If there's a food that speaks to cultural diversity in about as many tongues as there are taste buds, it's sausage.
It's not an overstatement to say there are thousands of varieties of sausages in the world. Change a spice, boost the ratio of pork to beef, swap out an ingredient in a topping and you just shifted from one type to another.
Here’s a glossary of sausages, courtesy of food scientist and cookbook author Ray Sierengowski:
Abruzzo: The rich, mild spiced sausage from the southern Abruzzo region of Italy is very dark in color and made with pork livers.
Andouille: The spicy smoked pork sausage, aka Cajun or Louisiana andouille, is used in jambalaya and gumbo. Don't confuse it with the milder French andouille sausage. Closest substitute: kielbasa.
Andouillette: The tripe sausage is a small version of the French andouille sausage. Closest substitutes: French andouille (larger) or Italian sweet sausage.
Bauerwurst/bauernwurst: The chunky German farmer's sausage is often grilled and served on a bun or cooked with sauerkraut.
Blood or black sausage/blood or black pudding: The eggplant-colored sausages are made of pig's blood mixed with fat, filler, such as breadcrumbs, and flavorings that vary from region to region. They're usually sold precooked, but most people heat them before serving. Regional varieties include Germany's blutwurst, Louisiana's boudin rouge and the Spanish morcilla. Closest substitutes: zungenwurst or boudin blanc.
Blutwurst: The spicy and salty German blood sausage, made from pork, beef and beef blood, is popular as a snack or mixed with sauerkraut. Although precooked, the sausage is usually heated before serving. Closest substitute: blood sausage.
Bockwurst: The mild German sausage is made with veal, pork, milk and eggs, and seasoned with chives and parsley. Cook before serving and use soon after purchase (it's perishable). Closest substitute: bratwurst.
Boerewors/boeries/wors/boerewurst: The spicy South African farmer's sausage is made with beef, pork and pork fat, and seasoned with coriander. Cook before serving.
Boudin blanc: The white sausage mixes pork, chicken or veal with rice. France produces a delicate milk-based version, while the Cajun version includes a lot of rice as filler, making it chewier and more flavorful. Closest substitutes: weisswurst or bratwurst.
Boudin rouge: The Cajun specialty, similar to boudin blanc, includes pork blood. Closest substitutes: blood sausage, boudin blanc or blutwurst.
Bratwurst: It’s made with pork and veal, and now there are all-beef versions as well, which are seasoned with subtle spices. It usually needs to be cooked before eating, though some markets carry precooked bratwurst. Closest substitutes: weisswurst, boudin blanc or bockwurst.
Breakfast sausage patty: It is made with pork, heavily seasoned and usually fried before serving.
Banger: It is a mild British pork sausage.
Chaurice: The spicy pork sausage is used in jambalaya and other Creole and Cajun dishes. It's available either in links or patties, but hard to find outside of Louisiana. Closest substitute: andouille.
Chipolata: The pork sausage is as small as Vienna sausages, but much spicier. Closest substitutes: Vienna sausage or cocktail wiener.
Chorizo: Made from pork, the Spanish sausage is spicy. Closest substitutes: kielbasa, pepperoni or other dry-cured pork sausage, linguisa (hotter) or Mexican chorizo (needs to be cooked).
Chourico: It is a heavily seasoned Portuguese pork sausage. Closest substitutes: Spanish chorizo, linguisa (milder), linguica (milder), hot Italian sausage, garlic sausage or pepperoni.
Cotechino: The mild and fatty Italian pork sausage is formed into links, which should be pierced before cooking to allow some of the fat to drain out.
Cumberland: The British pork sausage is usually displayed in markets as a long coil, and is sold by the length rather than by the link. It's often baked in the oven with cabbage and potatoes.
Goetta: Cincinnati's answer to scrapple mixes oatmeal and sausage in sheep casing that is fried. Closest substitute: scrapple.
Haggis: Stuffing a sheep's stomach with the chopped mixture of the animal's heart, lungs and liver, and then adding oatmeal, onion, fat and seasonings make this large Scottish sausage. It's usually steamed before serving.
Italian: The pork sausage, sold either as links or in bulk, is often added to pasta sauces. Varieties include sweet, mild, hot and ones flavored with garlic and fennel seed. Cook thoroughly before serving.
Kielbasa/kolbasa/knublewurst: The smoked Polish sausage is made with pork and/or beef and flavored with garlic, pimento and cloves. Although precooked, they are often heated before serving. Closest substitutes: andouille, chorizo or linguica.
Kishke/kishka/stuffed derma: The Polish/Jewish specialty consists of beef intestines stuffed with matzo meal, onion and suet.
Knackwurst/knockwurst/knoblauch: The smoked beef sausage, seasoned with plenty of garlic, often is served like a hot dog or smothered in sauerkraut.
Kolbasz: The Hungarian sausage is similar to the kielbasa, with the addition of paprika.
Landjager/landjaeger: The smoked beef sausage means hunter, perhaps because it needs no refrigeration and was handy to take on hunts. Look for thin flat sticks in German delis. Closest substitutes: pepperoni or salami.
Lap cheong/lap chong/lap chung/lop chong: The Chinese pork sausage looks and feels like pepperoni, but is much sweeter. Closest substitutes: chorizo, salami or ham (diced).
Linguica: The fairly spicy, Portuguese smoked garlic sausage should be cooked before serving. Closest substitutes: linguisa, kielbasa, chorizo or andouille.
Longanisa/longaniza: Made with fresh pork, soy sauce and garlic, the sausage is served as a unique version of longanisa carbonara, sliced sausage with mushrooms, celery, peppers, beef bouillon and heavy whipping cream. Closest substitute: kielbasa.
Loukanika: The spicy Greek sausage is made with lamb, pork and orange rind.
Medisterpolse: The Danish pork sausage is strongly flavored. Generous amounts of clove and allspice make this sausage an acquired taste, and it is usually simply served with sauteed mushrooms.
Merguez sausage: The North African lamb sausage is seasoned with garlic and hot spices, and is often used in couscous dishes.
Mettwurst/metts: At least two kinds of sausages answer to the name mettwurst. In Cincinnati, the name describes a smoked, kielbasa-like sausage made with beef and pork, seasoned with pepper and coriander, typically grilled and served on a bun. Elsewhere, mettwurst is soft just like liverwurst and ready to eat as a spread on crackers and bread. Substitutes: kielbasa or bratwurst (for Cincinnati's mettwurst) or teewurst (for spreadable mettwurst).
Morcilla: Spain's salty version of blood sausage is usually made with onion or rice as a filler.
Pepperoni: The spicy sausage, made with beef and pork, is hard and chewy. Closest substitutes: salami, lap cheong, chorizo or Canadian bacon.
Pinkelwurst: The German sausage, made with beef and/or pork, onions, oats, and bacon, is often served with potatoes.
Potato korv: The mild Swedish sausage is made from beef, pork, and veal. Cooked potatoes, milk and spices make it a delicacy.
Scrapple: A Pennsylvania Dutch specialty, it is a mixture of sausage and cornmeal. It's often slowly fried and served with eggs and grits. Closest substitute: goetta.
Sujuk/sucuk: It is a spicy Turkish/Lebanese beef sausage. Closest substitutes: pepperoni or salami.
Toulouse: The exquisite French sausage is usually made with pork, smoked bacon, wine and garlic, and is great in a casserole. Cook it before serving. Closest substitutes: kielbasa or Italian sweet sausage.
Weisswurst: The light-colored, mildly seasoned German veal sausages are popular with potato salad during Oktoberfest. Cook before eating. Closest substitutes: bockwurst, bratwurst or boudin blanc.
First Published: February 21, 2018, 11:30 a.m.
