Andouille
Encyclopedia
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
, pepper
Black pepper
Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...
, onions, wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
, and seasonings. Andouille is French in origin, and was later brought to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
through Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
by French
French American
French Americans or Franco-Americans are Americans of French or French Canadian descent. About 11.8 million U.S. residents are of this descent, and about 1.6 million speak French at home.An additional 450,000 U.S...
immigrants. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the sausage is most often associated with Cajun cooking
Cajun cuisine
Cajun cuisine is the style of cooking named for the French-speaking Acadian or "Cajun" immigrants deported by the British from Acadia in Canada to the Acadiana region of Louisiana, USA. It is what could be called a rustic cuisine — locally available ingredients predominate, and preparation...
. Andouille sausages are sometimes referred to as "hot link" sausages.
Ingredients
Andouille is a spiced, heavily smoked porkPork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
sausage
Sausage
A sausage is a food usually made from ground meat , mixed with salt, herbs, and other spices, although vegetarian sausages are available. The word sausage is derived from Old French saussiche, from the Latin word salsus, meaning salted.Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made...
, distinguished in some varieties by its use of the entire gastrointestinal system of the pig. For example, traditional French andouille is composed primarily of the intestines and stomach. Though somewhat similar, it is not to be confused with andouillette
Andouillette
Andouillette is a coarse-grained tripe sausage made with pork , chitterlings, pepper, wine, onions, and seasonings. Andouillette sausage is a smaller version of the andouille sausage, generally smaller than 25 mm in diameter...
.
History
The style of sausage is now widespread, and so it is unclear whether it originated in France, whence the name comes, or in Germany, where similar recipes also have a long history. A similar sausage, NdujaNduja
'Nduja is a spicy spreadable sausage made with pork. It is typically made with parts of the pig such as the shoulder, belly and jowl as well as tripe, roasted peppers and a mixture of spices...
, is produced in the region of Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
in southern Italy; the name is clearly derived from the French, and it is thought that the recipe may have spread there from France during periods of French dominance in the Middle Ages. This suggests a history going back at least 1000 years. Due to the rising popularity of Cajun cuisine, it is mistakenly believed to be a spicy sausage. True andouille is a savory sausage that lacks any real heat in its flavor. In Cajun/Creole cooking it is used more as a dish enhancer. The fat in authentic andouille melts into the dish thus adding flavor in the process. Andouille prepared in the United States outside of Louisiana and southeast Texas tends to be a spicy sausage seasoned with red pepper and in most cases not smoked.
Cajun-style
The recipe was brought to the New World by the French colonists of LouisianaLouisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, and Cajun
Cajun
Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
andouille is the best-known variety in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The spiciest of all the variants, Cajun andouille is made of butt or shank meat and fat, seasoned with salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
, cracked black pepper
Black pepper
Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...
, and garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
, and smoked over pecan
Pecan
The pecan , Carya illinoinensis, is a species of hickory, native to south-central North America, in Mexico from Coahuila south to Jalisco and Veracruz, in the United States from southern Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana east to western Kentucky, southwestern Ohio, North Carolina, South...
wood and sugar cane for up to seven or eight hours at approximately 175°
Degree (temperature)
The term degree is used in several scales of temperature. The symbol ° is usually used, followed by the initial letter of the unit, for example “°C” for degree Celsius...
F (80°
Degree (temperature)
The term degree is used in several scales of temperature. The symbol ° is usually used, followed by the initial letter of the unit, for example “°C” for degree Celsius...
C). The resulting sausage is used in a wide range of Louisiana dishes, such as gumbo
Gumbo
Gumbo is a stew or soup that originated in southern Louisiana during the 18th century. It consists primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and the vegetable holy trinity of celery, bell peppers, and onions...
, jambalaya
Jambalaya
Jambalaya is a Louisiana Creole dish of Spanish and French influence. -Jambalaya varieties:Jambalaya is traditionally made in three parts, with meats and vegetables, and is completed by adding stock and rice. It is also a close cousin to the saffron colored paella found in Spanish culture...
, red beans and rice
Red beans and rice
Red beans and rice is an emblematic dish of Louisiana Creole cuisine traditionally made on Mondays with red beans, vegetables , spices and pork bones as left over from Sunday dinner, cooked together slowly in a pot and served over rice...
, and étouffée
Étouffée
Étouffée or etouffee is a dish found in both Cajun and creole cusine typically served with shellfish over rice. It is most popular in New Orleans and in the bayou country of the southernmost half of Louisiana.-Etymology:...
.
LaPlace
Laplace, Louisiana
LaPlace is a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the east bank of the Mississippi River in the New Orleans metropolitan area. The population is 32,134 at the 2010 census....
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, has proclaimed itself the Andouille Capital of the World, and holds a huge festival every third weekend of October, in which a ceremonial queen is chosen as Miss Andouille. LaPlace is also the home to Jacobs Sausage and Bailey's Sausage. Both are family owned businesses that have more than 100 years of documented sausage making. To this day, both families dispute the origin of the sausage and its true creator in modern form.
Other uses
- Andouille is also an insultInsultAn insult is an expression, statement which is considered degrading and offensive. Insults may be intentional or accidental...
in FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, designating an imbecileImbecileImbecile is a term for moderate to severe mental retardation, as well as for a type of criminal. It arises from the Latin word imbecillus, meaning weak, or weak-minded. "Imbecile" was once applied to people with an IQ of 26-50, between "moron" and "idiot" .The term was further refined into mental...
, or a rascal.