_To make Sausages._—Sausages are generally put into the thoroughly cleaned skins of the intestine of the pig. But they are sometimes preferred without this covering. Take two pounds of fresh pork, using both fat and lean in equal proportions, but avoiding the coarse fat from the inside of the pig. Mince the pork as finely as possible, and then pass it twice through the mincing machine. Blanch and mince two dessert-spoonfuls of sage, add four ounces of freshly made bread-crumbs, and season with pepper and a dust of salt. Mix all thoroughly together, and keep the sausage-meat in a cool place. When wanted do not use skins, but form the sausage-meat into small round cakes three-quarters of an inch thick, flour them, and fry them in butter from ten to fifteen minutes, turning them often.
_To cook Sausages._—This recipe is for sausages which have been put into skins by the sausage machine. Plenty of time must be allowed for cooking the sausages, for if they are done too quickly the skins will burst. About ten minutes is enough over a low fire, the skins having been well pricked over first. The sausages are much better if they are first pricked, then put into hot water and brought slowly to the boil, simmered for five minutes, drained, and finally fried in bacon fat till they are brown. Serve round a pile of mashed potato, or shape the mashed potato into long ovals, fake them on a buttered baking-tin, and when very hot, lay the potato ovals on a hot dish, and put a sausage on each.
_Ham._—Tastes vary much as to the best size of a ham; some people like a York ham weighing thirty or forty pounds, others prefer a foreign ham not exceeding a few pounds in weight. Monsieur de St. Simon, writing in 1721, said he could never forget the delicious flavour of the little Spanish hams he had once tasted near Burgos. The pigs which furnished these hams lived on the flesh of vipers, and in our own day the hams of the little black pigs of North Carolina, which feed on rattlesnakes, are esteemed an especial delicacy. The peculiar flavour of a Westphalian ham is due to the smoke of a fire of juniper branches over which the ham is hung for three weeks.
It was formerly the custom to put a thick coat of mortar over the inside of a cured ham to keep out the air, and to prevent the mildew, or “rust,” which damp is sure to cause. A better way is to cover the underneath portion of the ham (where the knife has been used), and also the knuckle-end of the bone, with a paste made of flour and water. This paste entirely prevents any “rusting,” or, in other words, the minute fungus caused by damp.