South African Sausage (boerewors)

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 2 kg well matured beef
• 1 kg fatty lamb (neck, shoulder, belly)
• 45 ml whole coriander seeds
• 5 ml whole cloves
• 30 ml salt
• 15 ml fresh ground black pepper
• 2 ml grated nutmeg
• 10 ml ground allspice
• 10 ml brown sugar
• 125 ml dry red wine or 125 ml dark vinegar
• 90 g thick sausage casings, soaked in water

Recipe

• 1 skip the first few steps if you are using ground beef and lamb.
• 2 prepare beef and lamb by trimming off all sinew, and other nasty bits and pieces that may affect the texture.
• 3 to facilitate mincing, cut meat into long, narrow strips about 3 inch in diameter and freeze for about 30 minutes.
• 4 mince meat through a course mincer for a rough texture, or finely if you prefer.
• 5 allow the meat to be fed through with very little assistance from the tamper.
• 6 finish off by mincing a piece of bread to remove every vestige of meat from the mincer.
• 7 roast coriander and cloves in a dry frying pan, tossing the spices about until uniformly brown and aromatic.
• 8 don’t allow to burn.
• 9 grind spices with a pestle and mortar, sift to remove husks, mix with remaining spices and sugar and sprinkle over the mince.
• 10 lightly mix in wine or vinegar.
• 11 drain the casings and place over one end of the filling horn (i use the kitchen aid attachment and carefully push all of the casings on leaving a 3 inch length hanging down).
• 12 tie a knot in this.
• 13 grabbing hold of a second pair of hands at this point makes wors-making less traumatic.
• 14 you can then feed the mixture in while your assistant hold the casings, guiding the filling inches.
• 15 feed the mixture into the mincer a little at a time, while securing the casing with a gentle pressure of one hand on the horn to control the unrolling of the casing as its filled.
• 16 mould the sausage with your hand to make it uniformly thick.
• 17 don’t pack the casings too full, or the wors will burst while cooking, but try to avoid air bubbles.
• 18 after the casing has been filled, remove it – still attached to the horn – from the machine.
• 19 push any remaining filling into the casing and tie a knot in the end.
• 20 bbq quickly over hot coals.
• 21 the skin should be crisp and the middle just pink.
• 22 serve immediately.