Scottish Scran 1 - Square Sausage

Well - as it says on the profile, I'm a Scots lass living in England... and being the experimental type I have cooked many different cuisines over the years. However, one nation that I just haven't made much of an effort with is my own!

So I am starting a new challenge - to blog something Scottish every week or two, to prove it isn't all about deep-fried mars bars, pizza crunch and heart disease...

This will be a learning experience for me - I don't know nearly as much about Scotland's cuisine as I should - but I am looking forward to finding out!

The first recipe on my list is my favourite ever Scottish foodstuff... square sausage, sliced sausage or lorne sausage - depending on where you're from. A slice on square (a slice of plain Scottish bread, with a slice of square sausage, and a daub of broon sauce) is the ultimate morning-after breakfast, and something I look forward to (almost!) as much as seeing my family at Christmas!

Right, so I couldn't get Scottish plain bread, but ciabatta - with its chewy texture and savoury taste makes a decent alternative!

It's an easy recipe - mixture of ground beef and pork, mixed with breadcrumbs and spices, cut into a handy square shape, just right for putting on a roll. It also forms the basis of my family's own version of stovies - recipe to follow!

Square Sausage

Sliced and Ready for Storage

• 2 lbs minced beef - not too lean!
• 2 lbs minced pork
• 1 tsp onion salt
• 2 tsp pepper, freshly ground
  
• 2 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
  
• 4 tsp coriander berries, toasted and ground
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 cups bread crumbs
• Water as required

Right... I thought about doing this in my mixer... but there was just too much of it!! So - wash your hands really well, roll your sleeves up to the elbow, and be prepared to get stuck right in...

Mix the breadcrumbs with the spices and salt. Then using your hands, combine the two meats reasonably well. Mix both the breadcrumb mix and and the meat together and combine really well. If the mixture is too dry add a little water - no more than a cup though.


Now you want to pack it into the container that will shape your final 'sausage'. I used a weighing tray - measuring about 25cm * 18cm * 8cm. I lined it with clingfilm first to make it easier to remove, then packed the mixture into it as much as I could. There was some of the mixture left over - I'll tell you what I did with that later!

Cover the mixture tightly, put a weight on top, and put into the freezer for at least an hour - no more than 2! To weight it I used a hardback book, with a

Remove from the freezer and turn out from the container. Cut the block in half lengthways, then use a really sharp knife to cut slices. I don't think my breadcrumbs were fine enough - I think if they had been finer/dryer the slices would have stayed formed slightly better.

I decided to freeze my sausage in packs of four slices, separated by greaseproof paper, then wrapped in film - this makes it really easy to take some out.

Oooops - so maybe my slicing needs perfecting!

Ps. in case you were wondering about the title - scran is Scottish for food!

That I may be blest wi’ health, And scran.
Robert Wilson, Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1824)

Related Posts