Dry-cured pork sausage, sliced thin as an aperitif with bread and wine. Mountain and Lyonnais butchers dried pork in cellars through the winter, and saucisson de Lyon and Rosette are the best-known regional types.
It is raw pork cured at ambient temperature where safety depends on nitrite level, pH and water activity hitting measured targets in the first days — and a failure is botulism rather than a poor flavour.
What goes into it
- pork shoulder and back fat
- salt and curing salt
- black pepper
- garlic
- sometimes wine
- natural casings
How it is made
Coarsely minced pork and fat are mixed with salt, nitrate and pepper, stuffed into casings and hung in a cool cellar. In the first days bacteria ferment the sugars and drop the pH, which is the step that makes the sausage safe; over the following weeks it dries, loses a third of its weight and develops a white surface mould.
How long it takes: three to eight weeks depending on diameter
How it is eaten
Sliced thin with a knife, with bread, cornichons and red wine.
History
Mountain and Lyonnais butchers dried pork in cellars through winter; saucisson de Lyon and Rosette are the best known regional types.
Frequently asked questions
What is Saucisson sec?
Saucisson sec is a charcuterie & cured from France: dry-cured pork sausage sliced as an aperitif with bread and wine. Mountain and Lyonnais butchers dried pork in cellars through winter; saucisson de Lyon and Rosette are the best known regional types.
How is Saucisson sec made?
Coarsely minced pork and fat are mixed with salt, nitrate and pepper, stuffed into casings and hung in a cool cellar. In the first days bacteria ferment the sugars and drop the pH, which is the step that makes the sausage safe; over the following weeks it dries, loses a third of its weight and develops a white surface mould. It takes three to eight weeks depending on diameter.
Can I make Saucisson sec at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. It is raw pork cured at ambient temperature where safety depends on nitrite level, pH and water activity hitting measured targets in the first days — and a failure is botulism rather than a poor flavour.
What goes into Saucisson sec?
Pork shoulder and back fat, salt and curing salt, black pepper, garlic, sometimes wine, natural casings.
How is Saucisson sec eaten?
Sliced thin with a knife, with bread, cornichons and red wine.
