Traditional Cumberland Sausage

Appearance & taste

The sausage is cylindrical along its full length and is coiled at the end into the characteristic spiral. Unlike other sausages, it is not linked. It has a coarse texture, is usually pink and shows visible flecks of seasoning. Its taste is above all peppery, from plenty of pepper and a strong herb flavour. According to the specification, it used to be more highly seasoned than other sausages; today it is milder, but still spicier than other types of sausage in the United Kingdom.

Size and weight are not prescribed. The sausage is sold by weight, packed or unpacked at the meat counter, in butchers’ shops, supermarkets and delicatessens. The specification requires at least 15 % protein, at most 20 % fat and at most 11 % connective tissue.

Production

The sausage consists of at least 80 % boneless pork, including pork fat. Added to this are at most 8 % rusk, added as a wheat dough, which may also contain potato starch, rice flakes, spelt or soya granules, at most 13.5 % water or ice and at most 4.5 % seasonings. Only white and black pepper, salt, thyme, sage, nutmeg, mace and cayenne pepper are allowed; each butcher chooses the blend. The meat may come from outside Cumbria but may not contain skin, cartilage, rind, offal or mechanically separated meat.

The meat is minced by hand or in a mincer; the holes of the mincer plate must be at least 4.5 mm so that the coarse texture is achieved. Mixing is often done by hand or with a mixing machine; a bowl chopper is not allowed because it would chop the meat too finely. The mixture is filled into natural pork casing with a sausage filler; the casing is placed on the filling nozzle by hand and the filling speed is controlled by hand. Mincing, seasoning, mixing, filling and shaping take place in Cumbria.

Origin & history

According to the specification, popular tradition has it that the sausage came to Cumbria with German miners in the 16th century; according to one theory, these miners chose the shape in the time of Elizabeth I in memory of the sausages of their homeland. Originally the sausage was made from the meat of the native Cumberland pig, a cross of the Large White that was smaller and heavier and had more back fat. The breed died out in the early 1960s. Until the 1950s most farms and many households kept a few pigs for their own use and, after slaughter in autumn, used all the parts, including as sausage.

According to the specification, trade with America and Africa made Whitehaven the third-largest port in the United Kingdom in the 18th century. This brought black pepper, ginger and nutmeg to the region, and many Cumbrian specialities such as Cumberland Sausage, Grasmere Gingerbread and Kendal Mint Cake are based on spices or sugar. Records from the middle of the 19th century show that the sausage was hung up together with ham and bacon to half-dry; afterwards it could be cooked or eaten sliced like salami. The fact that it was not linked and had a large diameter prevented it from drying out while hanging.