Pork 'Haslet' Luncheon Meat
Maybe it's not the time to be writing about another pork sausage, with the pork futures market in free-fall, due to the outbreak of flu in Mexico from the H1N1 virus. Commonly called swine flu, even though the link to pigs has yet to be established. The FT reports today that: "The Mexican virus appears to contain porcine, avian and human genetic components", so no more chicken either folks!
The fact is that eating properly cooked pork is not going to give you 'swine' flu, even in the very unlikely event that the meat contains the virus.
Anyway, back to the luncheon meat. It's not my recipe, but the idea of my online buddy John at the sausagemaking.org forum, however I claim ownership to at least part of it as it's based on my 'every day' sausage blend.
...and the recipe? Simplicity itself - just replace the rusk in this recipe with 155gm of breadcrumbs, and increase the water to 200gm. Add 1.5gm of marjoram, or other herbs of your choice prior to stuffing.
I poached mine in a large collagen casing for about 1½ hours at 75 - 80°C until the internal temperature was 72°C. John, I now notice, cooked his in the oven at 180°C in a fibrous casing (large collagen casings aren't suitable for oven use). The resulting sausage is a sort of mild tasting haslet:
...and the verdict? Well to be honest, next time I think I'd either base it on this Lincolnshire sausage and cook it as a meatloaf, or just make the traditional haslet recipe from my 1938 copy of "Handy Guide for Pork Butchers"!
There are four comments
I once asked a retired butcher what the difference is between a faggot and a haslet recipe. His reply? “You put more stale meat pies in the haslet!”
The shrinkage will either be from loss of fat, or loss of liquid. Both will be dependent on the recipe and method used. If it’s not to long, can you reply with the recipe etc. If it’s more convenient, you could post it at forum.sausagemaking.org – you’d get a broader range of replies/advice there and I’m conscious of the fact that a recently retired Lincolnshire butcher has recently registered as a member. If not, I’m happy to help.
I’ve recently ‘come-back’ to Haslet after the best part of 3 decades believing I didn’t like it. I can’t remeber what it was that put me off this East Mids delicacy, but it’s always nice to expand the sandwich filling range.
I must say, I was mad-keen on cooking up a bit of Haslet, but sometimes it’s better to leave it to the experts. God bless Butchers, and all who mince in them…