Homemade Sausage Making

I enjoyed comparing then and now!

From the "Home Pork Making" book Published in 1900

ITALIAN PORK SAUSAGES

The preparation of these requires considerable care, but the product is highly prized by many. For every nine pounds of raw pork add an equal amount of boiled salt pork and an equal amount of raw veal. Then add two pounds selected sardines with all bones previously removed. Chop together to a fine mass and then add five pounds raw fat pork previously cut into small cubes. For the seasoning take six ounces salt, four ounces ground pepper, eight ounces capers,eight ounces pistachio nuts peeled and boiled in wine.

All of these ingredients being thoroughly mixed, add about one dozen pickled and boiled tongues cut into narrow strips. Place the sausage in beef casings of good size. In boiling, the sausages should be wrapped in a cloth with liberal windings of stout twine and allowed to cook about an hour. Then remove to a cool place about 24 hours.

I enjoyed comparing then and now!

The ingredients used in that recipe look to be more Mediterranean (aka Tuscany area) than the Northern "Italian" with the prerequisite fennel.

From the immigrant Italian community of South-East Kansas (Circa 1900):

- Pork shoulder
- Cloves
- Allspice
- Nutmeg
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garlic
- Red wine
- Pork casings

Crush garlic, add to red wine.
Course grind the pork.
Season the ground pork, mix.
Add wine, straining to remove the garlic, mix well. (The garlic does NOT go into the sausage mix.)
Re-grind, course, again.
Stuff.

That was a very popular recipe for sausage sold to Italian immigrants, by Italian immigrants. Note the absents of fennel. I had one chance to quantify the recipe, tho I am sure it could use some tweaking. Literally, when they made the sausage NOTHING was measured, everything was taste tested, and nothing was fried before tasting. They tasted the raw mix, adjusted, tasted, adjusted, tasted ... stuffed. This sausage is a very well balanced, sweet, 'pork' flavor.