Swine-Free Sausage and Cured Meats

Published on Wednesday, February 1, 2012, by Sarah Perry / Edit Post

fame da lupo adores cured meats like salumi and embutido—all delicious pork products. Here’s the problem: fame da lupo is married to a non-pork-eater!

This has created a food-shopping dilemma for fame da lupo because it's hard to find great sausage or cured meat that isn't made with pork. "I don't consider the chicken/turkey sausages to be particularly good, though they come through in a pinch," fame da lupo says. "Beef sausage is too lean, doesn't have that unctuous fatty quality pork sausage does, and thus comes across a bit heavy-handed (I'm thinking the beef kielbasas and the like)."

But hounds have some nonswine workarounds. Kooper says the Italian cured beef known as bresaola is amazing, and Kooper has even enjoyed versions of bresaola made from duck and salmon.

Elk and venison sausages are delicious, adds LauraGace—they’re spicy, gamy (in a good way), and peppery. But be aware that pork fat is commonly added to deer and elk sausage, julesrules says, so be sure to check the contents before feeding it to a friend who doesn't partake in pork.

Finally, the North African lamb-based merguez is becoming more widely available in the United States. LauraGrace has even found it at Whole Foods.

Discuss: Great non-pork sausage, cured meats?

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  • If you live near Portland, OR, go to Sheridan Fruit, where they have several house-made chicken and turkey sausages, including some that are very low in fat that are amazingly tasty. I have tried several due to a mother on an extreme low-fat diet, and they are so good that I have made pizza and lasagna from them. Also, while you are there, check out the complete selection of bulk grains, flours...+READ

    If you live near Portland, OR, go to Sheridan Fruit, where they have several house-made chicken and turkey sausages, including some that are very low in fat that are amazingly tasty. I have tried several due to a mother on an extreme low-fat diet, and they are so good that I have made pizza and lasagna from them. Also, while you are there, check out the complete selection of bulk grains, flours and spices, and their cheese varieties, not to mention the fruit, produce and many other ethnic specialties. I only make it into Portland occasionally, but I carry a cooler, ice and grocery bags expressly for the visit. This is not a commercial; I have no association with them, but the only two places I could actually happily inhabit for months in the Portland area are Uwajimaya in Beaverton and Sheridan Fruit.-COLLAPSE

  • Thanks for correcting us on that JungMann, that error was introduced in copyediting, and has now been fixed.

    Deborah from CHOW

  • I think embutido in this instance refers to the Spanish word for charcuterie, not meatloaf.