The history of sausages

The history of cured meats begins in ancient times. Already in the works of Homer there are references to processed meat, while during the 5th century BC. in Athens lived the first butcher, Charinos, who mainly prepared sausages and smoked meats.


The Romans took the art of sausage making from the Greeks, developed it even more and passed it on to other peoples. In ancient Rome the word "salumen" meant salted food and this is believed to be the root of the word "salami".


Until the last century, the preparation of cured meats was an absolute necessity of a household, and most people knew how to prepare different kinds. The lack of a way to preserve fresh meat, especially in hot climate regions, forced people to devise techniques to preserve it.


Knowing that fat and salt are good preservatives, they used them in various ways, thus creating the art of charcuterie. Today, sausages are made mainly on an artisanal and industrial level, while domestic production has almost disappeared.

What are the main types of cured meats?

Cold meats are classified into different types, depending on whether the meat for their preparation is minced or not and according to their processing, i.e. whether they are heat treated, air-aged or pickled.


Products made from whole cuts of meat are divided into the following categories:


Ripening products. Whole pieces of meat, after being salted and seasoned, are placed in controlled aging conditions for a period of 2 to 24 months. Some examples of such products are prosciutto and pastourma.


Heat treatment products. Whole pieces of meat undergo heat treatment (boiling or smoking). Such cold meats are ham and steak.


Products made from minced meat are divided into four subcategories:


Raw products. Shredded pieces of meat are slightly dried, salted, seasoned and inserted into a gut lining. A typical example is the traditional sausage.


Air-cured products. Minced, salted and seasoned meat, enters an artificial or animal casing (intestine), in some cases smoked and finally matured for 4 to 8 weeks. Such cold cuts are air salami and suzuki.


Partially ripened products. They are similar to those of the previous category with the difference that they ripen partially and their final state is semi-dry. An example of such a product is beer salami.


Heat treatment products. They are produced from ground pieces of meat that are boiled or smoked. Such are sausages (Frankfurt type), paris and mortadella.


Sausage combinations

Cold meats are used in various ways in the kitchen. They are combined with eggs (omelette), pasta (carbonara), dough products (piroski, pizza, pastourma pie), soups (minestrone) and fit raw or fried in various salads.


However, most cured meats can also be eaten raw combined with alcoholic beverages and fruit.


Cold cuts combined with beer or wine

Most cold meats are an ideal accompaniment to all beers and wines.


White wine is more suited to raw and salty cold meats, while red wine goes better with fattier cold meats.


Cold cuts with fruit

Fresh or dried fruit goes well with cold meats. For example, grape with air salami, fig with spicy salami and melon with prosciutto are combinations that may sound a bit strange, but they are completely satisfying to the palate. The salty and spicy taste of these sausages is gently extinguished in the mouth by the sweet and cool aftertaste of the fruit. It is no coincidence that cold meats are served this way in the most popular restaurants in the world.