Cervelat is a sort of sausage with a characteristic colorful pattern on a slice. The pattern is obtained by combining pieces of muscle tissue in different shades and crushed lard (and / or pork belly). Cervelat can be half-smoked, cooked smoked and uncooked smoked [1] .
Content
Title and History
The name of the sausage is borrowed from the vocabulary of the German-speaking part of Switzerland and comes from the Latin cerebellum , which became cervelle in French and cervello in Italian, which means “brain”. The word zervelada in Milan in the sixteenth century meant "sausage with meat." The oldest recipe for making cervelat dates back to the 16th century, it was prepared from pork, lard and cheese, and exotic seasonings were added to the minced meat - ginger , cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg . Cervelat was not smoked, but scalded with boiling water.
Manufacturing
According to the Soviet standard (GOST 16290-86) cervelat contains 25% premium beef, 25% lean pork, 50% fatty pork or pork breast, salt, sodium nitrite , sugar , ground black or white pepper and ground cardamom or nutmeg. The shell must be dry, strong, flexible and free of mold deposits, tight to the forcemeat. The color on the cross section of the loaf near the shell and in the central part should be uniform, without gray spots, and the consistency is elastic, dense and not loose. Shelf life: no more than 30 days at storage t from 0 to +4 ° C and relative humidity of 75-78% "
Production Crisis
Since April 2006, the World Epizootic Organization (OIE), citing the spread of mad cow disease, has declared Brazil “a country with a controlled risk of disease” and has banned the import of the inside of Brazilian bulls, including the intestines, which make the casing for Swiss cervelat.
The best bovine intestines are used in the production of Swiss cervelat, and the main selection condition is a diameter of 37-39 mm. The fame and reputation of the Swiss cervelat - in its round shape, which directly depends on the diameter of the shell - thanks to it, from the guts of Brazilian bulls, cervelat is moderately smoked and with a skin that is perfectly crisp on the teeth.
Cultural Significance in Switzerland
The Swiss cervelat is a “symbol of Swiss national identity”, is listed in the Culinary heritage of Switzerland.
It is made from seasonings, ice, bacon, cracklings and beef, they fill the intestines of the zebu .
It has a unique, “moderately smoked” taste and an original, “perfectly curved” shape. Swiss 12-centimeter cervelat can be eaten with or without skin.
The history of cervelat in Switzerland began more than a hundred years ago in Basel. Cervelat has become a traditional treat at the Fastnacht carnival, an integral part of Swiss folklore.
In Basel, cervelat first became the cause of the Sausage War of 1890 - butchers increased the price of sausages, and the residents of the city went on strike and stopped buying cervelat altogether, in the end they had to lower prices.