The History of The Sausage

The name 'sausage' comes from the Latin word salsus, meaning salted or preserved meat. Sausage developed out of the need to preserve meat when there was no refrigeration. Sausage was probably the first 'convenience food', predating the TV dinner by many centuries. It has been a familiar product since early civilization. The first record of sausage is in Homer's Odyssey, written in the eighth or ninth century BC. Sausage is also mentioned by the Chinese and Chaldeans many years before the Christmas era. It became associated with Lupercalian festivals and, as a result, was condemned by the early Christian Church.  

When Constantine the Great became Emperor of Rome and embraced the Christian faith, the eating of sausage was prohibited. This prohibition remained in force throughout the reigns of several emperors, but because of popular protest and illicit trading, it was finally repealed. During the Middle Ages, practically every nation of Europe manufactured some type of sausage. There is the historic example of the giant sausage of Konigsberg, which in 1558 was carried around the town in procession on the shoulders of the butcher men.  

Most sausages are of European origin. Some sausages named for cities of Italy are Romano, Milano, Genoa and Bologna Some receipes have developed over the years to be quite complex; other are very simple. Many recipes have become very popular in a particular region or city and thus, over the years, have adopted that place's name. The warm climate of the Mediterranean, most notably in Italy, influenced the development of the dry or summer sausage, which was made in cooler weather to keep during summer. This type of sausage was preserved by using a great deal of salt and spices, then drying, generally without smoking.