316 Chapter 17
Liver Sausage
Liverwurst is an anglicization of the German
Leberwurst (Dutch leverworst , Hungarian
ken_m á jas , Swedish leverkorv , Finnish
maksamakkara ), literally meaning “ liver
sausage. ” It is a typical sausage served in
Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Finland,
and Sweden.
Most liverwurst varieties are spreadable.
The sausage is usually made with pork. Only
about 10% – 20% of the sausage is actually
pork liver, which is enough to give it a dis-
tinctive liver taste. Other ingredients are
meat, fat, and spices, such as ground black
pepper, marjoram, allspice, thyme, ground
mustard, or nutmeg. Many regions in
Germany have their own recipes for liver-
wurst, often adding ingredients like pieces of
onion or bacon. Recently, more exotic addi-
tions such as cowberries and mushrooms
have gained in popularity. Though the
German name Kalbsleberwurst is translated
as “ calf liver sausage, ” it normally contains
pigs ’ livers, rather than calves ’ livers. It also
contains veal. Braunschweiger is a spread-
able liver sausage that is sometimes called
liverwurst, or just liver sausage, in North
America (Wikipedia).Processing Stages
The processing of cooked sausages is basi-
cally very similar all around the world. The
level of technology and the size of industrial
plants naturally differ from country to country
and plant to plant. The basic processing
stages are given in Figure 17.2.Ingredients and Additives
The main ingredient of sausages is always
meat that is derived from the deboning of
carcasses. Other carcass - derived materials
include edible byproducts, pork skin emul-
sion, and also sometimes blood or plasma.
The deboned meat is sorted based on fatnow be found. There are also vegetarian vari-
eties that use textured vegetable protein in
place of meat. In America, the predominant
spices used for seasoning are pepper and
sage. Some breakfast sausage is fl avored
with ham (Wikipedia).
Blood Sausage
Black pudding or (less often) blood pudding
is an English term for sausage made by
cooking blood with a fi ller until it is thick
enough to congeal when cooled. It is also
called blood sausage (in German, Blutwurst ).
Blood sausage is also a useful term for similar
blood - based solid foods around the world.
Pig or cattle blood is most often used;
sheep and goat blood is used to a lesser
extent. Blood from poultry, horses, and other
animals is used more rarely. Typically, fi llers
include meat, fat, suet, bread, sweet potato,
barley, and oatmeal (Wikipedia).
Weisswurst
Weisswurst, literally, “ white sausage, ” is a
traditional Bavarian sausage made from
very fi nely minced veal and fresh pork
bacon. It is usually fl avored with parsley,
lemon, mace, onions, ginger, and cardamom,
though there are some variations. The
mixture is then stuffed into fresh, clean
pork casings and separated into individual
sausages about 10 to 12 cm in length and
about 2 cm in thickness. As it is very perish-
able, Weisswurst is traditionally manufac-
tured early in the morning and prepared and
eaten as a snack between breakfast and lunch;
there is a saying that the sausages should
not be allowed to hear the church bells ’
noon chime. The sausages are heated in
water, broth, or white wine just short of
boiling, for about 10 minutes, which will turn
them grayish white because no preserving
nitrite is used in Weisswurst preparation
(Wikipedia).