Helen Peacocke on the history and the variety of the humble sausage

At last we have reached that glorious time in the year when the sound of sizzling sausages and the smoky aroma of barbecued meat wafts through the air.

It’s the time we often consume twice as much meat in one meal than we normally would, due perhaps to eating in the open air which sets appetites on fire. Then there’s the social side to a barbecue. Gathering around a barbecue turns the meal into a jolly occasion, perhaps this is because dancing flames and glowing embers awaken our primordial selves for mankind has been cooking over fire since the beginning of civilization. There’s something elemental about eating food that comes sizzling hot straight from the barbecue.

Sausages were mentioned in The Orya or The Sausage, a Greek play written in 500 BC. The word for sausage continued to appear in Greek writings thereafter. Traditionally, early sausage makers salted the organs of the slaughtered animal that might otherwise be discarded and having chopped them up, stuff them into tubular casings made from the intestines. The Greek poet Homer wrote of a blood sausage in the Odyssey, though by Byzantine period production was outlawed for a while following cases of food poisoning.

The method of making sausages has change little over the centuries, with the exception of the casings which today are also made from collagen, cellulose, and sometimes plastic.

The modern world “sausage” is derived from the Latin “salsus” which means salted, salt being the ingredient used to help preserve meat before refrigeration became possible.

Although today’s sausages consist of ground meat, pork being the most popular, most now also contain a starch filler created from breadcrumbs, herbs, seasonings and spices. Such additions to the chopped meat comprise of at least 30 per cent of the ingredients. This filler helps the sausages keep their shape and absorbs fat and moisture from the meat. There are exceptions: the original Oxford sausage created from a recipe by John Nott for example which dates back to 1726. The meat used was both pork and veal, also beef suet. Additional flavourings included grated nutmeg lemon rind and sage leaves. Instead of piping the minced meat into skins, they were worked by hand into little patties.

Oxford Mail:

People throughout the world still cook over open fires and sausages of all shape and size, some sealed in a casing and some without, still reign supreme. Some include spices such as paprika or chilli powder.

Because the sausagemeat can be created from any cut, including the slurry from recovering meat from animal bones, some justifiably worry about what goes into them, particularly after last year’s horsemeat scandal.

This problem however, can be overcome by making your own. You can buy a pack from Lakeland in several flavours, including a seasoning sachet, casing and a piping bag to decant the meat chosen from your local butcher. Being able to say you made the sausages sizzling away on the barbecue is a proud boast, and you will find casings sold without the extras at a reasonable price online. Either buy slices of meat and mince yourself, or ask your butcher. This way you will see what is going into the mix.

To avoid your sausages splitting, cook them slowly for an even heat. That said, make sure the barbecue has reached the required heat before you start cooking. Charcoal grills need to be allowed 40 minutes to heat up, gas barbecues need just 10 to 15 minutes, ridged cast-iron pans set over a medium heat need just three minutes and overhead electric grills need about five to ten minutes. Overhead gas grills just need a few minutes.

If your barbecue or grill is too hot the sausages are inclined to explode just as they did during the Second World War when butchers frequently injected water into the skins to make them look fatter. The water caused a bang when placed into a hot pan. Nowadays this seldom happens particularly if you make your own.