Les Faits: Saucisson Sec

Ah, saucisson sec... one of the many delicious foods that are associated with France. This sausage is truly one of France's greats, up there with the good 'ole crusty baguette, a ripe brie and a sumptuous Bordeaux.

This is really a versatile sausage: it keeps for ages (it can also be frozen), can be easily transported (great for those long walks) and comes in so many different flavours. On any self-respecting French market you'll find a spectacular array of 'saucisson sec avec...' almost any ingredient under the sun.

Here is a (non-exhaustive!) list of the different foods which are often added to make these sausages super-tasty:

Pur porc - just pork

Cèpes -cep mushrooms

Cumin - cumin

Pruneaux - prunes

Fumé - smoked

Noisettes -hazlenuts

Noix -walnuts

Herbes - herbs

Autruche - ostrich

Chevreuil - venison

Taureau - bull

Bison - bison

Comté - Comté cheese

Bleu - blue cheese

Beaufort - Beaufort cheese

Poivre - black pepper

Figues -figs

Âne - donkey

Canard - duck

Sanglier -wild boar

Chèvre - goats cheese (my favourite)

Basic saucisson sec are made from pork - lean and fat - and various seasonings including garlic, salt and pepper, and saltpetre (the preservative). These ingredients are mixed together, then stuffed into a 'skin' of gut (either cow or sheep) to hold it all together. The 'skin' of the saucisson needs to then be pierced with a pin to allow any humidity to escape to prevent mould growing. The quality of the pork and fat is important - the better it is, the less water it will contain and the less mouldy it will be.

The sausage is now ready to hang - it is important to make sure it doesn't touch it's neighbouring sausages or anything else you might have hanging around. After 8-10 days or so the sausage may need a slight re-mold as the chances are the meat will probably have dropped to the bottom of the skin.

After this, the saucisson needs to be kept in a fairly dark, cool and well aerated space (preferably a cellar... but we aren't all lucky enough to have one of them!). Again, the sausage needs to be hung somewhere where it won't have any contact with anything else.

As time goes by, a white mould will start to develop on the skin. After about 6 months, the white powdery mould will pretty much cover the entire sausage. At this point, your sausage is now ready to taste... although, if you're gifted with oodles of patience then you can always wait up to a further 12 months before dégust-ing it with some pain de campagne, some chèvre and a bon petit vin rouge :)