problems have created the need for Gluten Free and Low Fat recipes.
The sausage is more popular today than at any other time in its history and will continue to be so.
REAL SAUSAGES MADE USING REAL PRODUCE
Our sausages DO NOT contain anti-oxidants, colorings or flavor enhancers. We use only natural spices and local meats. Preservatives are kept to a minimum. |
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