GLAMORGAN SAUSAGES

SOURCE: JANE GRIGSON. THE OBSERVER GUIDE TO BRITISH COOKERY.

In his travel memoir, Wild Wales: Its People, Language, and Scenery, George Borrow recounts and lauds his breakfast at the Welsh coal-mining town of Y Gwter Fawr or present-day Brynnaman. The meal consisted of tea, buttered toast, and Glamorgan sausages, which were “not a whit inferior” to the skinless and meaty English Eppings of Sussex. What an outlandish comparison given to a vegetarian embodiment that bears no adulterated tad of mammalian flesh or casing! After all, Glamorgan sausages are finger-sized fritters of cheese, leeks, and breadcrumbs and only manifest the cylindrical shape of sausages with the aid of beaten eggs and a sheer breadcrumb coating. Originally, the preferred Welsh cheese came from the rare and critically vulnerable middle-horned Glamorgan cattle breed, which fortunately received a last-minute rescue in 1979 after being previously presumed extinct in the 1920s. Modern recipes call for Caerphilly sourced from the milk of Welsh dairies as a rich, tangy, and crumbly industrial equivalent. In the absence of Caerphilly, more accessible English cheeses like Lancashire or an aged white Cheddar will also work.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup/150 grams grated Caerphilly, Lancashire, OR aged white Cheddar cheese

1 cup/120 grams plus more bread crumbs, preferably fresh and homemade

2 tablespoons/12 grams finely chopped leeks, white and light green sections only

1 tablespoon/5 grams chopped parsley, preferably picked fresh on the same day for best results

1/2 teaspoon/1 gram thyme

1 teaspoon/2 grams ground mustard

3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Lard, butter, OR oil for frying

Specific Equipment

Large mixing bowl

Nonstick skillet or sauté pan

Small strainer lined with paper towels

Serves 4 to 6

Instructions

1. Combine cheese, 1 cup/120 grams breadcrumbs, leeks, parsley, thyme, ground mustard, salt, pepper, and egg yolks altogether in a large mixing bowl until the mixture is well-blended and forms a thick mass.

2. Take a small handful of the mixture and shape each handful into 8 thick OR 12 thin “sausages” by hand.

3. Dip each “sausage” in the egg white and coat them in excess breadcrumbs.

4. Melt the lard or butter or pour oil in a nonstick skillet or sauté pan over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Fry each sausage for 3 to 4 minutes, turning them frequently, or until the sausages have turned golden brown on all sides. Dry the sausages over a small strainer lined with paper towels to remove excess oil before transferring to a serving platter.