(no subject)

[madbaker]

This week's Resolution Recipe: To make cervelat.

"To make cervelat take two pounds of lean flesh of young pig, a pound of fat and chop all very finely, then take pepper, nutmeg and salt just right, fill your casings and tie at the ends, and let them boil in a good broth and they keep a long time." (Livre Fort, 1555)

1000 g pork (I normally buy hippy pig meat that doesn't need any additional fat; I was in a time bind, so I bought pork from the carniceria on the way home from work, which was sawdust-lean. So I added 166g back fat to 834g pork.)
15 g salt
2 g pepper
1 g nutmeg
unsalted chicken broth

Chop, mix, stuff. Simmer in the broth for 45 minutes to an hour. Drain, slice, and serve.

I made this at the war, and it was quite good. That one was with hippy pig. I wanted to make it again for the GSP picnic but with actual measurements this time.

What worked: It's a basic fresh pork sausage that won't scare anyone. This may sound condescending, but it's very approachable. Our host threw it on the grill for a few minutes to crisp up the outside.

What didn't: Even with the added fat it was a bit dry. Some mustard or apricot sauce would have helped a lot.

Will I make it again? Sure. It'd be a good one to make ahead for an event.

Comments

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Well, damn. I saw your introductory headline and thought "Yay! Someone's making original cervelat! Out of brains!"

...But no. And it seemed so apposite, on a day when I have for the first time scooped lamb's brains out of a skull. Ah, well... (I don't know if they have them here, but in chip shops in the UK you can still buy saveloy, which is what cervelat became; how much if any brains there is in the contemporary mix, I do not know.)

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

Cervelat / Saveloy is one of the more common sausage names. The contents differ widely. Like mortadella, which originally was a veal sausage, was not emulsified, and contained no pistachios.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Yes, indeed - but brains! Brains sossidge! (thinks: the origin of cervelat/saveloy is obvious, at least after it's been pointed out; the origin of mortadella? *looks it up* Hmm. I think I choose to believe myrtle, rather than a mortar and pestle.)

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

Platina (1450) says they are called "mortadella" or "little bite"; his version is small meatballs the size of an egg.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

The earliest "mortadella" I've seen is from 1450; it's a liver sausage. The pre-1600 cervelati have no brains; I think it's a false etymology.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Hunh. Really? All my life (well, for thirty years or so) I have believed that etymology. Newcastle is full of drunken young men making jokes about eating brains, as they stumble home from the pub with their mates and a fist full of saveloy...

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

If you are interested, I have pulled together all the primary source pre-1600ish charcuterie-type recipes here. (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KIiF8ly3RZQiIJQ_UjMJwYWjwNBzVWnXOPlPT7wUBqI/edit?hl=en_US) A couple years back I did a low-grade data analysis to determine trends and commonalities. I should update it, since there are more recipes in there now.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Ooh. Thank you!