Wäinzoossiss

Ingredients

Sausage

• 1 kgpork shoulder, coarsely minced
• 250 gpork back fat, chopped small
• 200 mldry Moselle white wine, such as Rivaner or Elbling
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tspwhite pepper
• ½ tspground mace
• ½ tspground coriander
• 2 clovesgarlic, crushed
• 2m natural hog casing, rinsed and soaked

To serve

• mashed potato
• strong mustard
• and a glass of the same wine

Directions

1. Mix the pork, fat, wine, salt, pepper, mace, coriander and garlic thoroughly with your hands. Cover and refrigerate overnight — the wine acidifies the meat slightly and carries the spices through it.
2. Fry a spoonful the next day and taste for salt before you fill anything.
3. Fill the soaked casing loosely and twist into sausages about 12 cm long, tying the ends. Prick each once.
4. Leave uncovered in the fridge for a few hours so the surfaces dry.
5. Bring a wide pan of water to 80°C (176°F) — steaming, barely a bubble — and lower the sausages in.
6. Poach gently for 25 to 30 minutes until firm and cooked through. Never let it boil: the casings split and the wine and fat, which are most of the flavour, end up in the water.
7. Lift them out and either serve straight away, or brown them briefly in a hot dry pan for colour.
8. Serve with mashed potato and mustard, and a glass of the wine they were made with.

Technique

• Poach, do not boil. Every split sausage is a pot that got away.
• A fresh sausage — refrigerate and eat within two days, or freeze. Nothing here is cured.
• Use a wine you would drink. It is a fifth of the liquid in the sausage and a poor one shows.

Substitutions

• Any dry crisp white in place of Moselle wine.
• Veal for a third of the pork, which gives a finer texture.
• Collagen casings, which poach well though they do not brown as prettily.

Variations

• Grilled at the Schueberfouer fair rather than poached at home.
• Some butchers add chopped parsley, which speckles the finished sausage.

History

A Luxembourgish pork sausage seasoned with local Moselle white wine, sold by butchers and served at the Schueberfouer fair.

Frequently asked questions

What is Wäinzoossiss?

Wäinzoossiss is a charcuterie & cured from Luxembourg: wine sausage poached and eaten with mustard and mashed potato. A Luxembourgish pork sausage seasoned with local Moselle white wine, sold by butchers and served at the Schueberfouer fair.

How long does Wäinzoossiss take to make?

Wäinzoossiss takes 40 min plus overnight resting of preparation and 35 min of cooking. The recipe makes makes 10 sausages. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Wäinzoossiss?

Yes, within limits. Any dry crisp white in place of Moselle wine. Veal for a third of the pork, which gives a finer texture. Collagen casings, which poach well though they do not brown as prettily.

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

Poach gently for 25 to 30 minutes until firm and cooked through. Never let it boil: the casings split and the wine and fat, which are most of the flavour, end up in the water.