Today, I made
Gelbwurst again, but with a twist.
"Gelbwurst" means "yellow sausage", so called because it is always filled into a yellow casing. Before artificial casings, turmeric was used to dye the casings yellow and, presumably, to subtly add to the flavor.
In Bavaria, Gelbwurst is often called "Hirnwurst", meaning "brain sausage". That's because this sausage besides veal and pork also used to contain brains. Butchers stopped adding brains some time in the 1920s, as best as I could find out; I have no idea why. If someone happens to know, please drop me a line! These days, the sausage is made with just veal and pork.
I was curious as to what the original version might have tasted like, so I made a Hirnwurst today that is actually worthy of the name
22 % of the meat weight is lamb brains:
I took this shot after I had already cut the meat into chunks to go into the freezer before grinding. The brains are in the foreground; the remainder is veal, pork cheek, and pork shoulder.
The sausage does not contain any nitrite, so it turns from pink when raw to white after cooking it. The taste is very mild, similar to Bologna, but less hammy, with a more subtle flavour. (Kids love this sausage because it has such a mild flavour.)
I was happy with the way it turned out. Good bind, and next to no air inclusions.
As far as flavour is concerned, the version with brains is exactly the same as the one without. Not a surprise, seeing that I used an identical spice mix. You definitely cannot tell that the sausage contains brains by its flavour. However, the texture is different. The sausage has this beautiful creamy and silky component to the texture. Not that it is mushy or anything, I got a good firm bind. But there is this mouthfeel going on that normal Gelbwurst or Bologna can't match. Almost as if cream had been added.
Overall, this is really delicious and, in my opinion, a little better than today's version. It's a more classy spin on the same flavours
tea in it.
