No. 4144 — Lithuanian Smoked Sausages
English historical translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 4144 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original methods and measures.
Take 10 pounds pork cleaned of sinew, 3 pounds beef and 2 pounds game such as roe deer or moose.
Slice the fresh meats as finely as possible, removing sinews, then chop further with a cleaver. The author says partly frozen meat is easier to cut but loses flavour and juiciness.
Grind 2 lots black pepper, 1 lot allspice, ½ lot each cloves, marjoram and bay leaf, 20 lots dry salt and 1 lot saltpetre, then sift and mix with the meat.
Pound with a wooden pestle and add ¾ glass spirits.
Add ½ pound upper pig fat from the nape, cut into thin long strips.
Firmly fill thick beef casings, pressing out air without tearing them, and tie.
Press between two boards under a light weight for two days in a heated room.
Move to a pantry and increase the weight gradually with boards and stones.
After two weeks remove from the press, hang in the cold, then smoke about two weeks, turning from end to end.
Hang in an attic draught for another two weeks; then clean and store in dry rye grain, hops, hay or ash.