Gornooryahovski sudzhukГорнооряховски суджук

Appearance & taste

The Sudzhuk has the shape of a flattened cylinder bent into a horseshoe. It is 35 to 40 cm long and up to 40 mm thick, and its ends are closed with twine and tied together. The smooth casing fits tightly around the filling and is evenly covered with dry, white, powdery noble mould that does not penetrate inside.

The sausage is firm, elastic and uniform throughout, and the cut surface is oval. The meat is marbled, red to dark brown with white pieces of fat, without cavities, sinews, a dark rim or grey spots. The taste is pleasantly piquant and moderately salty, and the aroma is marked by pepper, cumin and winter savory. The Sudzhuk contains at most 45 % water and 4.5 % salt. It is intended to be eaten as it is and is sold whole, unpackaged or individually vacuum-packed.

Production

Only fresh beef is used. According to the specification, its high glycogen content makes the Sudzhuk juicy and gives it its flavour and red to brownish colour. The meat is selected and processed so that it contains less than 10 % connective tissue and less than 30 % fat. It is cut and minced through a plate with kidney-shaped holes, which also holds back the sinews.

The natural casings are washed out under running water, desalted and soaked until they are elastic again, and then filled under pressure. Immediately afterwards the casing is twisted every 45 cm and cut through at these points. Each piece is shaped by hand: both ends are tied tightly with twine and knotted into a ring. The sausages are threaded onto wooden sticks by the twine loops.

First they ripen for about 48 hours at 22 to 25 °C with constant ventilation while the humidity falls from 100 to 85 %, until the mass has become firm and red. Then they dry for 10 to 20 days at 15 to 18 °C and 85 to 70 % humidity. During this time they are pressed once or twice with metal presses on wooden boards, which gives them their horseshoe shape and oval cross-section. The white noble mould forms naturally in the drying rooms and also passes from the boards to the sausages. According to the specification, it prevents the fat from going rancid and a grey rim from forming.

Origin & history

The area is flat to hilly and lies at up to 199 m. It has a temperate continental climate with an annual average of 11.5 °C and 71 % humidity; the wind is light, mainly from the north-east and north-west. According to the specification, these conditions have produced a mixture of moulds of the genera Penicillium and Aspergillus typical of the area, which forms the white coating. In the past, the sausages were stacked in heaps for ripening and covered with mats so that they warmed up, and for drying they were hung on long sticks under the eaves on the north side of the workshops. Today ventilation systems maintain these conditions all year round.

By a decree of 1538, Sultan Suleiman I granted the lands and the taxes on Sudzhuk production in what is now Gorna Orjachowiza to the foundation of Rüstem Pasha. In the 19th century the town, with its markets, became one of the largest trading centres of the Ottoman Empire of the time. During the Bulgarian National Revival the sausages were called “Sara” and “Smarlama”, and after the liberation of Bulgaria “Gornoorjachowski” and “dry beef sausage”. In many families the recipe was handed down from father to son; the craft required a master craftsman’s certificate and a special licence.

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century the workshops moved from the south-west to the eastern edge of the town, where the producers had found favourable winds for drying and for the mould coating. The trade in Sudzhuk was one of the reasons for the international trade fair held in the town from 1922 to 1932. After 1940 the present name became established; separate production rules were published in 1975 and 1983. Since 2007 there has again been a fair for the Sudzhuk at the annual town festival, and in Gorna Orjachowiza it is also traditionally given as a gift to hosts.