Natural casings

Boyaux naturels

What it is

Casings are sold not by weight but by calibre in millimetres, and under their trade names: menu de mouton for merguez, menu de porc for the breakfast sausage, chaudin and baudruche for the big drying saucissons. The number commands everything downstream — a wider casing dries more slowly, so a charcutier chooses the skin before choosing the meat.

In the kitchen

They arrive packed in salt: rinse them, soak at least half an hour in tepid water, and run water through the inside so they slide onto the horn. Stuff them slack — a casing filled tight has nowhere to go when you twist the links, and it splits.

Goes with

Pork Fatback (green back fat) Black pepper Garlic Curing salt (nitrited salt) Nutmeg Salt Espelette pepper

Same species

Andouillette Boudin blanc Caul fat Chorizo Ciauscolo Suckling pig

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