Kiełbasa pradziada z Dukli

Appearance & taste

The sausage looks like a typical sausage ring. The individual sausages are 35 to 40 cm long on average, up to 55 cm depending on the casing, and 25 to 35 mm thick; in natural beef casing 50 to 54 mm. They are tied together at both ends. The casing is clean, slightly wrinkled, dry and slightly glossy, dark brown to cherry red.

The sausage is coarsely ground. When cut, the pieces of meat in a natural light pink and the somewhat darker, brownish pink liver cubes can be clearly seen. It is compact and firm and tender because of the liver, but does not fall apart into small pieces when sliced; only very thin slices under 5 mm may fall apart. It tastes strongly of well-seasoned pork with some pepper, garlic and distinct notes of roasted pork liver. Depending on the smoking wood, there is also a light taste and aroma of sweet or sour cherries.

Production

The sausage consists of about three quarters class I pork and one quarter fresh pork liver, both exclusively from pigs of the Puławska breed or its crosses. It is seasoned with curing salt, dried garlic and ground black pepper, to which some coarse white pepper may be added. The liver goes into the sausage in cubes with sides of 2 to 4 cm. According to the specification, the sausage meat is mixed many times longer than for other sausages so that the large pieces hold together. The meat of Puławska pigs contains more intramuscular fat, which holds the mass together.

After filling, the sausages rest and are then treated in three stages in smokehouses with a firebox offset to the side: drying, smoking proper and baking. The wood used is beech and alder with an addition of sweet or sour cherry wood. The sausages then cool in the air and are chilled. All steps take place in the municipality of Dukla.

Origin & history

Dukla received Magdeburg rights in 1358. The butcher’s trade there goes back to the 16th century; unlike in the surrounding area, people in Dukla kept not only sheep and goats but also pigs. Between 1920 and 1939 the guild in Dukla had eight butchers and sausage makers as members. The sausage used to be called “Kiełbasa dukielska” as well. The name “Great-grandfather’s sausage” does not refer to a particular person but points to the long tradition.

Originally the meat and liver of primitive, locally bred pigs were used, and from the beginning of the 20th century spotted crosses with Berkshire pigs. These gave rise to the Gołębska breed, which was renamed Puławska in 1951. The sausage owes its cherry wood to the many cherry trees of the area; a description of the Krosno district from 1898 lists Dukla among the places with numerous orchards. According to the specification, the oldest surviving recipe for the sausage is a manuscript from 1896. After the Second World War the number of butchers and their activity declined; only when private trade became possible again was the sausage made and sold again according to the old recipe.