The Anatomy of the Sausage
Bangers and mash sausage: chia, potato and peas. Collage by Emile Barret.
What should one of the oldest food preservation methods look like in the 21st century?
In her new book The Sausage of the Future, Dutch product designer Carolien Niebling presents an imaginative and visually rich research project all about sausages. Developed during her graduate studies at École cantonale d'art de Lausanne (ECAL) in Switzerland, one of the world’s top universities of art and design, the project's stated goal is to "provide readers with enough information to understand the complexity of sausages and to see their beauty." Illustrated by colorful graphs and charts, alluring collages, product photography that reads as contemporary art, and with lively and informative texts, The Sausage of the Future exceeds these aims, inspiring not only a respect for the history of this culinary form but also an urgency for innovation and change.
The book comes to the U.S. from Lars Müller in Zurich, an award-winning publisher known for books on design, architecture, culture, art and photography. Lars Muller is not, however, known for culinary titles; in fact, the only other book from this publisher which relates to food is Apple by Ken Miki, a playful introduction to the principals of graphic design through an examination of that ubiquitous fruit. It’s little surprise, then, that The Sausage of the Future is not so much a cookbook as it is a handbook and guide, contributing in a unique and entertaining voice to the discourse on sustainability by viewing it through the lens of design.
Beginning with a declaration that sausage is “one of mankind’s greatest edible inventions – and one of the first processed…food products,” Niebling deconstructs this edible form, starting with its most basic elements: mass, moisture, ‘glue’, flavoring, preservation, and skin (casing). With the help of molecular gastronomer Gabriel Serero and master butcher Herman ter Weele, the book presents a vision that “seeks to improve and adapt…to the realities that await us” as new food security and climate change challenges arise. That vision is the future sausage.
Niebling’s answer to the question “Should we all be vegetarians?” is a firm no. She instead prescribes that we eat an even wider variety of food than we are used to doing now, including, for example, insects. The author’s research concludes that worldwide consumption of meat has doubled over the last 20 years, and is expected to double once more by 2050. “By the end of the 21st century, there will simply not be enough land to produce this much meat for 10 billion people.” [In fact, the UN’s high estimate for worldwide population by the year 2100 reaches up to 16 billion.]
Eating more inclusively, Niebling proposes, could reduce the amount of traditional protein sources consumed, and contribute positively to a more sustainable world. This then is the basis for all of her imagined ‘futuristic’ sausages; rather than relying on ingredients often thought of as meat substitutes such as tofu, tempeh and seitan, Niebling enriches the conversation by bringing veggies, fruits, grains, nuts, legumes, and – yes – insects into her links, to offset the traditional load of pork and beef. She’s not looking to banish livestock completely; even her recognizably shaped and colored mortadella, studded prominently with broccoli and carrot in addition to the classic inclusion of pistachio, contains 40% pork.
“Instead of having mushroom-based vegetarian options that taste like chicken, or milk serum-based edible packaging, should we instead make use of readily available flowers, neglected offal and under-valued grains?...I propose here a move away from our relatively impoverished ‘supermarket selection’, a move back from what I call eximius forivores (eaters of supermarket food) to omnivores (eaters of everything). Let us embrace what is edible on this planet and explore it in the name of diversity.”
All of the infographics and illustrations throughout the book, created by graphic designer Helge Hjorth Bentsen, strike a surprising, pleasant balance between impersonal, textbook-like presentation and carefully observed still life drawing. Above: wild violet, kelp, lavender, nasturtium, and dandelion are all edible plants.
The first three sections of the book, "Theory", "Method", and "Material", examine traditional as well as novel ingredients and techniques. Section one, "Theory", contains detailed anatomical drawings of agricultural animals along with their associated butcher’s cuts. One image demonstrates, for example, that your Porterhouse, T-bone and Club steaks can all be carved out of a single short loin, located on the upper back of the cow, behind the ribs. Following these charts is an explanation of the structure and functionality of meat fibers and muscle color, as well as a list of potential sausage casings.
This reminds us, early on in the book, that sausage making isn’t for the faint of heart; Niebling’s description of the most common and traditional of casings – intestinal – tells us that these are made from the sub-mucosa layer of intestine due to its high levels of naturally occurring collagen. The author not only appreciates this material for its flavor and structure, but also as a by-product of butchery which should, she insists, be utilized rather than discarded. In contrast to this is the inclusion in her list of more vegetal ‘skins’: algae-, leaf-, wax- and pectin-based casings.
Following "Theory" is the "Method" section of the book, which covers the topics of preservation and what the author calls ‘glue.’ “While forming only a small percentage of the sausage mass, these…aspects…are the ones that transform bits and pieces of meat and other elements into the sausages that we know and love.” Glue, in this instance, refers to any binding mechanism which transforms the mixture inside the casing into uniform matter. Usually, this is achieved by myosin, a meat protein that turns into a gel when extracted with salts. Niebling manages to address technical details like this with a casual, readable manner: “Thickening a liquid with fibers essentially means adding microscopic chunks of plant or animal tissue to a liquid so they are suspended.”; “Strands of protein wrap around spheres of calcium, thus creating chambers in which water can be captured.” It’s within this section of the book that tools of the trade are also covered – annotated depictions of mechanical mincers, fillers, semi-industrial meat extruders, and linking machines are punctuated by a fantastic diagram showing how to link sausages by hand.
The "Method" section finishes with a chapter entitled "Types of Sausages". A handful of categories, into which, the author says, almost all sausages fall, are examined: fresh, cooked, dried, blood, and cured. Throughout the book Niebling takes pains to acknowledge that she’s over-simplified for the purpose of this project. For example, in contrast to her five archetypes, she makes sure to note the abundance of varieties of sausages throughout the world and to give examples; one “peculiar” type mentioned is the Spanish lomo embuchado, which is “essentially an entire pork loin, rolled though pimentón and put in a casing.” This explication is welcome additional knowledge, and it’s not necessary for Niebling to offer excuse for her categorization, bundling and sorting; the reader quickly becomes accustomed to the language of a design case study used in the book.
The Sausage of the Future’s third and largest section, "Material", is meant to “remind us of forgotten ingredients and inspire us with new ones.” It takes the idea of a more purposeful, omnivoric approach to eating and presents it in iterations: a chapter called "Viscerivore" features descriptive examples of offal; a chapter called "Insectivore" lists a selection of edible bugs including cricket and the ‘witchety grub;’ "Nucivore" looks at nuts. The ‘material’ types highlighted here are accompanied by lovely renderings; all of the infographics and illustrations throughout the book, created by graphic designer Helge Hjorth Bentsen, strike a surprising, pleasant balance between impersonal, textbook-like presentation and carefully observed still life drawing.
The recipes in this book consist of a brief description, a list of ingredients by percentage, iconography denoting preservation method, casing type, and process, and a colorful cross-section visualization. Above, Mortadella with vegetables by Carolien Niebling.
The final section of the book, "Result", contains the most recognizably cookbook-like pages, presenting a handful of iterations of the ‘future sausage’ that Niebling envisions. The recipes were chosen to correlate with the categories identified in the "Types of Sausages" chapter: ‘Bangers and mash’ (fresh), ‘Mortadella with vegetables’ (cooked), ‘Fruit salami’ (dried), ‘Apple boudin’ (blood), and ‘Heart fuet’ (cured). Most American home cooks are used to working with recipes consisting of a list of ingredients in volumetric Imperial measurement and detailed instructions. Many modern recipes even contain handy notes on portioning and nutrition content. The recipes in this book, however, consist of a brief description, a list of ingredients by percentage, iconography denoting preservation method, casing type, and process, and a colorful cross-section visualization. Before concluding that these are, in fact, not recipes at all, it's worth it to consider a few things. First, a recipe in percentages (by ratio, essentially) allows for easy, flexible use depending on how many people you are cooking for or how much of the main ingredient you have to work with. Second, this approach is actually quite familiar to sausage makers, who use percentages of salt to get the correct binding and cure (2% for fresh and up to 3.5% in a dried link) and percentages of fat to achieve their desired texture (anywhere between 20-30%).
Blood sausage is an exception to the high-fat rule, as the unique properties of its intimidating main ingredient allow for a silky, creamy mouth-feel with less belly fat or fatback needed.
Here’s Niebling’s version of a Boudin noir:
35% blood
18% golden apple
15% barley
10% pork belly fat
8% milk
8% roasted almond
2% cacao powder
2% spices: white pepper and clove
2% salt
In May 2018, the Meat Hook in Brooklyn hosted an event celebrating the arrival of The Sausage of the Future stateside. Moderated by food technologist Emilie Baltz, Niebling spoke with American butcher Brent Young about animal husbandry, nose-to-tail eating, and whether or not feeding worms honey and apples would make incorporating that invertebrate into our diets more palatable. Following their discussion, Young served four sausages inspired by the book: a fruit salami, a 20% veggie mortadella, a beet-pink link and a tender, homey apple-onion sausage. He also proudly served a sausage that the Meat Hook offers year-round: their offal-heavy, Slim Jim-inspired “big hooker.” This skinny smoked link features heart and other under-utilized cuts. So go ahead, New Yorkers: pick up a big hooker and start your own journey into the future.
“Further reading:”
The Sausage of the Future reading list.
I created this google doc by editing down a single thread called “ A Basic Guide For A Group Learning The Elementary Techniques Of Sausage Making” from the crazy, insane, amazing web forums located on this Polish website: https://wedlinydomowe.pl/ (Wedliny domowe translates to Homemade smoked meats)
If that 66 page doc is too long for you, just read 32 Sausage Making Tips To Save You Grief! from the author of that ‘workshop’.
This surprisingly pleasant video from Lucky Peach shows Soondae (Korean-style blood sausage) being made at Brooklyn restaurant, Insa.
Here's a kinda random but helpful video of hand-linking technique.
A 30-minute overview of food technologist, artist, and experience designer Emilie Baltz’s work.
Watch the Meat Hook turn the classic bacon egg and cheese sandwich into a fresh sausage.
