Andouillette
Encyclopedia
Tripe
Tripe is a type of edible offal from the stomachs of various farm animals.-Beef tripe:...
sausage
Sausage
A sausage is a food usually made from ground meat , mixed with salt, herbs, and other spices, although vegetarian sausages are available. The word sausage is derived from Old French saussiche, from the Latin word salsus, meaning salted.Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made...
made with pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
(or occasionally, veal
Veal
Veal is the meat of young cattle , as opposed to meat from older cattle. Though veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any breed, most veal comes from male calves of dairy cattle breeds...
), chitterlings
Chitterlings
Chitterlings are the intestines of a pig, although cattle and other animals' intestines are similarly used, that have been prepared as food. In various countries across the world, such food is prepared and eaten either as part of a daily diet, or at special events, holidays or religious...
, pepper
Black pepper
Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...
, wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
, onions, and seasonings. Andouillette sausage is a smaller version of the andouille
Andouille
Andouille is defined as a coarse-grained smoked sausage made using pork, pepper, onions, wine, and seasonings. Andouille is French in origin, and was later brought to the United States through Louisiana by French immigrants. In the United States, the sausage is most often associated with Cajun...
sausage, generally smaller than 25 mm in diameter. It is produced both as a mild sausage (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
in origin) in French cuisine
French cuisine
French cuisine is a style of food preparation originating from France that has developed from centuries of social change. In the Middle Ages, Guillaume Tirel , a court chef, authored Le Viandier, one of the earliest recipe collections of Medieval France...
and as a spicier, Cajun
Cajun
Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
version (derived from the French one) that is used as an ingredient for various Cajun foods such as soups, stews and meat dishes. There are a number of versions produced that generally provide a spicy, smoky, rich, earthy flavor, which may also have a slightly sweet taste.
Ingredients and history
The original composition of "andouillette sausages" is not known and there is no record of the andouillette's composition from earlier than the nineteenth century. Nineteenth century dictionaries simply describe them as "small andouillesAndouille
Andouille is defined as a coarse-grained smoked sausage made using pork, pepper, onions, wine, and seasonings. Andouille is French in origin, and was later brought to the United States through Louisiana by French immigrants. In the United States, the sausage is most often associated with Cajun...
" (petites andouilles).
During recent decades, a range of differently composed andouillettes are or have been offered by Charcuterie
Charcuterie
Charcuterie is the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, galantines, pâtés, and confit, primarily from pork. Charcuterie is part of the garde manger chef's repertoire...
and tripe
Tripe
Tripe is a type of edible offal from the stomachs of various farm animals.-Beef tripe:...
producers: the principal differences concern the primary ingredients used, whether pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
or veal
Veal
Veal is the meat of young cattle , as opposed to meat from older cattle. Though veal can be produced from a calf of either sex and any breed, most veal comes from male calves of dairy cattle breeds...
or a mixture of the two. During the twenty-first century the incorporation of veal, historically the more costly meat ingredient, has been banned in response to concerns over BSE
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 30 months to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of...
. Some French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
regions such as Cambrésis (the area surrounding Cambrai
Cambrai
Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
) and Lyonnais
Lyonnais
The Lyonnais is a historical province of France which owes its name to the city of Lyon.The geographical area known as the Lyonnais became part of the Kingdom of Burgundy after the division of the Carolingian Empire...
were still including veal right up to the ban. In other regions, pork has been the only meat in an andouillette for more than a century: that is the case with the andouillette "of Troyes
Troyes
Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
", which is currently the type of andouillette most likely to be encountered in national outlets, such as supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
s, throughout France. But it seems likely that through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, local producers were using their own unique recipes according to time and place: the recipes used by local specialised outlets continue to vary considerably.
A number of andouillettes sold as local specialities have nevertheless evolved or indeed disappeared, such as the andouillettes of Villers-Cotterêts
Villers-Cotterêts
Villers-Cotterêts is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-Geography:It is located NE of Paris via the RN2 facing Laon...
which received a mention in the posthumously published Culinary Dictionary (Grand Dictionnaire de cuisine) by Alexandre Dumas.
The French parliamentarian Edouard Herriot
Édouard Herriot
Édouard Marie Herriot was a French Radical politician of the Third Republic who served three times as Prime Minister and for many years as President of the Chamber of Deputies....
once said; "Politics is like an andouillette – it should smell a little like shit, but not too much."
Serving
In major restaurants, andouillettes can be served either hot or cold. As with all tripe sausages, andouillettes are an acquired taste. Their smell may offend people unaccustomed to the dish. The texture is somewhat rougher than sausages, as the content is coarsely cut. Primarily pan-fried (sometimes breadedBreading
Breading is a dry grain-derived food coating for a piece of food such as meat, vegetable, poultry, fish, shellfish, crustacean, seitan, or textured soy, made from breadcrumbs or a breading mixture with seasonings. Breading can also refer to the process of applying a bread-like coating to a food...
), it can also be boiled, barbecued or grilled. The sausage is often served with vegetables in a mustard or red wine sauce. It is best served with either dry white wine, brut champagne or Pinot noir
Pinot Noir
Pinot noir is a black wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes...
.
Andouillettes today
Their popularity (particularly around TroyesTroyes
Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
, Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
, Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
, Eastern and Northern France) has remained constant over the last few centuries. From the 1970s Lyon has been the centre of a fan club which rates restaurants based on the quality of their andouillettes.
Andouillette is often described on French menus as AAAAA; this acronym stands for the Association Amicale des Amateurs d'Andouillette Authentique, roughly translated as the Amicable Association of Lovers of Authentic Andouillette.
External links
- http://mcmuffin.co.uk/mr_and_mrs_mcmuffin/2005/10/andouillette.html (Britons' experiences with andouillette)
- http://www.andouillettes.com/ (an andouillette boutique - in French)
- http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_amicale_des_amateurs_d'andouillette_authentique (French Wikipedia Article on the AAAAA - Association Amicale des Amateurs d'Andouillette Authentique, roughly translated as the Amicable Association of Lovers of Authentic Andouillette)
- http://www.oedilf.com/db/Lim.php?Word=andouillette (In Limerick form)
- http://jhmas.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/42/3/371.pdf#search=%22Andouillette%22 (on the "merde" odor)
- http://www.beaujolais.com/frameSet.asp?page=http%3A//www.beaujolais.com/pages/paysB/pays_gourmands/EN/recettes/andouill.htm (recipe)
- http://chefsimon.com/andoui.htm (recipe with photos, in French)
- http://www.tourisme-troyes.com/1/gast/andouil.asp (history of, in French)
- http://www.gumbopages.com/food/icky.html