SAUSAGES are mentioned by Athenaeus in the Deipnoso phists, A.D. 228, the oldest cookery book that has come down to us; he says "Epicharmus mentions sausages, calling them oryae, a name by which he even entitles one of his plays, the Orya"; this was written about 50o B.C. Again: "Aristophanes says in the Clouds (423 B.c.) : 'Let them make sausages of me and serve me up to the students.' " Charles Lamb in the Essays of Elia (1823) mentions them "as the savouriest part, you may believe, of the entertainment" given "at the annual feast of chimney-sweepers . . . held in Smithfield, upon the yearly return of the fair of St. Bartholomew"; and Professor George Saintsbury in 1922 laments the disappearance of "that most admirable variety the Oxford Sausage" and the decadence of others.
Technically a sausage is a mixture of meat minced, seasoned, and stuffed into casings which originally consisted of the intes tines of hog, sheep or cattle, those of sheep being the most deli cate or tender; they are properly cleansed, soaked in lime water or lye, then washed again, and salted or soaked in brine, by specialized firms of cleaners who carry on the business in the vicinity of the abattoirs. Home-produced supplies of casings do not, however, form more than 1 o per cent of total supplies of Great Britain, the bulk being received from the United States.
Manufactured casings are sold by the bundle of Too yards, home produced supplies fetching from 7/6d. to i o/– per bundle. As a result of research in the manufacture of synthetic sausage skins, which was begun in 1916, the American Chemical Society in 1928 announced the invention of a sausage casing made from cellulose, which may be manufactured in any size, is more quickly filled, and has none of the imperfections that are said to spoil the animal casings.
Dr. Tibbles in "Foods, their origin, composition and manufac ture" (1912), remarks, "It is said that horse-flesh is sometimes used in the manufacture of German sausages," and adds that it is difficult to detect the various kinds of flesh except by microscopical and chemical examinations, as the muscular fibres are much alike.
Bread and other materials are also used, and in the Report on the Pork and Bacon Trades in England and Wales issued by the British Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries early in 1928 the suggestion is put forward that "from the point of view of the consumer, it is a disadvantage not to know the composition of the food which he buys. Trade organizations might, therefore, consider whether it would not be in their interests to adopt grade specifications for pork sausages according to the proportions of pork and other materials which they contain." There are considerably over one hundred varieties, some of which are further varied in different districts.
In some parts of France it is the custom to eat black puddings on Christmas Eve after returning from midnight mass. They are always boiled directly they are made and are then kept in a cool place; when served they may be either boiled up again or grilled. In Flanders they are accompanied by a dish of baked apples.