so highly sought in every culture. Sausage is merely processed meat stuffed into casings.

The term sausage comes from the Latin salsus, which means meat preserved by salting.

We have five general types of sausages:

Fresh sausages, such as breakfast pork links and bratwurst, are uncured, well-seasoned

ground meat blends. They are very perishable.

Cooked sausages, like liver sausage and braunschweiger, are also well-seasoned ground

meat blends, but they are cooked. They can be either cured or uncured and can include smoke

flavors, but they are not smoked. They are moderately perishable.

Uncooked smoked sausages are either cured or uncured, but they are always smoked. The

cured ones, like Polish kielbasa, are ready to eat. The uncured ones, like smoked bratwurst,

need to be cooked before eating. They are not very perishable.

Cooked and smoked sausages, for example frankfurters and bologna are cured products that

are ready to eat cold. They are moderately perishable, or, if heavily smoked, only slightly

perishable.

Dry and semi-dry sausages are not only cured and smoked but fermented as well. Good

examples are pepperoni, salami and summer sausage. They are best eaten cold. When lightly

cured and smoked, they are moderately perishable, if thoroughly cured and smoked, they are

not perishable.

Sausage is a highly processed food. They always include chemicals to enhance flavor,

retain color and keep from spoilage and rancidity. The cost and quality of sausages vary far more

than most other meats. Both cost and quality depend on what ingredients went into that meat and

how long processing took. The type of principal meat ingredient determines the texture, flavor,

juiciness and mouthfeel. The principal meat ingredient is often meat by-product. These are not

poor-quality meats but trimmings or other parts that the processor can't readily market on their

own (there is no ready market, for example, for pork snouts or cow lips). That helps to keep the

cost down.

TASTINGS What's in your sausage.

Government agencies have strict regulations in the U.S. and Canada what

processors are allowed in sausages. Fat is limited to 30 percent in the cooked

kinds, 50 percent in fresh sausages. Water cannot be more than 60 percent (this

includes water contained in the meat). Usually it is between 45 and 60 percent. In

cooked sausages the maximum water allowed is four times the weight of the total

protein plus 10 percent. The type of meat ingredient is also regulated. You

probably would prefer not to know exact ingredients spelled out on the label, but

everything that goes into sausage is wholesome and edible, though may sound

weird.

Besides meat, sausages include many other ingredients. These include binders that

combine with the water and fat so that the sausage is firm and won't crumble on slicing. Fillers

fill extra space that's left over after they add the meat, fat, water and binder. These are

inexpensive food ingredients such as cereals, starches and milk proteins. Then comes a long list

of flavorings, flavor enhancers, curing agents, sweeteners, antioxidants and preservatives. If you

are really curious, look at the ingredient label on a cured sausage. But I don't recommend this if

you want to continue enjoying sausages.

It is true that sausages, no matter what kind, contain a lot of fat. If the amount is less than

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