Carly Findlay

Writer, speaker, appearance activist. Loving life!

  • About me
  • Say Hello – my book
  • Hire me!
  • Support Me
  • Contact
  • What is Ichthyosis?
  • Ichthyosis + appearance diversity resources
  • Disclaimer
  • Shop
  • Guest post contribution guidelines
  • Growing Up Disabled in Australia

Sausage making

June 19, 2010 Carly Findlay 6 Comments

Last weekend was spent at my parents’ house in the country. We had lots of great food. From earth to table. The food theme was not limited to my parents’ house.

It was a very cold morning last Sunday. Mum said we were going to her and Dad’s Italian friends’ house to watch some sausage making. She had little faith in my stamina, thinking I’d get bored from all the outdoorsiness. At one point Dad asked whether I wanted something more glamourous. I surprised them both, and even myself – I had a great time. I put on my journalist and photographer hats and did some research in the name of Tune into Radio Carly. The hats were only metaphors. If I had worn a hat, I would have been much warmer! I think my enjoyment also came from wearing sensible shoes for the trip, too.

As Faux Fuschia says, vegetarians, look away now!

It was such an educational experience. It was like real life Food Safari! Aside from the sausages, so much produce is grown and made on these peoples’ land. They provide vegies for the local markets. They make their own wines. I loved the self sufficiency of it all.

Mum and Dad’s friends do an annual pig slaughter and sausage making fest on the Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend. They have lots of their friends helping them out – they come from interstate for the event.

The pigs get slaughtered on Friday, the butchering is done on Saturday, sausage making is done on Sunday and clean up on Monday.

The sausages are made in a fully equipped shed.

This is a huge tray of pork mince for the sausages and salami. It is flavoured with chilli, salt and coriander. They mix the herbs and spices through it by hand.

The mince is cooked on the stove and taste tested to see whether more flavour needs to be added. Here’s what I ate. Tasted good.

These are natural sausage skins, soaking in water, ready to be filled with mince. The skins are tied with string.

The mince is held in a big machine and someone winds a handle to feed the mince through a pipe. The sausage skin is attached to the end of the pipe.

Here is a salami being made.

The salami was THIS BIG!

These are sausages. They can be cooked and eaten straight away.

And these are salamis. They will be hung to dry.

I learned that the salt and chilli preserve the mince so the salami keeps fresh. The sausages are pricked to remove the air so they don’t explode when cooking. I also learned that sausage making is a messy, cold job. I imagine being so self sufficient is tiring, but rewarding.

This is prosciutto being salted…

…and hung. Prosciutto is the Greek word for ham. You can find out more about it here.

This pot sits on a gas cooker. It’s filled with stock for a cabbage soup.

This home built wood stove was lovely.

Here are some goats that their neighbour keeps.

The goats had recently given birth to eight kids. The kids were high up on the hill away from the humans.

The goats eat everything in sight. And they make a different sound to a sheep.

They had a cute dog that looked a bit like Toby.

It was a fantastic morning and I thank Mum and Dad’s friends for letting me take photos and write about their tradition on my blog.

Share this:

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

food safari, homegrown food, italian food, sausage making, Uncategorized

Comments

  1. danielle says

    June 19, 2010 at 5:45 pm

    all i can say is im so jealous! what i wouldnt give to learn first hand like that! awesome blog post again young lady 🙂

    Log in to Reply
  2. Carly Findlay says

    June 19, 2010 at 5:51 pm

    Thank you so much! My parents make their own sausages too, but it's not as elaborate as this process. It was a great experience.

    Log in to Reply
  3. Sydney Shop Girl says

    June 19, 2010 at 7:37 pm

    Hi Carly,
    I loved this post. It was really interesting and you are right, just like Food Safari but better because you were at friends of the family's.

    SSG xxx

    Log in to Reply
  4. She Wore It Well says

    June 19, 2010 at 9:27 pm

    good on you for getting involved! my in laws make sausages and smoke meat, but it's all too hard for me!! x

    Log in to Reply
  5. Semi Expat says

    June 19, 2010 at 9:45 pm

    Wow – really interesting – looks like something out of a Jamie Oliver programme Carly! Hope you got to sample some of the food too! x

    Log in to Reply
  6. Faux Fuchsia says

    June 20, 2010 at 6:43 pm

    I LOVE this post!!!!!! Very Maeve from Food Safari x

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Socials

  • View tune.into.radio.carly’s profile on Facebook
  • View @carlyfindlay’s profile on Twitter
  • View carlyfindlay’s profile on Instagram
  • View sqoggle’s profile on YouTube

Book me to speak

Sign up for some love in your inbox

Listen to my podcast

Tune in

Enter your email address to receive new posts by email.

Archives

Popular Posts

  • July is Disability Pride Month
  • What's with the image descriptions on my social media posts?
  • The death of Offspring's Dr Patrick Reid. The TV death that stopped a nation.
  • Interview with Beth Bradfield from Malory Towers
  • Ichthyosis Awareness Month - The Girl Behind the Face: "Life’s rarely been split between either laughter or tears; both have existed simultaneously."
  • Stop apologising for your appearance
  • I am not white. My racial identity.
  • Miss You Love - an analysis of a beautful Silverchair song
  • “You’re very brave.” (I don’t have a choice.)
  • The Greatest Showman - upliftspirational exploitation and the able gaze

Copyright

The material on Tune into Radio Carly is copyright. The writing in this blog is by Carly Findlay unless otherwise stated. Most photos in this blog are by Carly Findlay unless otherwise stated. Please do not reproduce without permission from Carly Findlay. This blog represents my personal opinions and experiences. It does not reflect those of my employers'. The information I provide about ichthyosis is mostly based on personal experiences. Please seek medical advice or counseling before trying any new treatments I've written about. Where stared, I use affiliate links on this blog. By clicking them, I receive a small percentage of the purchase.

Copyright © 2022 · Daily Dish Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.