Chisca

Ingredients

Sausage

• 600 gpork liver, lung and heart, minced
• 400 gpork belly or fatty trimmings, chopped small
• 300 grice or coarse cornmeal, cooked and cooled
• 300 gonions, chopped fine
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tbspground black pepper
• 1 tspground allspice
• 1 tspdried thyme
• 4 clovesgarlic, crushed
• wide natural hog casing, about 2 m

To cook and serve

• 3 litreswater
• lard, for frying
• murături and mămăligă

Directions

1. Simmer the offal in water for 20 minutes — the liver for only 10, as overcooked liver goes grainy and bitter, which is the commonest fault in this sausage. Cool, then mince everything coarsely.
2. Sweat the onion in a little lard over low heat for 15 minutes until soft but not coloured, then cool completely. Raw onion never cooks through inside a sausage.
3. Mix the minced offal with the chopped belly, cooled rice, onion, salt, pepper, allspice, thyme and garlic. Fry a spoonful and taste before filling anything.
4. Fill the casing no more than two-thirds full, because the rice swells, and tie into 15 cm lengths. Prick each three or four times.
5. Bring the water to 80°C (176°F) — barely a bubble — and poach for 45 minutes to an hour, until a skewer comes out clean.
6. Never let it boil. The casings split and the filling empties into the pot, which is not recoverable.
7. Cool completely and refrigerate. Chisca will not slice until properly cold.
8. Fry thick slices in lard until crisp, or roast them, and serve with mămăligă and murături.

Technique

• Ten minutes for the liver, no more.
• Two-thirds full and never a boil. Those are the rules of any grain-filled sausage.
• The smoked version, hung after poaching, is a cured product the atlas gives no method for.

Substitutions

• Cornmeal in place of rice, which is common in Moldova.
• All liver, skipping the lung and heart, which is milder.
• Beef offal, which works though it is less traditional.

Variations

• Made alongside blood sausage and tobă at the December pig slaughter.
• Baked whole in the oven with potatoes rather than fried in slices.

History

Made at the Moldovan winter pig slaughter so nothing of the animal is wasted.

Frequently asked questions

What is Chisca?

Chisca is a charcuterie & cured from Moldova: pork offal and grain sausage in natural casing, smoked and fried in slices. Made at the Moldovan winter pig slaughter so nothing of the animal is wasted.

How long does Chisca take to make?

Chisca takes 1 hour of preparation and 1 hour 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes makes 8 sausages. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Chisca?

Yes, within limits. Cornmeal in place of rice, which is common in Moldova. All liver, skipping the lung and heart, which is milder. Beef offal, which works though it is less traditional.

What is the most important thing to get right in Chisca?

Sweat the onion in a little lard over low heat for 15 minutes until soft but not coloured, then cool completely. Raw onion never cooks through inside a sausage.