Breakfast at Marios came with skinny Italian sausage which to the best of my knowledge originates in Sicily
It was different, startlingly different.
So much so that it has stuck with me all these years. After searching the net however, I am left confused and wondering whether I am on the right track. But I am going for salsicciamo sicilian sausage. Crammed full of fennel I believe it is as close as I am going to get to Mario’s nasty little breakfast sausage.
Salsiccia or (Lucanica, Salamella, Salamina, Salamino, Salametto)
The universal name used for different types of fresh Italian sausage. Usually made with minced or ground pork meat, pork fat, and numerous spices. The mixture is stuffed into a natural pork or sheep casing, and it is rarely cured or smoked. They are sold fresh and intended for grilling or frying. It is commonly understood that the original salsiccia, lucanica di picerno was created in the region of Basilicata, but the use of fresh sausages has become so common that each Italian region has their typical salsiccia type.
They mainly differ in the choice of meat, amount of fat, and spices. Next to pork, salsiccia can also include products made with beef, rabbit, and even seafood ingredients. They are usually heavily spiced with pepper, ground paprika, parsley, fennel, nutmeg, anise, coriander, while some even employ red wine.
They can also differ in size, ranging from short and bulky to thin and long varieties. Italian salsiccia is famous outside the country, primarily in the United States, where it is mainly familiar as a pork sausage spiced with fennel or anise. Italians consume salsiccia all year round, they eat it as the main dish, as a sandwich filling, atop traditional pizzas, or incorporated in pasta sauces or casseroles.
Italy is famous for its sausages. In the north of Italy a hint of cinnamon and to the south, sausages spiced with chilli or fresh cracked black pepper. And Sicily – well Sicily has a Sicilian sausage style all of its own. Sicilian pork sausages are characterised by the fresh light taste of coriander and fennel seed.
Likëngë are made in the Sicilian towns of Piana degli Albanesi and Santa Cristina Gela. They are pork sausages flavored with salt, pepper and seed of fennel, characteristic of the ethnic Albanian Arbëreshë minority of Southern Italy.
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Usually Sicilian sausages are thin and made from coarsely chopped pork and fennel seeds (I love the taste of fennel, it is pure Sicily).They were once described as al punto del coltello, hacked sausage, as the meat was painstakingly cut into little pieces.
In the street markets and butchers shops in Sicily they are sold skewered in continuous coils by weight and the best way to cook them is alla bracie, grilled on a barbeque. However they are also delicious fried.
In smaller villages in Sicily it is not unusual to see Sicilians standing in the butchers watching to ensure that their salsiccia is made to their favourite family secret recipe.
Often the meat is a combination of pork and veal whilst others might have a mixture of cheese, sundried tomatoes and white wine or just plain with parsley. The mixture should not be too fatty or too lean. So the best thing to do for a Sicilian is to watch the butcher make them to ensure you do not end up with an inferior recipe. Sicilians love their sausages.
In Eastern Sicily the sausages are usually produced from the black pigs of the Nebrodi mountains.
It will probably be unlikely that you will find Sicilian sausage on restaurant menus which is a shame, the best place to visit to taste salsiccia is at an agriturismo.
An agriturismo is primarily a farm which usually has a number of rooms or apartments available for guests. Guests can enjoy the tastes of local produce such as wines, local cheeses, bread, seasonal fruit and vegetables and typical local meat dishes all for a set price. Most often they are restored farmhouses located on quiet beautiful estates and are open to anyone who may want a traditional home style Sicilian meal. But be warned, wear loose clothing as there is usually many courses including grilled meats with salsiccia.
Most street food markets will have vendors selling salsiccia and they will grill it for you on the spot and serve in between pane, (bread).
http://whitealmond-privatesicily.blogspot.com/2016/09/salsiccia-great-sicilian-sausage.html
Salsicce – a Pork sausage made in an Italian style
I was introduced to Salsicce by a friend & fellow stall-holder at The Bath Farmer’s Market (where you can find us most Saturdays) Manuele Di Vincenzo. He’s a Sicilian and he asked me to make a pork sausage to his recipe, a slightly vague recipe admittedly. But, you know, I’ve seen the movies. When a Sicilian asks me to do something I do it. Anyway, he loved them. I read more and learned more, and after my last visit to Italy refined the recipe. They are good, very good.
Salsicce contain no bread crumbs. They’re gluten free, which is a popular thing in this day and age. They are rich and delicious, remarkable really. The meat and fat is minced just once so they have a coarse, meaty texture. They are seasoned and made by hand.
Their provenance isn’t exactly Sicilian. You find them all over Italy, with regional recipe variations. Manuele’s have a little paprika with fennel seed and garlic. They are very popular. But I also make one with Parmigiano cheese, and another with oregano. They’re all excellent.
You should use these to cook with. Try this: sautée some onion, add the sausages, a splash of white wine & simmer. Serve with pan seared broccoli. You’ll be happy.
www.thoroughlywildmeat.co.uk/2017/04/21/salsicce-pork-sausage-made-italian-style/
Italy is very famous for sausages and there are so many varieties. If you order sausage in the North, you will very likely get something completely different than what you would in the South. They are different in shape, but above all in ingredients. They are (almost) all made of pork, but their seasoning is different.
In the North, you often get a hint of cinnamon in sausages, while in the south they are often spicy and seasoned with either chilli or black pepper. Sicilian sausage is yet another variation as it is characterised by the use of fennel seeds. This is my favourite sausage ever as fennel seeds work wonders with pork and freshen up every bite.
I have eaten the best Sicilian fennel sausage in San Vito lo Capo where the butchers are quite famous for it.
www.manusmenu.com/home-made-sicilian-pork-sausage-with-fennel?cn-reloaded=1
Salsiccia is certainly the most ancient and best known of sausages. It is made from fresh meat, mostly pork, with scraps of pancetta and bits of pork neck. It is usually eaten fresh, but is also often grilled. In northern Italy, these sausages are flavored with pepper, cinnamon, white wine and garlic. In the south, however, the custom is to add touches of fennel, garlic, fresh chili pepper, bits of sun-dried tomato and sometimes pieces of caciocavallo cheese. The salsiccia di Calabria sausage earned DOP certification in 1998.
To cook Italian salsiccia, it should be pierced with a needle, a pin or some toothpicks. The holes should be about an inch apart to allow the fat to drain out during cooking and to allow heat to penetrate into the sausage and prevent the skin from bursting. A fork should not be used, because the close-set holes a fork makes would encourage the skin to tear.
The best way to enjoy Italian sausage is grilled, but it can also be served pan roasted, baked or stewed, or as an ingredient in more complex dishes such as cassoeula, a typical recipe in Lombardy. There are many varieties of Italian sausage, each with its own features: the luganiga from Lombardy is eaten stewed and served with vegetable sides like savoy cabbage or spinach, and Tuscan or Neapolitan salsiccia is best grilled or pan fried with turnip greens and broccoli. These sausages are often enjoyed cooked in a red sauce and accompanied by a dish of polenta. They can also be used as a topping for a dish of pasta or rice after being pan fried and crumbled.
Salsicciamo delivers authentic and flavoursome Italian sausages here in the UK, made by Italians in the traditional Italian way;
We are ambitious artisans who respect true Italian traditions, undertaking most processes by hand and priding ourselves on fine attention to detail. Our staff and their passion ultimately make the difference! We trim the meat and then link, prick and encase the sausages all by hand.
www.salsicciamo.com/about-us/
#Likëngë “Likënga” is the definite singular and is cognate with the Italian Lucanica and the Greek Loukaniko.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_sausage