On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 337

Sausage casings were traditionally various
parts of the animal digestive tube. Today,
most “natural” casings are the thin
connective-tissue layers of hog or sheep
intestine, stripped of their inner lining and
outer muscular layers by heat and pressure,
partly dried and packed in salt until they’re
filled. (Beef casings include some muscle.)
There are also manufactured sausage
containers made from animal collagen, plant
cellulose,andpaper.
Cooking Fresh Sausages Since their
fragmented interior guarantees a certain kind
oftenderness,sausagesareoftencookedvery
casually. But they benefit from being heated
as carefully as other fresh meats. Five
centuriesago,Platinaremarkedontheneedto
cook liver sausage gently (see box, p. 169),
and said that another sausage was called
mortadella“becauseitissurelymorepleasant
a little raw than overcooked.” Fresh sausages


shouldbethoroughlycookedtokillmicrobes,
but no hotter than well-done meat, or
160ºF/70ºC. Gentle cooking prevents the
interiorfromreachingtheboil,atwhichpoint
the skin will burst and leak moisture and
flavor, and which hardens the texture.
Intentionally piercing the skin will release
moisturethroughoutthecooking,butprovides

insurance against more disfiguring splitting
towardtheend.
PâtésandTerrines

MostmedievalEuropeancookbooksoffer
severalrecipesformeatpies,inwhich
choppedmeatandfatarecookedinsidea
pastrycrustorinawell-greasedearthenware
pot.Overthecenturies,Frenchcooksrefined
thispreparation,whileinothercountriesit
survivedinrusticforms.AndsoEnglandhas
pastiesandpatties,Francethepâtéandthe
terrine.Theselasttwotermsarelargely