Fresh Sausages
Photo by Hank Shaw
Fresh sausages are not exactly cured meat, but they are part of a salami-maker’s repertoire; you can’t make salami if you can’t first make fresh sausages. Below are an eclectic list of sausages made with both wild game and domestic meats, mostly lamb and pork in that case.
Why make your own? Control. You can add or subtract anything you’d like, adjust how coarse or fine the sausage is, make them skinny or fat, long or short, spicy or sweet. A well-made sausage is a symphony in a link, needing nothing more than a simple accompaniment to play harmony.
VENISON, LAMB, GOAT or ANTELOPE
- Venison Sausages with Porcini Mushrooms and Sage
- Spanish Longaniza sausage, made with goat, lamb or antelope
- Catalina Island Venison Sausage, with sage, gin and juniper
- Venison Sausages, flavored with Bay Leaves and Garlic
- Summertime Venison Sausages with Basil, Lemon and Garlic
- A traditional Greek Loukaniko, with lamb and pork or wild boar, venison or antelope
- Greek Lamb Sausage, Thessaly style – you can sub in antelope, goat or venison
- Moroccan Lamb Merguez Sausages, works with venison, goat or antelope (my recipe hosted on Food & Wine magazine’s site)
PORK or WILD BOAR
- Cajun Andouille Sausages, great with pork but you can use any meat
- Wild Boar (or pork) sausages, Greek Islands style
- Herbed Wild Boar Sausages
- Wild Boar Mexican Chorizo
- Sanguinaccio, Boudin Noir, Morcilla, Blood Sausages (pork, venison, beef or wild boar)
- Mazzafegati, Italian pork (or wild boar) and liver sausages
- Hmong Sausages with Wild Boar, an Asian Sausage with Ginger, Garlic and Fresh Herbs
DUCK, GOOSE or OTHER POULTRY
- Classic Italian Mortadella, made with goose or duck meat
- Duck or Goose Hot Dogs, an emulsified, smoked sausage that tastes a lot like a hot dog
- Classic Toulouse-style Sausages, using duck, goose or pork
- Duck L’Orange Sausages, a riff off a classic dish
- Duck or Goose Sausages, Hunter’s style
- Smoked Canada Goose Sausage – you could use any wild or domestic duck or goose here
- Polish Duck Sausages
- Duck or Goose Giblet Sausages with Sage
- Pheasant Sausages with Oregano and Garlic
- Provencal Style Chicken Sausages, also good with pheasant or turkey (my recipe hosted on Food & Wine magazine’s site)
