363Chapter 21
Mold - Ripened Sausages
K á lm á n Incze
Introduction
Mold - ripened sausages are raw fermented
products with usually longer ripening and
drying time. Earlier, this meant a technology
without any kind of additives that reduced
ripening - drying time (starter culture, chemi-
cal acidulant), but in the last half century,
these sausages are manufactured more and
more with the help of starter cultures, or
sometimes with chemical acidulants.
Traditionally produced sausages are no
longer dominant.
Due to the optimal nutrient composition
of meat, an important feature equally favored
by human beings, other carnivora, and micro-
organisms, it has always been the target of
microbes that break down and transform this
most valuable source of protein, fat, and vita-
mins for the sake of their own growth.
The result of their metabolic activity —
spoilage and/or poisoning — must have been
realized by early humanity, especially with
this type of food, which was a tasty source of
essential nutrients and energy; therefore,
humans felt forced to fi nd ways to keep these
hard - to - get meats available to them for a
longer time.
It is probably a fairly acceptable guess that
our ancestors arrived at the idea of drying
meat as a way to keep meat longer without
spoilage. In early times, meat drying took
place in caves over fi res or in the sun, later
in nomads ’ tents and on open fi res; this also
allowed for the advantageous effects of
smoke (Incze 2007 ).
The advantages of mincing meat and fat,
mixing with salt, using the intestines of game
or domesticated animals, and drying evi-
dently came later. Some think that dry
sausage making has been known for two to
four thousand years, and that Roman legions
had a supply of dried sausages that did not
spoil for a long time (Bacus 1984 ).
Raw sausage ripening and drying used
meat, fat, salt, and spice, with no substances
added to reduce ripening time because
nothing was known about microorganisms
and their role in this process. Still, early
sausage makers must most likely have had
positive experiences with the addition of
a small amount of successfully produced
sausage to the new sausage raw material
(back slopping), similar to the leavening
given to bread. Thanks also to the pioneering
works of Pasteur in fermentation and to the
excellent scientists Niinivaara and Niven, a
determinant change came through in this
technology: with their contribution, we
learned about the important role of microor-
ganisms, and we are able to exploit their
abilities in manufacturing raw sausages, thus
ensuring consistency in quality and food
safety, along with reduced ripening - drying
time.
Interestingly enough, the conquest of
useful microbes, starter cultures as they are
called, was overwhelmingly successful in
sausage technology, while it was not so suc-
cessful in the production of traditional raw
ham (Iberian and Parma ham). Some dry
sausage technologies also insist on traditional