55

THE HISTORY OF SAUSAGE*

F. W. TAUBER
T-A-IC O .
Chicago, I l l i n o i s

From t h e e a r l i e s t times up t o t h e beginning of recorded h i s t o r y ,

man has probably prepared some type of meat product comparable t o
sausage. In a l l instances t h e evaluations made of t h e residues i n
caves, mounds or tombs a r e opinions. Some evidence i s based on t h e
p r a c t i c e s of primitive t r i b e s o r on t r a v e l e r s and explorers comments
of foods and food preparation of t h e aborigines or primitive groups.

The food economy and preservation methods have always been a big
f a c t o r f o r s u r v i v a l of man and undoubtably t h e use of o f f a l and t h e
drying of meat in some form was practiced by e a r l y man. Samples of
meat, including a m t t o n j o i n t were uncovered i n a tomb i n ancient
J e r i c h o . Clay t a b l e t s from Babylon give some fragmentary information
about chopped meat i n a g o a t ' s stomach (possibly a type of Haggis).

A t about 1000 B.C., "an approximation s i n c e Homer's b i r t h d a t e i s

uncertain, d a t e s ranging f r o m 830 t o 1159 B.C. a r e given by various
e a r l y w r i t e r ' s . " Homer mentions o f t e n i n t h e Odyssey d e t a i l s of t h e
slaughter of beef, goats and sheep. H e gives i n d e t a i l t h e slaughter
of a h e i f e r as part of a r e l i g i o u s ceremony. The c o l l e c t i o n of t h e
blood from t h e a n i m a l and t h e manner of s l i c i n g and r o a s t i n g t h e meat
r e f l e c t s t h e importance t h e Greeks placed on a n i m a l products as food.
The p r i z e of a sausage was awarded Odysseus when he defeated t h e sturdy
beggar =os i n a boxing match. The sausage was described as a type of
b l a c k pudding, s t u f f e d with blood and f a t and s i z z l e d on t h e hearth.

In t h e tomb of Rameses I11 a p a i n t i n g d e p i c t s t h e manner i n which

t h e Egyptians prepared t h e i r food. The butchering of a cow i s given i n
d e t a i l and is not t o o d i f f e r e n t . i n appearance from t h e methods used i n
t h e 1920's i n t h e U.S. In another tomb a model of a shop i n which t h e
shop worker i s carrying d r i e d m e a t i n d i c a t e s t h a t preservation by drying
was a common p r a c t i c e of t h a t time i n Egypt.

The c l a s s i c Greek meals have been depicted on vase paintings and

other works of a r t . Athenaeus i n t h e Deipnosophistae gives accounts of
feasts and foods and c i t e s m y experts on foods. Unfortunately, t h e
cook books and r e p o r t s he c i t e s have not been uncovered t o d a t e , however
h i s works are a v a i l a b l e In t h e Bohn's C l a s s i c a l Library. He i n d i c a t e s
t h a t Charides of Athens w a s a s p e c i a l i s t on seasonings and Aphthonetus
a s p e c i a l i s t i n sausage. This suggests t h a t a t t h i s time t h e Greeks
were highly d i v e r s if ied in food p r e w r a t ions that included sausage and
other meat products.

* Presented a t t h e 29th Annual Reciprocal Meat Conference of t h e American

&at Science Association, 1976.
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Apicuis in his Roman Cookery describes puddings, loaves, and
molded sausage l i k e products. P l i n y t h e Elder, Cat0 and Columella a l l
describe methods of meat preservation including i n s t r u c t i o n s f o r s a l t -
ing and pickling that are comparable t o and possibly a r e t h e predecessors
of our present methods of dry s a l t ham and of pickled pork items.

Sausage i s mentioned i n s c r o l l s , household records and i n t h e

record books of manor house stewards. For example, t h e inventory of a
9 t h Century Bavarian Abbey l i s t e d twenty smoked porkers with sausages.

Many of t h e slaughter customs and p r a c t i c e s a r e gcwerned by ancient

l a w s and rules. The French and Germans even i n t h e 13th Century had
inspection requirements f o r pork and beef products. The English
slaughter houses as e a r l y a s t h e 12th Century had separation of
products and s p e c i a l establishments f o r o f f a l mterial, t r i p e and
i n t e s t i n e s . In some instances t h e butcher received as part of h i s
f e e s ; the head, hide and o f f a l material. The o f f a l such as t h e
stomach, lungs, l i v e r , h e a r t and spleen and t h e i n t e s t i n e s became a
challenge and he prepared items such as puddings, loaves and sausage
t o properly u t i l i z e t h e s e items. This custom of t h e o f f a l t o t h e
butcher was practiced i n t h e 1920's i n country or farm slaughter i n
t h e U.S. The o f f a l c a l l e d pudding meat was s e t a s i d e f o r t h e neighbors
who helped with t h e s l a u g h t e r . In t h e past year a v i s i t t o a slaughter-
packer operation i n t h e near south c a r r i e d an o f f i c e s i g n regarding
custom slaughter as follows:--Beef: t h e hide, head and o f f a l belong t o
the p l a n t plus a 10 d o l l a r charge f o r slaughter and two d o l l a r handling
f e e a t t h e shipping dock.

Pemmican t h e meat i t e m of unusual s t a b i l i t y and n u t r i t i v e q u a l i t y

can be prepared from a v a r i e t y of a n i m l sources from bears t o c a r i b o
and i n t h e West it and jerky were t h e two meat items prepared from bison
t h a t aided i n t h e s u r v i a l of t h e aborigines. Pemmican and i t s counter-
p a r t s have been described by explorers, t r a p p e r s and f a c t o r s of t h e
Hudson Bay Company. This amazing product was prepared i n l a r g e q u a n t i t i e s
by t h e Plains Indians o r by t r i b e s t h a t followed t h e b u f f a l o ( b i s o n ) .
The tongue, hump r i b and i n t e s t i n e s of t h e b u f f a l o were considered
d e l i c a c i e s by the e a r l y t r a p p e r s . Survival of t h e t r a p p e r s and t r a d i n g
posts of t h e Hudson Bay Company was possible only by t h e judicious use
of pemmican. Large caches of pemmican have been recorded t o be used
by many of our e a r l y f r o n t i e r m i l i t a r y p o s t s .

.
D r E . N . Horsford i n h i s r e p o r t on t h e A r q Ration of 1864 gives
an i n t e r e s t i n g account of sausage as a means of improving t h e Use of

.
beef f o r feeding the Army. H e had spent s e v e r a l years i n Liebigs
Laboratory in Germany and on r e t u r n i n g t o t h e U.S w a s appointed a
professor a t Harvard with t h e s p e c i f i c assignment of t h e Application
of Science t o t h e Useful Arts i n 1847. I n h i s r e p o r t t o t h e U.S. Army
he mentioned that t h e Germans were q u i t e s k i l l e d i n sausage preparation
and u t i l i z e d a l l of t h e edible components of t h e animal. He l i s t e d t h e
necessary equipment f o r sausage manufacture and suggested means of
m k i n g c l o t h casings coated with g e l a t i n when other sources were not
 57
a v a i l a b l e . Sausage up t o 1864 was not a part of t h e A r q y r a t i o n .
However, many references t o sausages being supplied by s e t t l e r s
i n d i c a t e that t h e product w a s a popular item f o r supplementing t h e
r a t i o n s a t Army camps and p o s t s .

The National Provisioner, t h e meat industry journal published

an i n t e r e s t i n g review of t h e meat i n d u s t r i e s 60 years from 1891 t o
1951. Meat industry p r a c t i c e s , reproductions of advertisements f o r
equipment and sausage accessories were of s p e c i a l i n t e r e s t .

We have some meager evidence that sausage and meat s p e c i a l t y

items have been used Over t h e c e n t u r i e s and i n some instances p r i o r t o
w r i t t e n records. The vagueness of t h e p r i o r experience emphasizes t h e
need f o r b e t t e r record keeping of our e x i s t i n g methods. Some of t h e
b e s t d e s c r i p t i o n s or i l l u s t r a t i o n s of t h e p r i o r a r t has come from
church windows, margins of P s a l t e r s , Bibles with i l l u s t r a t i o n s ,
calendars, almanacs and s p e c i a l p a i n t i n g s .

In regard t o paintings t h e Dutch masters have added considerable

knowledge t o t h e slaughter and meat processing of t h e i r times. One of
t h e b e s t is The Butchers Shop (1551) by P i e t e r Aertszen of Amsterdam.
The p a i n t i n g is now a t t h e University of Uppsala, Sweden and i s most
v i v i d in depicting t h e products of that time. P i e t e r Aertszen, Dutch
p a i n t e r 1707-1573, known f o r h i s painting of homely scenes in which he
reproduced a r t i c l e s of furniture and cooking u t e n s i l s with g r e a t
f i d e l i t y . The importance t o us is t h e d e t a i l s of t h e shop and t h e
products, such a s t h e r i n g sausages and e s p e c i a l l y t h e linked sausage.
The double l i n k s of small sausage a r e c e r t a i n l y comparable i n appearance
with frankfurters and w e b e r s sold i n t h e c i t y m r k e t s i n Baltimore
during t h e 1920s.

The following few s l i d e s are offered f o r your judgements as t o what

can be obtained from church windows, old p r i n t s and t h e old masters i n
various museums

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brothwell, D. and P. Brothwell. Food i n Antiquity. Thomes and Hudson,

London. 1969.

Homer. The Odyssey. Rouse t r a n s . Mentor, New York. 1937.

Iabarge, M. W . A Baronial Huusehold of t h e Thirteenth Century. Barnes
and Noble, Inc. New York. 1965.

he N a t b n a l Provisioner The S i g n i f i c a n t Sixty . Chicago, January 1952.

Johann, E. Das Jahr des bktzgers. Kalle & Co., Weisbaden. 1957.
Horsford, E. N .
he Army Ration of 1864. Library Bullet i n #1.
Quartermaster Research and Engineering Command. U .S Army. Chicago. .
1961.
Clair, C . Kitchen and Table. Abelord and Schuman Ltd New York. 1964.
Butcher Shop 15th Century France (Eglise Butcher Shop
Notre-Dame de Semur en Auxois Vitrail) Late 18th Century Germany

Butcher Shop 15th Century Germany The Butcher Shop

(Nuremberg 1436) Aertszen, Peter (1551) Amsterdam
Sausage Preparation
18th Century Germany

Scroll 16th Century English

Anglo-Saxon Pig Slaughter

(Old English Church Window)
 60

.
Larry Borchert: D r Robert W. Bray is our f i n a l speaker
Associate Dean and DFrector of the University of Wisconsin Experiment
He is.
S t a t i o n . He took h i s B.S. and Ph.D. a t Wisconsin and h i s Masters a t
Kansas S t a t e .

Bob i s not regarded by most of u s a n an h i s t o r i a n . But when you've

been associated w i t h t h e industry as long as he has, and when you've
been s o intimately involved with s i g n i f i c a n t i n s t i t u t i o n s within t h a t
industry, such as t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l Livestock Exposition, t h e RMC, t h e
Amrican Meat Science Association, and Meat Science education, you
gradually become considered part of the h i s t o r y of that industry
i t s e l f . For that reason, w e have asked Dr. Bray t o present t h e
concluding paper of t h i s s e s s i o n e n t i t l e d , "The History of Meat-Based
Agriculture i n America .'I Bob.

R. W . Bray: Thank you, hrry, you c e r t a i n l y got me o f f t h e hook.

I am not a n h i s t o r i a n .