The History of Sausage - By a British Barbecue Company

"SAUSAGE HISTORY"
Oscar Enterprises

"The manufacture of sausages began over two thousand years ago, and it is still a growing industry. While some of its basic practices are almost as old as civilisation, the industry is constantly adopting new developments in processing in the light of later scientific and technical knowledge.

"Sausage has been an important item in man's diet for twenty centuries. The first recognisable mention of this meat food is found in a Greek play called 'The Orya,' or 'The Sausage,' written about 500 B.C. Thereafter the word for sausage occurs with frequency in Greek writings. It's also a favourite food of the Romans, at one time becoming so popular for festive occasions that it was placed under the ban of the early church.

"The modern word 'sausage' is derived from the Latin ~salsus~, meaning salted. The term was probably originally applied to cured or salted meat generally. In the days of old people did not have refrigeration to preserve their meat and so making sausage was a way of overcoming this problem. ..."

The Lemming lives in a mostly German-Irish community in central Minnesota, where we appreciate sausage - and beer. And more sausage. And sauerkraut.

The Lemming is getting hungry.

The Lemming notes that this history of sausage does not mention exactly how sausage was originally made. Since it's on a commercial website, dealing with food: there's probably a good reason for that.

And don't get the Lemming started on the subject of haggis.