In association with
British Sausage Week is an annual celebration of the taste, quality and diversity of the traditional British Banger. From sausage dishes around the world to the quality of British sausage meat, we have lots to shout about – but how do you like your sausage?
Boerewors (South Africa)
Hugely popular in its native country of South Africa, boerewors (also known as farmer’s sausage) is
made of coarsely cut beef – sometimes with minced pork, lamb or both. It can be spiced in many variations, often involving allspice, coriander seed, nutmeg, black pepper and/or cloves. One frequent ingredient is vinegar, which doubles as a flavouring and a preservative. The sausage is known for its distinguishing flat spiral formation, as well as its high fat content. Boerewors is traditionally cooked on a braai (barbecue).
Merguez (North Africa)
This sausage of ground lamb or beef is spicy, flavoured most prominently with harissa, which gives the sausage its rich red hue. Merguez originates from North Africa, specifically Morocco, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. There it is traditionally served in three inch lengths, with couscous, eggs or inside pastries.
Guan Chang (China)
A popular street food in Beijing, China, guan chang is a dish of pig intestine filled with starch or flour paste, spices and sometimes minced pork. Also known as filled sausage, the stuffed intestine is steamed or boiled before being cut into squares and fried. It is commonly served with garlic juice and salt water, and is traditionally eaten with small bamboo sticks instead of chopsticks. Guan chang has been widely enjoyed since the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644).
Glass noodle sausage/Sai grök w?o sèn (Thailand)
Native to the west-central region of Thailand, this sausage (or sai grök) contains chopped glass noodles and rice, which hold the pork juices. Garlic paste and oyster and fish sauces are mixed into the filling to give a sweet, garlicky taste, which is smoky and sticky when cooked. The sausage is typically sold at the Buddhist temples’ weekly markets.
So-se-jin (Japan)
Although Japan is not particularly known for consuming sausages, over the last year they have surged into Japanese popular culture in the form of so-se-jin, or ‘sausage people’. Creating so-se-jin involves slicing arms, legs, and facial features into small chipolatas before cooking them. Trending for their novelty “cute” appearance, so-se-jin have been popping up en masse in bento boxes across Japan since early 2014. The name comes from a play on the Japanese words for sausage (so-se-ji) and people (jin).
Goan chouriços (India)
In favour with Goa’s Catholic populations, India’s tangy Goan chouriços are essentially the same as Portuguese chorizo, but differ in that they are flavoured with a typically spicy masala. Commonly containing ginger, cumin, chilli and turmeric, Goan chouriços can either be sundried or not. They are sometimes cooked, with the result of a shiny, crispy skin. Though often eaten as they are, they are the most important ingredient in Goan sausage pulao, a popular and hearty dish of tomato, potato, onion and chopped Goan chouriços, which is traditionally teamed with rice.
Sundae (Korea)
Popular in Korea as both a street food and a fine dining experience, sundae – which in Korea bares no relation to ice cream – consists of boiled cow or pig’s intestine stuffed with glass noodles, blood and spices. The short lengths of noodle lend an unusual texture and appearance to the sausage, which is dyed somewhere between black and brown by the blood. The sausage is traditionally sliced and served with boiled or steamed pieces of lung and liver.
Ch? l?a (Vietnam)
This Vietnamese food consists of lean pork which is, unlike other sausage fillings, pounded into a paste. The pork paste is usually mixed with garlic, black pepper and fish sauce. This mixture is tightly encased in banana leaves, which hold it in a sausage shape while it is boiled. Because the result is large and loaf-like, the sausage is typically sliced before it is served. Ch? l?a is traditionally eaten at T?t Nguyên ?án (Vietnamese New Year), where it is presented as an offering to deceased ancestors, and served as a filling in sticky rice cakes.
Corn dog (North America)
The American sports fan’s staple, a corn dog is simply a frankfurter on a stick, smothered in cornmeal batter and deep fried. Usually a street food served with mustard and tomato sauce, the corn dog is such a prominent part of North American popular culture that it is celebrated annually with National Corn Dog Day.
Chorizo verde (Mexico)
Somewhat startling in appearance, this sausage is the Mexican take on traditional chorizo. Instead of coarsely chopped, the meat in chorizo verde is usually ground – although that is not the most immediately noticeable difference. Unlike its red counterpart, chorizo verde contains ingredients such as cilantro leaves and poblano and serrano peppers, which lend the spicy sausage its vivid green colour (and its name, ‘verde’ being Spanish for ‘green’).
Prieta (Chile)
Eaten frequently in Chile as part of asados (traditional Chilean barbecues), the prieta is a thick blood sausage of cow’s blood, onions, spices and in some cases rice or walnuts. Its skin, traditionally cow intestine, can be very thick, and so for ease of eating the sausage is often sliced lengthways.
Lohimakkara (Finland)
With Finland’s abundance of clean, glassy waters and its “everyman’s rights” approach to countryside access, it comes as no surprise that fishing is a popular activity here. In fact, some 40% of Finland’s population take part in fishing events at least once every year. Salmon is a fish that thrives here, and also the key ingredient in one of Finland’s more unusual sausages; lohimakkara, which consists almost entirely of fish.
Kielbasa (Poland)
Kielbasa, being Polish for ‘sausage’, is an umbrella term for a myriad of varieties. Regional kielbasas may contain pork, beef, veal, lamb, chicken or turkey, and some are smoked while others are fresh. But they all share one thing in common: kielbasa is a staple of the Polish diet. One of the most popular varieties – and what we tend to refer to simply as ‘kielbasa’ in Britain and the United States – is Kielbasa Polska (Polish Sausage), which is pink in colour, garlic-flavoured (sometimes with marjoram) and traditionally fresh rather than smoked. The meat conventionally used in Kielbasa Polska is pork, with a small addition of beef.
Sucuk (Turkey)
Though extremely popular in Turkey, sucuk is a staple throughout the Balkans, the Middle East and Central Asia. Commonly, sucuk contains beef, although pork is more prominent an ingredient in non-Muslim countries, and horse meat can sometimes be used in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It has a stiff texture and a spicy taste, often flavoured with red pepper, sumac, garlic and cumin. A popular Turkish dish involves frying slices of sucuk together with eggs.
Cervelas (Switzerland)
Affectionately known as Switzerland’s national sausage, cervelas’ name derives from the Latin cerebrum, as pre-19th century recipes used brain. Although there are regional variations, cervelas now typically contains beef, pork, pork rind and bacon, as well as spices and ice to bind the meat. It is a fat, short, smoky sausage, and there is a tradition within Swiss households of cutting each end of the sausage into four segments, which open up like the petals of a flower when cooked and give cervelas dishes a unique aesthetic.
Saucisson (France)
This thick French sausage is cured and served in dry slices after a period of being hung to dry with string. It conventionally contains lean pork, spices and nitrates, as well as fermenting bacteria which creates the saucisson’s white powdery coating. This bacterial mould means that good bacteria is growing within the sausage, lowering its pH value and subsequently lowering the chances of harmful bacterial growth. Saucission has been experimented with, and some varieties contain nuts, dried fruits, cheeses, wines or liquors.
Loukaniko (Greece)
In Greece, the term loukaniko is used to refer to sausages in general. However, in many English-speaking countries it has come to represent a particular variety of loukaniko, which conisists of pork or lamb with orange zest and fennel seeds. This sausage is flavoursome, and although originally cured and served dry, many have started to eat fresh loukanikos because the flavourings release a unique taste when cooked. The sausage is frequently served as part of a mezze platter.
Bratwurst (Germany)
Perhaps one of Germany’s most famous sausages, the bratwurst is typically pork, although it can contain veal or beef. There are countless regional variations, from the long and thick Fränkische Bratwurst to the small and thin Nürnberger Rostbratwurst. It is most commonly sold pre-cooked, and then pan-fried or grilled at home before consumption. When topped with tomato sauce and curry powder – or a combined mixture of the two – the bratwurst becomes currywurst, arguably one of Berlin’s most popular street foods.
Falukorv (Sweden)
Pale in colour and extremely smooth in texture, falukorv consists of grated pork and beef, or sometimes pork and veal. This Swedish sausage is smoky and mild, flavoured primarily with onion, salt and subtle spices. It is sold pre-cooked and ready to eat, but is often sliced and fried before serving, as a matter of taste. It is large, and traditionally sold with both ends tied together by a very short string, causing the sausage to curve into a distinctive horseshoe shape.
Medisterpølse (Denmark)
Medisterpølse is a very long, spicy sausage which is curled into a tight, flat coil and fried. Traditionally it is served as part of the Danish Christmas lunch, however it is widely considered to be a warming comfort food and can be eaten all year round. Outside of Christmas, it is conventionally served with red cabbage, gravy and boiled potatoes.
By Julia Watts
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