Italian Sausage

[lindatooo]

25 lbs ground meat - 2/3 pork 1/3 beef
12 1/2 oz salt
10 oz sugar
1 t ground Cloves
2 T ground Allspice
4 oz black pepper
1/2 t Salt-Peter
8 - 10 peeled garlic cloves
1 C Red Wine

Smash garlic cloves in cheese cloth. Run 1 cup red wine over the crushed Garlic. Add 1 1/2 C water. Mix all ingredients and stuff into casings.

This recipe was from my Italian father's Mother who was born in Italy. It's a very old recipe as in the 1920s and extremely basic. My father tried to duplicate it with some success...so you might want to start with a small batch! Oh, and let me know how it goes!

[LMJ]

Wow Linda, cool! :)

[BubbaGourmet]

What?!? No Fennel Seed????? No Sage??? No Oregano???

[scott123]

Bubba, I think this is a sausage that happens to be Italian, not the "Italian Sausage" we're used to getting from supermarkets. Calling this Italian Sausage would be akin to finding a pepperoni recipe and labeling that as Italian Sausage. Technically, it is. If an Italian grandmother makes a sausage, it's Italian Sausage.

And if, by chance, you are talking about supermarket Italian Sausag, can I just ask one thing? Sage?

[BubbaGourmet]

Scott, you know me better than that. I was just picking on linda. Sausage is like everything else. Every maker puts ingredients in that are special to he/she or their family. I am Italian/French and we like fennel, oregano and sage in our Italian Sausage. Doesn't mean it is the definitive recipe (I defy anyone to show me a definitive recipe for anything!) it just means that it is the way we like it.

[lindatooo]

Actually I was surprised to find no fennel seed in this recipe. Seems to me the batches my dad made up were overspiced with that! But this is the version I found in my grandmoter's handwriting so I left it as I found it. Of course you could add whatever spices turn you on. :)

And Bubba gets to pick on me any time!

[scott123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BubbaGourmet Scott, you know me better than that. I was just picking on linda. Sausage is like everything else. Every maker puts ingredients in that are special to he/she or their family. I am Italian/French and we like fennel, oregano and sage in our Italian Sausage. Doesn't mean it is the definitive recipe (I defy anyone to show me a definitive recipe for anything!) it just means that it is the way we like it.

I believe that there are two (or more) ways of looking at Italian Sausage. From an American standpoint, Italian Sausage is the supermarket stuff that thousands of people buy every day. Unless someone makes sausages themselves or has a family history of sausage making, supermarket sausage is "Italian Sausage". Are these millions of people wrong in their perception? No, they just haven't been exposed to the bigger picture. That bigger picture is the second way of looking at Italian Sausage as you stated - highly individual and family/chef dependant.

Bubba, I made the incorrect assumption that you were part of the first camp since you mentioned fennel. Although I agree 100% that there is no definitive recipe for family sausage, supermarket sausage has some very set parameters. Definitely fennel, pepper, occasionally garlic and msg, but definitely not sage, allspice or cloves.

If the typical person who enjoys supermarket sausage were to stumble on to this thread, they may be slightly dissappointed at the difference in final product from the recipe above and what they are used to.

I'm sure that this is a delicious recipe, but for the millions of Americans with a limited perception of the term "Italian Sausage", this isn't it.

And my sincerest apologies for including you in this group. I do know you better than that.

[lindatooo]

These folks lived in a very very small mining town in Il and were poor. Wonder if the unusual spices are because of availability?

[-DEADLY SUSHI-]

Hmmmm... well I dont like fennel much... so Im happy its omitted. I never made sausage before. Actually I usually dont eat sausage. It is soooooo fatning. I prefer to get my calories from alcohol.
LOL!

[scott123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lindatooo These folks lived in a very very small mining town in Il and were poor. Wonder if the unusual spices are because of availability?

It could be that, but I think it also might stem from a particular region in Italy. Do you happen to know where your Grandmother was born?