Post
by Seminole » Sun Dec 26, 2010 14:05
Polish Sausages - Why The Book Was Written
The main reason the book was written was the widespread misinformation about Polish sausages. One can find Polish Smoked Sausage or Polish Kielbasa in every American supermarket, yet they are all different. Most of them are made of different combination of meats such as pork and beef, pork, beef and turkey, or beef only. All kinds of spices and additives are added as well, but none of those sausages contain ingredients that should be used.
It seems that manufacturers use the name "Kielbasa" or "Polish Sausage" purely as a marketing tool and as long as a sausage is 30 cm long and is stuffed in a 36 mm casing, in their opinion it qualifies to be called Polish Sausage.
What is worse is that many self made butchers or individuals who bought an existing sausage making business start making sausages which do not confirm to Polish standards. One can find Kabanosy in some Polish stores that are basically Polish Smoked Sausages (salt, pepper, marjoram and garlic) stuffed into sheep casings. They received little smoke and were cooked in water which resulted in a pale color. But the subtle aroma of caraway and nutmeg is not there.
We have decided to write a book that would be based on old Polish standards to provide reliable recipes to the general public. As the project required an expert knowledge of Polish sausages, it would not have been written without the help from Miroslav Gebarowski. Miroslav's knowledge of Polish sausages, their history, and his collection of sausage recipes were the most instrumental factors in writing this book.
Seminole