by vagreys » Tue Jan 16, 2007 11:12 pm
My daughters gave me a copy of the Hippisley-Coxe book for Christmas, this year. If one is looking for recipes for specific sausages, then this book disappoints. If one is looking for avid discussion of sausages, then this book makes for a pleasant, entertaining read, and the glossary of sausages is impressive. There are a few recipes in the edition I received (2nd ed.), but the majority of sausages are described by their general list of ingredients. I don't have a problem with the author's approach, that sausagemaking is an individual practice and so, recipes are nothing but jumping off points, anyway; however, when I looked at descriptions for sausages that are generally recognized as emulsion sausages, I realized that there was absolutely no indication of texture for any of the sausages. I realized that it would be possible to take the Cumberland recipe, for instance, and create something that had all the ingredients but otherwise bore no resemblance to a Cumberland, at all. Now, Hippisley-Coxe might opine that it doesn't matter, as long as you enjoy the sausage you have made. I found myself wondering what each sausage was like, not solely what it contained.
- tom
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