An Andouillette Experiment

Here's a final report on some of the fun we had with our 500 pound Berkshire pig.  Our hog literally arrived with a bucket of guts.  Within said bucket was the stomach (as previously detailed) and plastic bags swollen with intestines.  What does one do with bags of intestines?  Andouillette!

Andouillette, the infamous French sausage, is guts stuffed in guts.  The integrity of its signature nastiness is guarded by a panel of brave experts known as the Association amicale des amateurs d'andouillette authentique.  I had an AAAAA andouillette in romantic Saint-Emilion, and it was too vile, even drowned in mustard sauce, to finish.  Naturally, we jumped at the chance to make our own.

These hog middles have been seasoned with salt, pepper, minced shallots, thyme and parsley.  On the top is the casing into which they were next stuffed: a hog bung or "fat end," which we also use for our Felino salami.

We thread a wooden spoon through the looped intestines, and then twist to create a cylindrical shape.  Now we're able to stuff the bung casing by hand.

And finally, to cook.  Andouillette is poached for hours in a court bouillon, long enough to tenderize the filling but soft enough to prevent the case from bursting.  To serve, the sausage is grilled or fried in butter.

How does it taste?   Actually, not bad.  The sausage was appropriately, but not off-puttingly, barnyardy.  Undoubtedly the connoisseurs would have been disappointed with its comparative lack of stankiness.  But we messed up the poaching:  the casings ruptured, juices escaped, and as a result the texture wasn't quite right, not perfectly soft and squirmy.  So, sadly, andouillette did not make it onto the menu.  I think we'll nail it next time.