The classical and ancient Greeks had sausages. Just thought I'd mention that piece of trivia.
How do we know this? Because one of the main characters in The Knights by Aristophanes is a sausage seller who plies his trade in the agora.
However the earliest known mention of sausage is in the Odyssey, believe it or not. At one point our heroes make sausages from pork stomach filled with blood and fat. This is described as a tasty meal that the warriors can't wait to tuck into.
Personally, I'd run away screaming. I am not keen on blood sausage.
4 comments:
Ancient Greek sausage? Fantastic. Have any archeologists speculated what it might have tasted like?
Hi Stephanie,
It probably tasted like German Blutwurst.
If you want to reproduce it, take the inner intestine of a pig or goat (you might want to slaughter the pig or goat first), tie off one end, stuff the animal's blood and fat in the other end, add some fenugreek and other Mediterranean spices as you go, and then roast over a campfire.
Forgive me if I can't make it to dinner.
That sounds like an ancient Greek version of the dish, still served in Celtic lands - Ireland and Scotland - black pudding. A dark sausage made with pigs blood, served usually with fried eggs. This ancient recipe sounds a bit nicer, with the fat and herbs to at least lighten it up.
I was fed black pudding once, as a child, but it made me very ill. Everyone else, I am bound to say, was eating it and had a good time.
I have a recipe from ancient Rome to heartily recommend Columella Salad. At this link. Totally yum. The only thing is, be careful to soak the feta cheese in cold water, first, otherwise it is too salty.
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/233472.html
Thanks Orange,
Those Roman recipes look very yummy! We'll have to try some.
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