French sausages

[dougal]

I thought Merguez were Spanish???

The are not French, they originate from North Africa and Spain.

Indeed they are moorish in origin.
However, I think it was as a result of the former French colonisation of Algeria, that such things have become pretty mainstream right across France, Merguez being found in most French supermarkets, and often sold at the roadside. (More attractive than a bypass burger IMHO!)
However, if that's not what Jen is after, then whatever is it that's long, thin and bright red? (I'm talking French sausages here...)
Don't the French have nearly as many types of sausage as they have cheeses?

[jenny_haddow]

I've just dug out The Sausage Making Cookbook by Jerry Predika. I bought it ages ago during my first abortive attempt at sausages and 'shelved' it. I now find it has 33 different recipes for French sausages, and over 230 recipes worldwide. It obviously deserves a re-read.

The sausages I'm planning are just French chipolata's really, you can buy them all over France, as I said before, they appear redder because of a high meat content and probably the odd pinch of cure.

[Wohoki]

Chipolatas in most French bouchieres contain the same stuffing that are in the larger sausice that are sold alongside, but in a sheep casing. They are made for frying and grilling rather than for including in stews and cassoulet, which is a lot more common in France than in the UK.

As has been stated, French bangers never have any rusk in them, so they require a bit more care in cooking to prevent them from spliting and drying-out. The red colour often comes from paprika, and the further you head South-West towards Spain, the redder they get.

[Rik vonTrense]

Talking about paprika......there seem to be two types other that the smoked one that Tesco now do. But there ordinary small jars of paprika
are sweetish and not at all overbearing.

But in the indian section they sell a plastic jar of paprika by KOHINOR SPICES and that brothers if hot hot hot........it is not to be mistaken for their chilli spice which is even hotter.

I made some sausages and decided to make them a bit red and heaped the paprika very generously into the mix.......

I wondered where the heat came from when it came to eating them......thought I had made a mistake and used the wrong one as they look identical........but no their paprika is hot stuff. I usually go mad with it when making cajun chicken to give the casserol a good colour and it is just as well I found out before I ruined a sunday meal.



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[Wohoki]

The heat level in paprika depends on where it is from. Sometimes it is dried and smoked red bell peppers (not hot at all, sweet and rich), and sometimes it is from mild-ish chillis (hot and hotter, depending.)

Spanish paprika tends to be hot, Hungarian is mild. Ghoulash shouldn't be hot, but the slightly sweet/sour combination of the local peppers is essential. In Spain they tend to rate it according to the level of piccancy (sp?), and it is the difference between the various types of chorizo.

[jenny_haddow]

I've got a jar of Polish paprika, each about the size of cherries. They'll blow your head off! Good stuff.

[jenny_haddow]

Obviously it is paprika in these sausages, I've found the apropriate recipes calling for it. Thanks for the pointers on that one. I've just got to sneak the nutmeg in as the OH doesn't like it, he'll never know(fingers crossed)

[pokerpete]

The heat level in paprika depends on where it is from. Sometimes it is dried and smoked red bell peppers (not hot at all, sweet and rich), and sometimes it is from mild-ish chillis (hot and hotter, depending.)

Spanish paprika tends to be hot, Hungarian is mild. Ghoulash shouldn't be hot, but the slightly sweet/sour combination of the local peppers is essential. In Spain they tend to rate it according to the level of piccancy (sp?), and it is the difference between the various types of chorizo.

That's odd because I thought that the hot and spicy merguez sausages got their colour from harissa.

[jenny_haddow]

Harissa is made from hot pimentos, I think its all the same plant family, pimento, peppers, capsicums, paprika. Not a botanist so correct me if I'm wrong.

[pokerpete]

Harissa is made from hot pimentos, I think its all the same plant family, pimento, peppers, capsicums, paprika. Not a botanist so correct me if I'm wrong.

Harissa is indeed made from very hot chillies, and it also contains garlic and cumin.
You could make it in your liquidiser, with the addition of a good oil, but be careful. Can be stored in a jar in the fridge, and lasts for ages.

[Wohoki]

I've already posted my two favorite harrisa recipes, can't remember where.

Harrisa doesn't have to be that hot: in my experience Moroccans are totally wet with regards to chilli, but it get's hotter as you head east. The best Harrisa is made in Tunisia's Cap D'or, sublime stuff.

[jenny_haddow]

I've just made up a batch of Toulouse sausages, using LenPoli's recipe. If they taste as good as they smell, we're in for a treat. I shall wade my way through a lot of these recipes as I do like the French style of sausage with no rusk, and I'll post what I think comes up trumps. Now I've got a vertical stuffer there will be no stopping me.

[jenny_haddow]

Excellent recipe, we tried them yesterday on the barbecue, just right.

[TJ Buffalo]

I've just made up a batch of Toulouse sausages, using LenPoli's recipe. If they taste as good as they smell, we're in for a treat. I shall wade my way through a lot of these recipes as I do like the French style of sausage with no rusk, and I'll post what I think comes up trumps. Now I've got a vertical stuffer there will be no stopping me.

I made up a french-style recipe of Len's called Saucisse Bretonne, and it came out really good.

[Josh]

I made the Toulouse in Jane Grigson's book Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery. To be honest I wasn't impressed. I think perhaps I need to find a better recipe.

I used your recipe for toulouse (scaled up for 1.2kg of meat) with the addition of 0.5gr of nutmeg and 100ml of white wine. I really enjoyed it. Like winey bacon in a skin.

I didn't notice you'd scaled down the cure no. 1 though so used what I'd normally use in a dry cure so may have poisoned my friends and I.