Sausage is among the world’s oldest meat dishes and it ranges widely in variety.
It is great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It is tasty on its own, as well as a vital ingredient in plenty of great recipes.
Here in South Africa, we eat a variety of cuisines that incorporate all kinds of sausages.
Way back when, sausage-making was an art created to use up the trimmings butchers had no use for. After all the other meat had been cut and prepared, there were bits and pieces left over.
Rather than throwing these pieces away and wasting food, butchers created sausage to use up the extra scraps.
Salt and a variety of other spices were added to the meat to help it last longer and taste better. As people began to enjoy sausage, it became less of a collection of leftovers and more of a desired meat itself.
The techniques and ingredients used to create it improved.
Today, we have a variety of sausages on the market, including those that have their origins in many countries around the world, and people incorporate unique spices and flavourings into their recipes.
Here are some of the ones you might be curious about and want to explore this Heritage Month.
Kielbasa
Kielbasa is a Polish smoked sausage easily recognisable because of its U shape.
Chunkier, meatier, thicker, and longer than other sausages, kielbasa is typically made of pork (sometimes with beef) and is often loaded with garlic. Its savoury, slightly spicy flavour is best balanced with sauerkraut and mustard.
Saveloy
In Xhosa, we call this type of sausage “unqiyoyo”. This is a sausage that contains finely ground pork and sometimes beef and is bright red or pink in colour. Saveloy sausages are a favourite at many fish and chip shops.
They are heavily spiced and seasoned and are usually cooked by boiling or grilling them. And yes, you can eat the skin of a saveloy.
Boerewors
Boerewors is a South African sausage that’s shaped into a coil and must contain at least 90% meat, while the other 10% consists of spices (nutmeg, allspice, cloves, black pepper) and other ingredients. The fat in the meat does not exceed 30%.
This sausage is made of coarsely minced beef – sometimes mixed with pork, lamb, or both – preserved with salt and vinegar, and flavoured with spices.
The name boerewors is derived from two words – Boer, which means farmer, and wors, which means sausage.
Boerewors is traditionally grilled on the braai, and it is usually served with pap, chakalaka and hot sauce.
Chorizo
Chorizo is a highly seasoned chopped or ground pork sausage used in Spanish and Mexican cuisine.
Both varieties are made from pork, but Spanish chorizo is flavoured with paprika, garlic, herbs, and wine and is fermented, smoked, and air-cured, which yields a salami-like texture.
Meanwhile, Mexican chorizo is flavoured with chillies, vinegar, garlic, and other spices, but is not cured or smoked like its Spanish counterpart.
Instead, Mexican chorizo is more often ground without a casing and fried in a skillet, making it a perfect filling for anything from traditional Mexican dishes to breakfast burritos.
Most often sold in casings, chorizo is generally removed from them and cooked before use. Simply sauté it as you would ground beef, and use it in tacos, burritos, soups, or stews.
Italian sausage
Italian sausage comes in two varieties: hot and sweet. Hot sausage is typically made from pork and seasoned with salt, garlic, anise seed, and red pepper flakes. Sweet sausage omits the pepper flakes but is otherwise the same.
These types of sausage are interchangeable; it just depends on your spice preference. How to prepare Italian sausage?
Italian sausage can be used in a variety of ways. Braai or sauté the sausage and serve on a roll with onions and peppers, or serve sliced sausage on top of a pizza.
Breakfast sausages
Widely popular in many parts of the world, breakfast sausages are made of pork and are typically sold raw.
They are traditionally made with unused pork parts (which farmers don't want to go to waste). Breakfast sausages are mixed with a variety of spices and are thoroughly cooked.