A Sausage's Journey
When does BLT season start?
If you haven’t become a paid subscriber yet, please consider it. The money goes straight to paying freelancers a good rate - much better than most publications. And if not that, click on the heart icon above so I know you’re reading! Please enjoy the article below by Giulia Alvarez-Katz.
Thinking about: rearranging my ice cream rankings; the ground flax and water substitute for eggs seems to be working; and can we name the official start of BLT season. It’s not the first day of summer. Maybe it’s July 4th. August 1st? Your thoughts, please. -Katherine
Oh, The Places Longaniza Will Go
By Giulia Alvarez-Katz
When a soldier in ancient Rome brought a local sausage with him on deployment, did he know that sausage would make its way across oceans? Could he have imagined that some centuries later one could eat it in a sandwich in the Andes, on sticks in the Philippines, or mashed up with a fruit he’d never seen on islands he didn’t know existed? Perhaps not, but introducing the tubed meat known as lucanica to the rest of the Roman Empire catalyzed a sausage journey no one could have predicted. How could a single meat product travel so far?
Lucanica, originally a smoked sausage from southern Italy (modern-day Basilicata), was eventually enjoyed across the Roman Empire. Historical record suggests that soldiers and enslaved Romans were largely responsible for its spread. Lucanica was smoked, cured, or dried, so it could travel long distances safely. This shelf life meant inclusion in military rations.
To the east, lucanica began to take on more salami-like qualities. The Greek adaptation of lucanica (loukaniko) is cooked fresh; Greece’s neighbors Albania and Bulgaria call it llukanik and lukanka, which resemble Calabrian ‘nduja, given its flattened shape; in Croatia and Ischia it’s called luganiga or luganega, can be served fresh or cured, and includes cinnamon. Arab culinary influences in Spain affected how lucanica, here called longaniza, was prepared: recipes and seasonings vary across Spanish regions, but generally it’s thin and packed with paprika.
Through the Columbian Exchange, these sausages (and the ingredients and knowledge used to prepare them) appeared in Latin America, first on Hispaniola (today’s Haiti and Dominican Republic), then Mexico, and later into the Amazon and Andes. In the Dominican Republic, pigs and sour Seville oranges from Spain became longaniza ingredients. In Chile, the famous longaniza de chillán is cooked fresh and called choripán when served in a marraqueta (sandwich bun). In Mexico, longaniza explodes with garlic and paprika, and is made deep red using achiote seeds. This red version made its way across another much larger ocean.
The Spanish colonized the Philippines just 44 years after colonizing Mexico, establishing a direct trade route (known as the Manila Galleon) between Acapulco and Manila. Filipino culture and geography is markedly different from that of Spain or Latin America, which affects how longaniza (here, longganisa) developed. Filipino cuisine tends to the sweet and sour, and longganisa often includes coconut or sugarcane vinegar (sukang iloko) and brown sugar. Of the many types of longganisa, two stand out as the best-known and most widely available across the country’s 7,000 islands: Longganisa de Recado, sour and garlicky, and Longganisa de Hamonado, a milder, sweeter variety. Today, stalls all over the Philippines sell pinky-sized sweet longganisa served on skewers, grilled to order.
Observing the many mutations of a single product is like observing a centuries-long game of telephone. Where will lucanica go next? 🌍
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I think July 4th is a good start to BLT season! Growing up in Arkansas, we just called them bacon and tomato sandwiches. I still do , and I rarely add the lettuce. Which frustrates my Yankee hubby!
BLT season starts when the best tomatoes start appearing! Early to mid July seems about right.