Here some pics.
The big balls are called "Puska" (Пуска) they are made of large chopped meat filled in pork bladder
PUSKA - Traditional Bulgarian Christmas Sausage
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resistbody
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- Joined:Thu Oct 24, 2013 21:21
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A year and more later... winter is coming soon, temp goes down so I convert an old room to a drying chamber. Using Temperature controller, dehumidifier and 2 fans...
Here some pics.
The big balls are called "Puska" (Пуска) they are made of large chopped meat filled in pork bladder
Here some pics.
The big balls are called "Puska" (Пуска) they are made of large chopped meat filled in pork bladder
Hey resistbody welcome back! We missed you around here. Glad to see that your business is expanding! Thanks for introducing us to the puska, which we have never seen before on this forum. In some ways it resembles the Polish kindziuk but I assume that different spices are used. Great to see that you are making traditional products. If you can share the recipe I'll add it to our collection. I'm sure that others are also interested.
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resistbody
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Will post recipe soon after Translate it.. Will post Traditional recipe, because I use Additives in production. After some research, I understood that its local product, as I am from central region of Bulgaria, and its produced in range of less than 100km. Also that Puska is most salty dry sausage product in the world, 40grams per kilo. (I made it with 25 + additives)
Will share the recipes soon, because I'm tired now, had to repair the stufer today.
Will share the recipes soon, because I'm tired now, had to repair the stufer today.
Below is a description of Puska published by the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, an EU supported organization.
Puska is the name of a traditional, cured dry sausage from the areas around Mineralni Bani and Dimitrovgrad prepared during the Christmas holidays (Koleda in Bulgarian) after the butchering of the household pig. Wild boar may also be used. The word puska refers to the pig`s bladder that is used as the casing. Sheep or cattle bladders could also be used. The meat filling was quite salty, and sometimes also contained leeks. For the pig butchering, the family and specially invited friends and relatives skilled in butchery (called kolyachi) would slaughter the animal and remove the hair and innards, before placing the animal to rest overnight in a cold room. During this work, a dish of pork and leeks stewed in red wine called mumbar would often be served. The next day, meat from the shoulder and belly would be diced or ground and mixed with salt, savory, black pepper, cumin and, optionally, leek. Occasionally, sugar would be added to help retain the red color in the sausage. The filling mixture would be left for 24 hours. On St. Stephen`s Day (December 26), the puska would be densely stuffed into the pig bladder, and any air pockets are removed. The sausage is then pressed under a weighted wooden board, if prepared with hand diced meat. If the meat used was ground, the sausage may remain un-pressed. After a few days of drying, the puska is placed into loose netting and hung in a well-ventilated area to dry for an additional 2-3 months, with consumption taking place after Easter or for the harvest time, in July and August. Puska can be aged even longer by being rolled in wheat flour and buried in a hole in the ground, traditionally on the northern side of a walnut tree. Puska was a way to preserve pork in the days before refrigeration was available. Together with brining, sausage making was main method to prevent pork meat spoilage. Migrants from the villages still uphold the tradition and continue to prepare puska and other sausages in the towns using household kept animals or purchased meat. Casings could be bought on the town markets - cleaned, blown and dried, tied on strings. This was usual in the 1980s and early 1990s, but are much more rare these days. Puska is mainly made for home consumption. Since in the Communist era private trade was banned, people were allowed to keep small number of livestock for private needs in the villages and town outskirts, and products such as puska were destined to remain for home consumption only. Household pig keeping is not so common nowadays among aging village inhabitants. Today, the villages are seeing migration of younger people to the cities and the aging of the natives that keep the tradition, meaning that traditional sausage making practices, like making puska, may be lost in the near future.
Puska is the name of a traditional, cured dry sausage from the areas around Mineralni Bani and Dimitrovgrad prepared during the Christmas holidays (Koleda in Bulgarian) after the butchering of the household pig. Wild boar may also be used. The word puska refers to the pig`s bladder that is used as the casing. Sheep or cattle bladders could also be used. The meat filling was quite salty, and sometimes also contained leeks. For the pig butchering, the family and specially invited friends and relatives skilled in butchery (called kolyachi) would slaughter the animal and remove the hair and innards, before placing the animal to rest overnight in a cold room. During this work, a dish of pork and leeks stewed in red wine called mumbar would often be served. The next day, meat from the shoulder and belly would be diced or ground and mixed with salt, savory, black pepper, cumin and, optionally, leek. Occasionally, sugar would be added to help retain the red color in the sausage. The filling mixture would be left for 24 hours. On St. Stephen`s Day (December 26), the puska would be densely stuffed into the pig bladder, and any air pockets are removed. The sausage is then pressed under a weighted wooden board, if prepared with hand diced meat. If the meat used was ground, the sausage may remain un-pressed. After a few days of drying, the puska is placed into loose netting and hung in a well-ventilated area to dry for an additional 2-3 months, with consumption taking place after Easter or for the harvest time, in July and August. Puska can be aged even longer by being rolled in wheat flour and buried in a hole in the ground, traditionally on the northern side of a walnut tree. Puska was a way to preserve pork in the days before refrigeration was available. Together with brining, sausage making was main method to prevent pork meat spoilage. Migrants from the villages still uphold the tradition and continue to prepare puska and other sausages in the towns using household kept animals or purchased meat. Casings could be bought on the town markets - cleaned, blown and dried, tied on strings. This was usual in the 1980s and early 1990s, but are much more rare these days. Puska is mainly made for home consumption. Since in the Communist era private trade was banned, people were allowed to keep small number of livestock for private needs in the villages and town outskirts, and products such as puska were destined to remain for home consumption only. Household pig keeping is not so common nowadays among aging village inhabitants. Today, the villages are seeing migration of younger people to the cities and the aging of the natives that keep the tradition, meaning that traditional sausage making practices, like making puska, may be lost in the near future.
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resistbody
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Wow redzed, that is very good information. As it say it could be made from hand chopped meat, but I use kidney plate to grind it (if grinders is Unger sistem I used 2 kidneys).
My recepie using ADDITIVES is per Kilo:
22g salt
10g cummin
6g black pepper
15g Lukanka 2 additive (will post contents later, as docs are not on this PC)
Bladers are sold dried, you have to hidratate them, after that fill them tightly and sew the opening. Filled Blader is placed in nets and hanged to dry. You could press it several times as I do it.
Traditional recepie is up to 40 grams salt per kilo *deppendig to the village, as it is produced in regon of 50km.. Im from First-May-Town xxaax 20km from Dimitrovgrad and Mineralni Bani...
Here a traditional recepie found in Internet... Have a bunch of old books have to search something in them.... will write bulgarian names if you are interested
bladers
Pork Ham (back leg meat) - 70% (Бут/but)
Pork back fat - 30% (Сланина/slanina)
seasonings per kilo
salt - 40g
cummin - 4g (кимион/kimion) As most of all cummin sold here is very weak probably this is for old cummin, as i heard from old that cummin used to be stronger (most is chinise now)
black pepper - 4g (черен пипер/tseren piper)
Satureja* - 2g (чубрица/tsubritsa)
Leek** - 1 piece per 10 kilos (праз лук/praz luk)
* http://merudia.bg/wp-content/uploads/20 ... 00x300.jpg
** http://ovarna.bg/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/praz.jpg
Meat and fat is cutted to pieces of about 3cm. Salt them and leave it for 24hours. By this time you mix it several times. On the next day you add the seasonings and mix it again. After that you fill it in bladers (hidratated) you have to fill it tightly so no air is left inside. You sew the oppening and hang them in nets.
Here is the site I used, you can see pictures and translate the text as my english is not very good http://qni.blogspot.bg/2012/02/blog-post_23.html
My recepie using ADDITIVES is per Kilo:
22g salt
10g cummin
6g black pepper
15g Lukanka 2 additive (will post contents later, as docs are not on this PC)
Bladers are sold dried, you have to hidratate them, after that fill them tightly and sew the opening. Filled Blader is placed in nets and hanged to dry. You could press it several times as I do it.
Traditional recepie is up to 40 grams salt per kilo *deppendig to the village, as it is produced in regon of 50km.. Im from First-May-Town xxaax 20km from Dimitrovgrad and Mineralni Bani...
Here a traditional recepie found in Internet... Have a bunch of old books have to search something in them.... will write bulgarian names if you are interested
bladers
Pork Ham (back leg meat) - 70% (Бут/but)
Pork back fat - 30% (Сланина/slanina)
seasonings per kilo
salt - 40g
cummin - 4g (кимион/kimion) As most of all cummin sold here is very weak probably this is for old cummin, as i heard from old that cummin used to be stronger (most is chinise now)
black pepper - 4g (черен пипер/tseren piper)
Satureja* - 2g (чубрица/tsubritsa)
Leek** - 1 piece per 10 kilos (праз лук/praz luk)
* http://merudia.bg/wp-content/uploads/20 ... 00x300.jpg
** http://ovarna.bg/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/praz.jpg
Meat and fat is cutted to pieces of about 3cm. Salt them and leave it for 24hours. By this time you mix it several times. On the next day you add the seasonings and mix it again. After that you fill it in bladers (hidratated) you have to fill it tightly so no air is left inside. You sew the oppening and hang them in nets.
Here is the site I used, you can see pictures and translate the text as my english is not very good http://qni.blogspot.bg/2012/02/blog-post_23.html
Thanks for the recipe. I just think that 40g/kg salt has to be pretty salty tasting. But then it was probably the only curing/preservative agent. Making a more modern version using nitrates and cultures would require a lot less salt.
And чубрица/tsubritsa, is better known here as winter savory. I recognized it because in Polish it's czubryca.
And чубрица/tsubritsa, is better known here as winter savory. I recognized it because in Polish it's czubryca.
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resistbody
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