Chipolata

In the Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson gives the derivation of the name as the Italian {{lang|it|cipollata}}, meaning a dish containing onion ({{lang|it|cipolla}} being the Italian for onion), but adds that the sausages called chipolatas contain no onions: "the origin of this usage is a mystery". Both Davidson and the Oxford English Dictionary give instances of early French and English uses of the Italian-derived term to mean dishes containing onions and small sausages. {{lang|fr|Le Cuisinier gascon}} (1740) gives a recipe for chicken wings à la chipolata, which includes {{lang|fr|"des petits oignons blanchis, & des petites saucisses à qui vous avez fait suer la graisse"|italic=no}} – small blanched onions and little sausages gently cooked in fat.Le Cuisinier gascon, p. 59

A 1750 English cookery book refers to "Tendrons of veal {{lang|fr|en Chipolata}}", and "Fillets of pork {{lang|fr|à la Chipolata}}". In the nineteenth century Louis Ude in his The French Cook (1816) gives a recipe for "Tendrons of veal {{lang|fr|en Chipolata}}" which includes the direction, "take a few small sausages, some small onions stewed very white".Ude, p. 61

Davidson suggests that the French came to apply the term "chipolata" to the sausages rather than the accompanying onions. By the 1830s the name had widely been transferred to the sausages. Richard Dolby in The Cook's Dictionary and Housekeeper's Directory (1832), gives a recipe for stuffed goose containing "twenty chipolata sausages [pre-cooked], twenty large mushrooms, twenty truffles" etc.Dolby, p. 281 The Comte de Courchamps, in his {{lang|fr|Dictionnaire général de la cuisine française}} (1853) defines chipolata as "a kind of stew of Italian origin", and gives a recipe calling for "twelve little sausages called {{lang|fr|chipolates}}".

File:Fried cipollata from Switzerland.jpg

Davidson writes that "chipolatas are popular in France, where they are finger width, relatively long, and usually pan fried".Davidson, pp. 174–175 In both American and English usage, chipolatas are small sausages, including the very small cocktail sausages and other miniature versions of ordinary sausages.Beck and Child, p. 377 They are typically made from minced pork seasoned with salt and {{lang|fr|épices fines}}, a mixture that may contain ground bay leaf, basil, cinnamon, clove, mace, marjoram or oregano, nutmeg, paprika, sage, thyme and white pepper.Beck and Child, pp. 385–387 Chicken chipolatas are also on sale in France and Britain.[https://www.franprix.fr/courses/p/mini-saucisses-de-volaille-nature-x20-99204072 "Mini saucisses de volaille nature"], Franprix. Retrieved 19 May 2025; and [https://www.marksandspencer.com/food/collection-british-chicken-chipolata-sausages/p/fdp60563493 "Collection British Chicken Chipolata Sausages"], Marks and Spencer. Retrieved 19 May 2025

Chipolatas are popular in Britain. They frequently appear as part of a Christmas dinner wrapped in streaky bacon as pigs in blankets.Oliver, Jamie. [https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/pork/pigs-in-blankets/ "Pigs in blankets"], Jamie Oliver. Retrieved 19 May 2025 In French cuisine, a {{lang|fr|garniture à la chipolata}} consists of onions, chipolata sausages, chestnuts, salt pork, and sometimes carrots and olives, in a demiglace sauce.Escoffier, p. 39

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book | last =Beck | first =Simone|authorlink=Simone Beck|author2=Julia Child | title =Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2 | date =1979|origyear=1970 | location =London | publisher =Penguin | isbn =0-14-046221-X }}
• {{cite book | last=Davidson |authorlink=Alan Davidson (food writer)| first=Alan | title= The Oxford Companion to Food| year=1999 | location=Oxford | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-211579-9 |ref=none}}
• {{cite book | last= Dolby | first= Richard | title= The Cook's Dictionary and Housekeeper's Directory| year= 1832| location= London| publisher= Colburn and Bentley|url= https://archive.org/details/b33287028/page/280/mode/2up| oclc= 181695045}}
• {{cite book | last = Escoffier | first = Auguste |authorlink=Auguste Escoffier| title = Ma Cuisine | language=French|date = 1934| location =Paris | publisher =Flammarion | url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1265511c| oclc =981486233 }}
• {{cite book | last= Gascon | first= Cuisinier, Le | title=Le Cuisinier gascon | year=1740 | location=Amsterdam |language=French

|publisher=Unspecified |url=https://archive.org/details/lecuisiniergasc00bourgoog/page/n74/mode/2up | oclc=1154650852 }}

• {{cite book | last = Ude | first = Louis-Eustache |authorlink=Louis Eustache Ude| title = The French Cook | location = London | publisher = Ebers | edition = fourth | date = 1816 | url = https://archive.org/details/b29288216/page/n5/mode/2up | oclc = 46643737 }}

• List of sausages

{{Sausage}}

Category:French sausages

Category:British sausages

Category:Fresh sausages