Hungarian sausages

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The cuisine of Hungary produces a vast number of types of sausages, many of which were influenced by their Polish neighbor and brethren.

Different regions in Hungary may have their own sausage recipes and tastes. The Hungarian sausages may be boiled, fresh or dried and smoked, with different spices and flavors, "hot" or "mild".

These sausages may be eaten like a cold cut or used in the main courses. The Hungarian cuisine uses the different types of sausages in many ways, in vegetable stews, soups, potato stews like "paprikás krumpli" (paprika-based stew with spicy sausage and potatoes), bean soups like Jókai bableves, in meat stews, in some goulash soup variations, pastry dishes and even salads.

The smoked sausages may contain bacon, ground pork, beef, boar or lamb, paprika, salt, garlic, black pepper, allspice, white pepper, caraway, nutmeg, zest, marjoram, cayenne pepper, sugar, white wine or cognac. Beef or lamb is usual in halal and kosher Hungarian sausages, which never include pork or boar for religious reasons.

The meat is coarsely ground and salted. If garlic is added, it is mashed in water to produce a slurry and added to the meat along with spices. The sausage is then stuffed into natural casings in 1-foot links - usually using the small intestine of the pig. This traditionally took place outside on the fall day when a pig was slaughtered. The sausage is then hung overnight to allow the flavors to meld and some of the grease to drip out. It is now ready to be used fresh and unsmoked. Fresh sausages may have additional ingredients like liver, mushroom, bread, rice, lemon juice, eggs, cream or milk. The unsmoked sausages are typically roasted with sauerkraut or red or green cabbage, and served with mashed potatoes.

The dry sausages are cold smoked and hung to cure before use.