Tested at Purg

[madbaker]

This week's Resolution Recipe: To make fine saveloy.

Take six pounds of flesh as above, [Take six pounds of pork flesh a bit fatty, and cut it into slices, and put it in a cloth, put it in a press to press the blood out, and leave it an hour in the press until the blood is all out, then chop it coarsely, not too fine] except that it should be a bit more fatty, then take half an ounce of pepper, and half an ounce of cinnamon, and half an ounce of nutmeg, a bit of saffron, half as much Spanish wine as in the others, then make sausages like the others.
[...mix it well with the hands a half hour, so that all is well incorporated in the flesh, then take some beef intestines according to the thickness that you want to have the sausages, then fill them with flesh as forcibly as you can, and have a large pin in your hand to continually pierce the intestine, in order that it has no air inside, and so that the flesh is well squeezed, then tie the intestine very firmly on top and underneath of the length that you wish to have the sausages, then have a cauldron of boiling water on the fire, and boil the sausages in it for three or four large bubbles, and pull them out, then hang them in the chimney five or six days until they are very dry.](Ouverture de Cuisine, 1604)

1000 grams pork shoulder butt
20 grams salt
2.5 grams curing salt #2
8 grams cinnamon
8 grams cracked pepper
4 grams nutmeg
10-12 threads saffron
125 milliliters Spanish red wine

50 mm beef or hog casings
1/4 teaspoon Mold-600 Bactoferm Sausage Mould
1/4 cup distilled water

Chop or grind the meat coarsely. Mix in the spices, curing salt, and wine. Continue to mix until the meat becomes tacky. Wash the casings thoroughly and stuff, tying off at six-inch lengths, piercing with a needle or pin as necessary to fill evenly. Knot to finish.

Dunk the sausages in simmering water for the length of time it takes for three or four bubbles to come to the surface, about three seconds, and gently pat them dry. Cold smoke the sausages for one to four hours, depending on thickness and desired smokiness.

Half an hour before removing the sausages from the smoke, whisk together the Bactoferm Mould culture and the distilled water. Let sit for 30 minutes to activate. Coat the sausages with the mixture and then hang them in a cool spot around 50-53° F and 75-80% humidity to dry. Depending on the width of the casings used, they should hang 4-8 weeks until the sausages have lost approximately 35% of their weight.

The pound and ounce in 1604 Liege are approximately equal to their modern equivalents. The relative measurements have been converted to metric to make scaling easier.

I added the curing salt #2 for safety reasons; it helps prevent botulism bacteria from forming during the curing process and does not noticeably change the flavors. I reduced the nutmeg as otherwise it tends to overpower everything else.

I used a cold smoker and separated out the smoking and drying process, as I do not have a wood-fired chimney in which I can hang sausages. The drying instructions come from modern sausage and salami recipes that similarly call for smoking and then drying. The Bactoferm sausage mould is a commercial culture of harmless edible mold used in modern processes to help prevent more toxic molds from forming; it also adds flavor and aids in the drying process.

What worked: I was afraid the nutmeg would overpower the flavors. It didn't, although it's still pretty strong. It gives it a different flavor from standard cured pork sausages. People liked it.

What didn't: I'd probably reduce the nutmeg to 2 grams. I used ground pepper but I'd switch to cracked - I like the appearance and sudden pepper bite better.

Will I make it again? Sure, although it's not one of the ones that I want to keep around all the time like garlic chorizo, or Good Bolognese Sausage.