The Hirshon Welsh Glamorgan Sausage

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Glamorgan Sausage Image Used Under Creative Commons License From lavenderandlovage.com

Citizens, thanks to some savvy tech help from my good friend Andi, we have solved the issue of the image bug that was wreaking havoc on our last few shared Facebook images. To celebrate, today’s recipe is from Andi’s storied homeland. 🙂

Hailing from the glorious and ancient land of Wales, this is a truly delicious recipe with a dual identity. Despite the use of the word “Sausage”, the Welsh Glamorgan actually uses no meat whatsoever – it instead uses cheese (usually Welsh Caerphilly cheese), leeks, mustard, herbs and spices all bound with egg yolk as the filling. The outside is then rolled in bread crumbs for the “casing”. So – if you’re an ovo-lacto vegetarian, congratulations as you can happily enjoy this sausage guilt-free!

Glamorgan sausage (Welsh: Selsig Morgannwg) was first mentioned by George Borrow in his acclaimed book, Wild Wales, written in the 1850s. They were originally made with Glamorgan cheese, which is no longer available – but Caerphilly cheese is a direct descendant of the old traditional Glamorgan cheese recipe and provides the same general texture and flavor. Caerphilly can be found in better cheese shops in the U.S., but I recommend a substitute if you can’t get it.

My recipe is basically a traditional version, but I do enjoy the taste of sage in this, so I’ve added it. Most (but not all) traditional recipes don’t use it, so feel free to omit the herb if you prefer to go old-school. I’ve also tweaked the herb and mustard balance to my preference to create a truly delicious version of this classic!

For those with a fondness for languages – Welsh Gaelic will truly tax the tongue of the uninitiated. It uses many consonants, few vowels and the words can get very long indeed. By way of example: one town in Wales has the longest name in the world…

…wait for it…

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Andi can rattle this one off like it’s nothing – my tongue on the other hand requires major surgery to untangle the knots this name causes to the non-native Welsh speaker. Wales is one of my favorite places on Earth and I hope someday those of you who aren’t from the UK have the opportunity to experience this wonderful land for yourselves – and perhaps learn some Gaelic yourselves in the process! 🙂

Battle on – The Generalissimo

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½ stick of salted butter
¾ cup breadcrumbs
A heaping ¾ cup of crumbled Caerphilly cheese (strongly preferred) or strong cheddar cheese
1 large leek, sliced in half, well-washed between the layers to remove sand and with the dark green part removed – then slice the white and light green parts only
1 ½ tbsp chopped fresh parsley
½ tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage (optional – if not using, use the same amount of fresh thyme instead)
1 tsp vegetable bouillon powder
1 ½ tsp mustard powder
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
½ tsp paprika
salt (very little!) and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 eggs, yolks and whites separated
2 tbsp milk
½ cup flour

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Melt half the butter in a frying pan and sweat the leeks over a medium heat until well softened. Season well with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Mix a bit more than ½ of the breadcrumbs with the paprika, bouillon powder, thyme, sage and parsley and beat the egg yolks and mustard together. Crumble the cheese into the breadcrumb mixture and stir in the leeks, followed by the egg yolks and mustard. Season, mix well and add the milk.

Shape into six sausages (damp hands will make this easier) and chill for half an hour.

Heat the oven to 350F. Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites until frothy. Put the egg whites, flour and remaining breadcrumbs on separate plates, and roll each sausage in the flour, then whites, then breadcrumbs to coat.

Melt the remaining butter in the pan over a medium-high heat. When hot, add the sausages and cook until just golden on each side. Transfer to a baking sheet and cook for about 20 minutes, until richly golden. Serve immediately with onion gravy and mashed potatoes or try with some spicy fruit chutney.