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Ham Sausages, Smoked, German

Take five pounds of lean pork, minced as finely as possible. Mix with it a pound of fat, also minced, but not quite so small, and season it with half an ounce of pepper, the eighth of an ounce of saltpetre, and three ounces of salt. Add the seasoning gradually, while the meat is being chopped, and moisten with a quarter of a pint of claret or Burgundy. Let the meat stand for six or eight hours in a cool place. Fill the skins, properly prepared, as tightly as possible, pressing the meat down, and not leaving any portion of space unoccupied. To ensure this, they should be left for some hours, and then pressed down again. Wind a piece of new tape round them backwards and forwards once, tie it at the end, and hang the sausages in cool smoke for twelve days. They should be from ten to twenty inches in length. They are usually eaten raw, after being kept about a month; but, if it is preferred, they may be simmered gently in water for an hour either before or after smoking, but they must not quite boil. Time, two or three days to prepare. Probable cost, 1s. 4d. per pound.