Cookbook:Boerewors (South African Sausage)

| South Africa | Sausage

Traditionally eaten at braais or barbecues, boerewors (Afrikaans: farmer's sausage) are thick, hearty and flavoursome Afrikaner sausages, often eaten with a corn porridge called pap.

There is no one definitive recipe for boerewors, as nearly every family has its own variation. Some other recipes use bacon and springbok meat. This version uses a sausage maker, and makes about 6 lb of sausage.

Ingredients

 * 1 tbsp coriander seed
 * 2 lb beef, cubed
 * 2 lb mutton, cubed
 * 2 lb veal, cubed
 * ¼ lb spek, cubed
 * 1½ tbsp salt
 * 1 tsp ground black pepper
 * ¼ tsp ground cloves
 * ½ tsp grated nutmeg
 * ½ tsp ground allspice
 * ½ cup brown vinegar
 * 1½ brandy (optional)
 * 2¼-inch wide sausage casings

Singed coriander

 * 1) Place seeds into a dry frying pan.
 * 2) Put the pan over low heat and allow coriander to burn slightly.
 * 3) Break seeds apart with a fork, or use a coffee/spice grinder to finely grind them.

Sausage

 * 1) Cut all meat and spek into cubes.
 * 2) Mix spek and meat together thoroughly, and then coarsely mince or grind it.
 * 3) Mix in all dry spices, vinegar, and brandy with a large, two-pronged fork.
 * 4) Place meat mixture in fridge, and let rest for 2 hours to blend the flavours together.
 * 5) While the meat is resting, soak the sausage casings in water for the same 2 hours.
 * 6) Fit casings over sausage maker, and fill with the meat/spice mixture. Be very careful not to over- or understuff the boerewors, as doing so will ruin them. Fill in long continuous lengths; don't make links.
 * 7) Cook sausages on a barbecue, but do not prick to allow juices to escape as much of the flavour will escape with them. Cook until still pink and juicy inside

Notes, tips, and variations

 * Try adding about 100 ml of regular oatmeal—this helps to bind the meat.
 * Be careful not to over-spice the mince, which will ruin the taste.
 * Be careful with adding salt; the spek contains plenty.
 * Boerewors can be stored for up to 3 weeks in the freezer.