andouillette

An andouillette sausage with the casing cut away. The contents of the sausage are much chunkier than in an American sausage.

Andouillette is a French sausage, a specialty of Lyon, Troyes and Cambrai.

Traditional andouillette is made from the colon and the stomach of pig. In modern times, contents vary and normally contain intestines of pig, cow and/or calf. It is not to be confused with andouille sausage, which is much spicier, but more mild in animal-derived smells.

American andouillette, such as that produced by Hormel Foods, is quite acceptable to the American palate.

French andouillette, on the other hand, is an acquired taste and can be an interesting challenge even for adventurous eaters. It is sometimes eaten cold, as in picnic baskets. Served cold and sliced thinly, the smell, taste, and texture may be mistaken for an andouille, but on closer inspection the texture is considerably more rubbery and the meat has a more animal-like flavor. By contrast, many French eateries serve andouillette as a hot dish, and foreigners have been disgusted by the aroma, to the point where they find it inedible (see external links). While some find that hot andouillette smells of feces, food safety requires that all such matter is removed from the meat before cooking. Feces-like aroma can be attributed to the common use of the pig's colon (chitterlings) in this sausage, and stems from the same compounds that give feces some of its odors.

External Links

• http://mcmuffin.co.uk/mr_and_mrs_mcmuffin/2005/10/andouillette.html (Britons' experiences with andouillette)
• http://www.andouillettes.com/ (an andouillette boutique - in French)
• http://www.oedilf.com/db/Lim.php?Word=andouillette (In Limerick form)
• http://jhmas.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/42/3/371.pdf#search=%22Andouillette%22 (on the "merde" odor)
• http://www.beaujolais.com/frameSet.asp?page=http%3A//www.beaujolais.com/pages/paysB/pays_gourmands/EN/recettes/andouill.htm (recipe)
• http://chefsimon.com/andoui.htm (recipe with photos, in French)
• http://www.tourisme-troyes.com/1/gast/andouil.asp (history of, in French)
• http://www.gumbopages.com/food/icky.html

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