Sausages in Italian cuisine
{{Short description|None}}
{{For|the usage in North American cuisine|Italian sausage}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Italian sausage
| image = Salsiccia Italian pork sausage.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = Italian pork sausages
| alternate_name = Salsiccia (in Italian)
| country = Italy
| region =
| creator =
| course =
| type = Sausage
| served =
| main_ingredient = Pork, red pepper flakes, pepper paste, fennel
| variations = Various Italian sausages
}}
A wide variety of sausages ({{langx|it|salsiccia}}, {{IPA|it|salˈsittʃa|lang}}; {{plural form}}: salsicce) are made in Italy, having evolved through the centuries into many regional varieties.{{cite book |last=Bardi |first=Carla |page=[https://archive.org/details/prosciutto0000bard/page/44/mode/2up?q=salsiccia 44] |title=Prosciutto |year=2004 |publisher=South San Francisco : Wine Appreciation Guild |isbn=1-891267-54-X |url=https://archive.org/details/prosciutto0000bard/page/44/mode/2up?q=salsiccia}} The sausages will typically be either a type of fresh sausage (Italian: salsiccia fresca), or a type of dried sausage (Italian: salsiccia secca). There are also some types of sausages that can be either used fresh or cured, such as Tuscan sausages (Italian: salsicce toscane).{{cite book |last= |first= |page=[https://archive.org/details/culinariaitalypa0000unse_p3j1/page/240/mode/2up?q=Salsiccia 240] |title=Culinaria Italy : pasta, pesto, passion |year=2008 |publisher=H.f. Ullman/Tandem Verlag GmbH |isbn=978-3-8331-1049-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/culinariaitalypa0000unse_p3j1/page/240/mode/2up?q=Salsiccia}}
History
The Italian sausage was initially known as lucanica,{{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Nancy |page=[https://archive.org/details/cucinadelsolecel00jenk/page/16/mode/2up?q=Lucanica 16] |title=Cucina del sole : a celebration of southern Italian cooking |year=2007 |publisher=William Morrow |isbn= 978-0-06-072343-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/cucinadelsolecel00jenk/page/16/mode/2up?q=Lucanica}} a rustic pork sausage in ancient Roman cuisine, with the first evidence dating back to the 1st century BC, when the Roman historian Marcus Terentius Varro described stuffing spiced and salted meat into pig intestines, as follows: "They call lucanica a minced meat stuffed into a casing, because our soldiers learned how to prepare it." The writings of Cicero and Martial also mention lucanica (Lucian sausage){{cite book |last=Cicero |first=Marcus Tullius |page=[https://archive.org/details/lettersofmarcust09cice/page/158/mode/2up?q=Lucanian 158] |title=Letters of Marcus Tullius Cicero : with his treatises on friendship and old age |year=1937 |publisher=P.F. Collier |url=https://archive.org/details/lettersofmarcust09cice/page/158/mode/2up?q=Lucanian}}{{cite web | last=Martialis | first=Marcus Valerius | url=https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/martial_epigrams_book13.htm | title=Martial, Epigrams. Book 13. XXXV Sausage | year=1897| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608163659/https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/martial_epigrams_book13.htm | archive-date=2023-06-08 }}{{cite web | last=Harper | first=Diane | url=https://siglindesarts.wordpress.com/2014/12/20/roman-sausages-sources-other-than-apicius/ | title=Roman Sausages (sources other than Apicius)| date=20 December 2014 | access-date=7 July 2024 }} as a speciality introduced in Rome by the Lucanian slaves.{{cite web |url=http://www.carnealfuoco.it/sito/curiosita-p.php?SezID=60 |title=Carne al Fuoco zur Geschichte der Salsiccia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090621232000/http://www.carnealfuoco.it/sito/curiosita-p.php?SezID=60 |language=it | archive-date=21 June 2009 |url-status=dead}} A recipe for preparation is provided in the first century Apicius.
Types of sausage in Italy
=''Mazzafegato''=
Mazzafegato sausage ('liver mash', or 'liver sausage') is a sausage typically from Abruzzo, Lazio, Marche, Umbria, and Tuscany regions that includes mashed liver. The style from Abruzzo includes pork liver, heart, lungs, and pork cheek, and is seasoned with garlic, orange peel, salt, pepper, and bay leaves.{{cite web |title=From North to South, Italian Sausages Variety |url=https://www.lacucinaitaliana.com/italian-food/italian-dishes/types-italian-sausages-north-south
|website=lacucinaitaliana.com | publisher=La Cucina Italiana |date=24 May 2020 |access-date=6 July 2024}}
=''Salsiccia al coriandolo''=
The salsiccia al coriandolo ('coriander sausage'), from the comune (municipality) of Monte San Biagio, Lazio, also includes coriander, sweet chili peppers, and sweet red wine.
=''Salsiccia al finocchio''=
Salsiccia al finocchio ('fennel sausage') is a sausage popularised in the Sicily region.{{cite book |last=Gerard-Sharp |first=Lisa |page=[https://archive.org/details/sicily0000gera/page/128 128] |title=Sicily |year=2016 |publisher=Apa Publications |isbn=9781780053110 |url=https://archive.org/details/sicily0000gera/page/128}}{{cite book |last=Root |first=Waverley |page=[https://archive.org/details/foodofitaly0000root/page/604 604] |title=The food of Italy |year=1903–1992 |publisher=New York : Vintage Books |isbn=0679738967 |url=https://archive.org/details/foodofitaly0000root/page/604}} These sausages differ from the Tuscan style sausage due the addition of crumbed, dried fennel seeds to the other spices used.
=''Salsiccia fresca''=
Salsiccia fresca ('fresh sausage') is a type of sausage that is usually made somewhat spicy. It is made from fresh meat (often pork) and fat, and is flavoured with spices, salt, and pepper, and traditionally stuffed into natural gut casings. Salsiccia fresca al peperoncino ('fresh chilli sausage') is a spicy sausage flavoured with chopped garlic, salt, and chilli pepper (which gives the sausage a redder colour).
=''Salsiccia secca''=
=''Salsiccia sotto la cenere''=
=''Salsiccia toscana''=
See also
{{Commons category-inline|Salsiccia}}
{{Portal|Italy|Food}}