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Meat from France

Saucisse de Morteau / Jésus de Morteau IGPSaucisse de Morteau

Saucisse de Morteau is a raw pork sausage from Franche-Comté that is slowly smoked over resinous wood and sawdust and then cooked before it is eaten. It has no ripening step. Slow smoking is how it is preserved, and lactic starter cultures are only an optional addition.

Fully documentedMeat6 h

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specification sets upper limits for salt, wine and water, not a fixed recipe.
Lean porkLeg, shoulder, belly, loin or trimmings, from pigs fed a diet with whey[cdc-morteau-2017][eu-morteau-2019]
Pork cutting fat (hard fat)[cdc-morteau-2017]
Cooking saltat most 22 g/kg of mixture[eu-morteau-2019]
Wineat most 6.5 %[eu-morteau-2019]
Water or iceat most 3 %[eu-morteau-2019]
Saltpetre (E252) or nitrite salt (E250), sugars, ascorbate, rosemary extract[eu-morteau-2019]
Starteroptional lactic starter cultures (2017 specification)

Total time across the recorded steps: 6 h

Start
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What changes: Lean pork and hard fat are minced to a coarse grain

Step 1 of 6
Coarsely mince the lean pork and hard fat
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
coarse grain
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Saucisse de Morteau is a raw pork sausage from Franche-Comté that is slowly smoked over resinous wood and sawdust and then cooked before it is eaten. It has no ripening step. Slow smoking is how it is preserved, and lactic starter cultures are only an optional addition. Made in 6 steps over 6 h. The longest step, smoke slowly over resinous wood, takes at least 6 h (European Commission 2019) and runs at up to 40 °C (European Commission 2019). Salt is up to 2.2 % (European Commission 2019).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 6 hSet[eu-morteau-2019]Smoke slowly over resinous wood
Temperatureup to 40 °CSet[eu-morteau-2019]Smoke slowly over resinous wood
Saltup to 2.2 %Set[eu-morteau-2019]Add salt and the optional additions

What makes this one different

Saucisse de Morteau has no ripening step. It is smoked slowly with conifer wood, which gives its amber colour, and the specification says it is eaten only after cooking. Dry sausages such as Saucisson de Lacaune are instead warmed for fermentation and then dried for 10 to 45 days.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Jésus de MorteauA larger, less regular form, at least 65 mm across when filled, stuffed into the large intestine or the caecum.

Safety

A raw pork sausage that must be cooked before eating, because smoking alone does not reliably kill Trichinella worms (US CDC). The specification's 68 °C at the core applies to product sold cooked; for cooking raw ground meat at home the CDC gives at least 71 °C. Frozen product is kept at –18 °C or below.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The 2017 specification says that the production and eating of smoked pork charcuterie, this sausage included, is attested in Franche-Comté from the 18th century. It was entered in the EU register as a PGI by Commission Regulation (EU) No 751/2010 of 20 August 2010. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/221 of 14 February 2020 approved non-minor amendments to its specification.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [cdc-trichinellosis] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Trichinellosisgov
  2. [cdc-taeniasis] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, About Taeniasis (safe cooking temperatures)gov
  3. [eu-morteau-2009] European Commission 2009, Publication of an application, Saucisse de Morteau / Jésus de Morteau PGI (FR-PGI-0005-0556-26.09.2006), single document, Official Journal C 315, 23.12.2009 (CELEX 52009XC1223(01)), read via the EU Publications Office cellarspec
  4. [eu-morteau-2019] European Commission 2019, Publication of an application for approval of amendments, Saucisse de Morteau / Jésus de Morteau PGI (2019/C 344/06), Official Journal C 344, 11.10.2019, p. 11, read via the EU Publications Office cellarspec
  5. [cdc-morteau-2017] Cahier des charges de l'IGP 'Saucisse de Morteau' / 'Jésus de Morteau', approved by the order of 28 June 2017, Bulletin officiel du Ministère de l'agriculture n° 27-2017, sections 5.5 and 5.6gov
  6. [eu-reg-751-2010] Commission Regulation (EU) No 751/2010 of 20 August 2010 entering a name in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications (Saucisse de Morteau or Jésus de Morteau (PGI)), Official Journal L 220, 21.8.2010spec
  7. [eu-reg-2020-221] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/221 of 14 February 2020 approving non-minor amendments to the specification for 'Saucisse de Morteau'/'Jésus de Morteau' (PGI), Official Journal L 46, 19.2.2020spec