The Wide World of Sausages

What’s meaty and delicious and eaten all over? Sausages! With Germany boasting over 1200 types, Britain with over 450, and even the United States with more than 200, it is no wonder that sausages have been prolific and popular worldwide for thousands of years. Sausages come from every nation and culture, and with so many interesting flavors, it wasn’t hard for Mary Sue and Susan to gather a collection of their favorite sausage recipes.

Chinese Sausage Salad
Seared Calamari with White Beans and Chorizo
Spanish Bean Stew with Sausages and Salsa Verde
Italian White Bean and Sausage Stew
Lentil and Mexican Chorizo Soup
Turkey Cilantro Sausages
Grilled Sausages on Quinoa with Roasted Peppers
Sweet and Spicy Italian Sausage Lasagna
Chicken Sausage Sandwiches with Onion Marmalade and Baba Ghanoush

A Whirlwind Tour
Now it is your mission to go boldly forth and sample as many sausages as possible with this guide to just a few of the varieties that make up the wide world of sausages.

American
The state of Louisiana contributes two very flavorful sausages to American culture--Andouille, a spicy, smoked Cajun sausage with French origins, used in gumbo and jambalaya, and Chaurice, a spicy pork Creole sausage of Spanish origin. Thanks to Italian-Americans, spicy and chewy Pepperoni, a version of dry salami made with beef and pork, is available as a wonderful hot and crispy topping for pizza. And of course, a truly Americanized sausage, Hot Dogs are mild pork and/or beef sausages served in a bun with various condiments depending on the region.

British, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh
Bangers, mild pork sausages nicknamed during World War II for their tendency to explode during cooking, are an essential part of a full English and Irish breakfast. Moist Pork and Apple sausages are made with apple, often cider and sage, and Gloucester Old Spot heritage pigs, known as the "Orchard Pig" because they are pastured in orchards where they eat windfall apples. Black Pudding, also known as Morcilla in Spain, Blutwurst in Germany, and Boudin Noir in France, is a sausage made of pig’s blood mixed with pork fat, onions, oatmeal, and other various ingredients from region to region. An infamous Scottish delicacy, Haggis, is made by stuffing a sheep’s stomach with its windpipe, heart, lungs, and liver. On the other side of the spectrum, Glamorgan Sausage is a traditional Welsh vegetarian sausage whose main ingredients are cheese, eggs, leeks, herbs, and breadcrumbs.

German and Polish
Germany is home to the subtly seasoned, uncooked pork or veal sausage known as Bratwurst. Another popular variety, often served with sauerkraut, is Knackwurst, a smoked beef sausage made with lots of garlic. Kielbasa is a cooked and smoked Polish sausage made with pork and/or beef and flavored with garlic, pimento, and cloves.

Italian and French
Often added to pasta sauces, uncooked Italian Sausage can be either sweet and mildly flavored with garlic and fennel seed, or hot and spicy and flavored with crushed red pepper. Made with pork, smoked bacon, red wine, parsley, and garlic, the French sausage Toulouse is a great for cassoulet. Another French variety, Boudin Blanc, is a delicate white sausage made of pork, chicken, or veal with milk and rice.

Portuguese and Spanish
Portuguese Linguiça is an uncooked, smoked pork sausage seasoned with onions, garlic, and paprika. A much more heavily seasoned Portuguese sausage, Chouriço gets its distinctive smokiness and deep red color from dried smoked red peppers. Spanish Chorizo is a dry-cured, ready-to-eat, sausage made from pork. Often very hot and spicy, it is made with paprika and red pepper.

Mexican
Unlike Spanish Chorizo, Mexican Chorizo is a fresh pork sausage made with many spices, including cumin, coriander, and oregano.

Filipino
Tocino is Spanish for bacon, but in the Philippines, it is a cured pork sausage marinated in a sweet red sauce made with anise wine, annatto, salt, and sugar.

Chinese
Laap Cheong is a dried, hard pork sausage like pepperoni, but much sweeter. Yeung Cheong is an unsweetened Chinese sausage made with pork liver.

Greek
Loukanika is spicy, uncooked Greek sausage made with lamb, pork, and orange rind.

Lebanese
Soujouk is a long, thin, and spicy beef sausage flavored with a Lebanese seven-spice mixture consisting of nutmeg, ground cinnamon, cumin, paprika, black pepper, ground coriander, and ground cloves.

North African
Merguez is a spicy, red lamb sausage seasoned with harissa, a hot chili paste made with peppers, garlic, coriander, cumin, and sometimes tomatoes.

South African
A spicy, uncooked farmer's sausage, Boerewors is made with beef, pork, and pork fat, and seasoned with coriander and vinegar.