1.4: Charcuterie Production and Aging

The word “charcuterie” refers to the art of making sausages both fresh and dried, rillettes and various forms of terrines, pates and galantines. It may also refers to makers of such meats. The word itself comes from the French, ‘Chair’- meaning flesh and ‘Cuite’ meaning cooked, thus “cooked flesh.

For the purpose of following a progression of the classroom production schedule, we shall concentrate this chapter on dry curing meats and sausages that will benefit from the time remaining in the semester to cure, ferment, and age. The products discussed here will be ready for your final “Charcuterie Board” project on the final lab day before deep cleaning and final examinations.

Charcuterie Production in Various Forms

Sausages

The term refers to a mixture of minced or ground seasoned products (usually meat). As is most often the case chefs use the “lesser” cuts which normally include the less tender, less prized, and less expensive cuts of the animal. If you have ever heard the saying, “eating high off the hog”, know that this refers to the more expensive and tender cuts that are found higher on the animal. The lesser and tougher cuts are found lower on the animal. They lend themselves to braising (low and slow) or grinding to help them become palatable.

Our word “sausage” comes from the Latin word “Salsus” meaning salted. Early Greeks and Romans were among the first to make sausages.

Six basic components of sausage

• Main ingredient
• Fat
• Seasonings and cure mixtures
• Spices
• Herbs
• Aromatics

Sometimes animal or synthetic casings are used to hold sausages in a link or tube shape, but casing are not considered as a basic component because many sausages today are made into patties or packaged in a bulk form.

Main ingredient

Usually a tough cut of meat from the leg or shoulder

Figure 4a.
An example of meat after the grinding process - Wikimedia Commons

Fat

Two common forms of fat in the sausage process are pork fat and heavy cream. Fat is an essential ingredient that has three distinct purposes in the making of good sausage. Fat provides moisture, satiety, and flavor.

Photo: Max Pixel

Seasonings and cure mixes

As discussed earlier in Topic Three, sugars (in many forms), salts (likewise), and various curing agents are necessary in the charcuterie process. These help to prevent food borne illness, add flavor, and lastly where hot smoking is concerned, sugar helps to act as a browning agent in the cooking process. The curing agents are especially useful when seasoning with herbs and garlic due to the opportunity for microbe contamination found in the soil. Often chefs cook the garlic and herbs or otherwise sterilize them prior to adding them to the raw meats. This is especially a good idea if the curing process will be done without cooking.

Figure 4 c.
Prague powder I, known as TCM or Pink Salt- Wikimedia Commons

Spices and Herbs

Spices may be toasted or untoasted and can vary form product type and style. They may be whole, ground, or from a prepared mix. Herbs may be fresh or dried. Italian sausage can be sweet or hot but usually has whole fennel seed in the recipe. Merguez is a Mediterranean sausage from North Africa that utilizes ground spices from the pantry of Tunisia. The French are known for a mixture of spices called Quatre Espices that can be found in anything from pate to confit of duck. One popular recipe for Quatre Espices is one part ground cinnamon, one part ground cloves, one and one-half part ground nutmeg, and two parts ground black pepper.

Figure 4d.
Spices common used in Quatre Espices- Commons Wikimedia.org

Aromatics

Aromatics include wine, liquors, and zests, prepared sauces such as Worcestershire and Tabasco, and vegetables that as stated before as often cooked first. In Cajun country, we are very familiar with Boudin, a sausage of rice and pork (primarily liver). Our beloved trinity of celery, onions, and bell pepper place a big role in the making of all our dishes especially Boudin. During crawfish season, you can find Crawfish Boudin and I have seen red bell pepper used here over the normal green pepper found in the pork version.

Figures 4d and e. Examples of aromatics used in sausage making.

Natural and Synthetic Casings in Sausage Making

We shall only use natural casing for the purpose of our beginning foray into charcuterie but let us discuss what is available to chefs who want to pursue this line of work. Synthetic casings are made for a variety of food grade materials, some of which are non-edible. Natural casing come from the intestines of sheep, pork, and cattle and should be washed in water and vinegar.

Figure 4f. Natural casing example

Synthetic casings can be made from cotton, cellulose, or collagen that comes from the corium layer of split beef hide. Be careful to remove such casings prior to serving to guests.

Figure 4g. Synthetic casing examples

Sheep Casings

Often referred to as “sheep hanks”, these casing provide the smallest of the three intestines used in sausage making. Merguez is traditionally made with sheep hanks for a slender sausage of 24-26 millimeters up to 30mm.

Figure 4h. Sheep offal relating to sausage making from INSCA

Hog Casings

Hog casings are referred to as “Hanks” also and we will use the intestine for many sausage preparations. The intestines are larger than sheep hanks, and come threaded on rings and shipped in a salt mixture to fight bacteria. They are washed and threaded into a stuffing tube to be filled. Middles are even larger and used for specialty sausages such as the Saucisson Sec, a dried pork and garlic sausage.

Figure 4i. Hog offal relating to sausage making from INSCA

Beef Runners and Middles

Beef offers the largest size intestine up to 65 millimeters and is best suited for Cajun Andouille Sausage. They are often shipped in plastic buckets in a salt medium, and should be washed and threaded onto the largest of the stuffer tubes when making sausage.

Figure 4j. Beef offal relating to sausage making from INSCA

Refer to course handouts and or recipes provided by your instructor via the LMS (Learning Management System) ex. Moodle®.

Classroom Preparation Assignment \(\PageIndex{1}\)

Charcuterie Production and Aging

1. What does Charcuterie mean in the French language?
2. What Latin word do we derive our word for sausage from and what does it mean? Both answers are needed.
3. What are the six basic components of sausage?
4. What does fat give to sausage?
5. The French are noted for a spice blend called?
6. Aromatics include what 5 things?
7. We use casings from which three animals?
8. Casings are also referred to as…?
9. We use middles for larger sausages like Andouille. T or F. Circle one.
10. What is the temperature range for cold smoking?