At the beginning of December 2001, SHoE were invited along to watch Vlado, and his team of assistants, skillfully make sausages in the traditional way. We were told that we could photograph each stage of the sausage making process, on the understanding that we would not disclose any of the secret ingredients that are added to make, what Vlado describes as, the best sausages in the world. So please read on and see what SHoE's David James made of Making Slovak Sausages in the traditional way.
Weighing the ingredients
The first stage, as with any recipe, was the preparation of the ingredients. The Pork had been purchased earlier that morning, and the herbs and spices were packed in their individual containers, ready for weighing. A bottle of malt whiskey was also present, but this would not form part of the secret ingredients that gave the sausages their distinct flavor! Pride of place amongst all the different spices, that would eventually be added to the pork mixture, was a 1lb bag of Paprika. I gathered from the oohs and ahs that filled the room when Vlado placed it on the table that this was pretty good stuff.
Mincing the garlic
Once Vlado was satisfied all the ingredients were correctly weighed, we indulged in our first whiskey of the day. Although it was only 11 o' clock in the morning, the whiskey was a welcome sight, as it was -10 degrees centigrade outside, and it wasn't much warmer in the garage, where we were making the sausages. Having made a toast to "Good sausages!", I was then introduced to the mincer. This was an electrically powered monstrosity from the 1940's, but still in perfect working order. The mincing began with half a pound of garlic. With a warm feeling in my stomach, from the whisky, and the beautiful aroma of minced garlic filling the garage, I felt really relaxed and ready to make some sausages.
Discarding the fat
After the garlic had worked its way through the mincer it was the turn of the meat. The pork was certainly not the best cut of meat I've seen in my life, but then we were making sausages not steaks. Even so, quite a bit of fat needed to be removed, so that the mincer did not get blocked. However, I noticed that the less stringy bits of fat still made they way, along with the meat, into the tub below.
A tub full of mince
Having worked its way through the mincer, the minced meat landed in a big blue bath tub. This continued until there was no meat (or usable fat) left, and the bath tub was three quarters full. At this point in the proceedings, Vlado decided we had earned a break and so out came the whiskey bottle once more, and another toast was made.
Getting our hands dirty
The next stage was to mix the mince up. This was done by hand, in the same way as you would knead dough for bread. I was asked if I would like to have a go. It looked messy, but I thought I'd better show willing, so I agreed. It was messy, and surprisingly cold. After doing my bit for a few minutes I let the experts take over, and wondered how long it would be until the next whiskey.
Sugar and spice, and all things nice!
Now things began to spice up (if you'll pardon the pun!). About 10 different herbs and spices were added to the minced meat, as well as some sugar! Now remember I had sworn that I would not write about specific ingredients, but if the truth be told I didn't recognize most of them anyway. Once all the herbs and spices had been added it was time for some more mixing.
Adding the secret ingredients
Did I say all the herbs and spices? Not quite, there was still the secret ingredients, which included the paprika, to be added. After this dark red, thick sauce had been slowly poured out into the blue tub below, Vlado signaled that it was time for another break. Perhaps this pause was due to the fact that we were ready for our third whiskey of the morning, but I think its more likely that he wanted us to take the time to marvel at his beautiful sauce before it was mixed in.
Mixing it all up
Now that all the ingredients had been added (even the secret ones) it was back once more to some serious mixing. This continued until the sauce had been totally soaked up by the mince.
Great balls of Mince!
The mixture was now ready to be fed into the sausage making machine, which had been taken out of a cupboard and was being assembled next to the mincer. However, before we could begin to load the sausage maker, we first needed to form the mince into big round balls, about the size of a fist.
Loading the sausage gun
While the sausage making machine was being assembled and the mince balls were being made, the whiskey bottle reappeared once more. Looking at the sausage machine, I felt that it reassembled a silver sausage gun. It worked on the principle that three or four of the pre-made mince balls were loaded in at the top end of the gun. Then a handle was turned until the sausage meat began to shoot out at the bottom end.
Now for the tricky part
Before we could begin this process though, something had to be added at the bottom of the sausage gun to shoot the sausage meat into. I had been wondering all morning what the little bowl of water next to the mincer was for, and now as Vlado proceeded to take some stringy, opaque substance out of the bowl, it dawned on me. This was of course pig's intestine, which would act as the sausage's skin, and which was now skillfully wrapped around the bottom end of the gun.
Round and round in circles
Now the handle was slowly turned, and the sausage meat shot out of the gun and into the skin. This formed a long sausage, which was wrapped round and round in a circle, until the skin was completely filled. I noticed that I wasn't asked if I would like to have a go at this particular stage, this was obviously skilled work, that had been mastered over many years.
Sausage skipping rope
Once the skin was completely filled, the circle of sausage meat was then separated out into a circle of about seven large sausages. This was done by twisting the sausage at various points, in a sort of skipping rope action. It was done with such deft of hand and so quickly, that it was made to look quite easy, but I could imagine what my efforts would have turned out like, if I had been allowed to have a go.
A bucket full of sausages
The loading of mince balls, the squirting of sausage meat, and the twisting of the sausages continued until we had filled a large bucket full with sausages. Our reward was a fifth whiskey, and we made a toast to a good morning's work!
Hanging up to smoke
All that was left to do now was to hang the sausages up in a outdoor oven (which had a chimney), so that the sausages could be smoked for 3 days.
And just so you know, they were the best sausages in the world. Well the best that I have ever tasted anyway!