At last! A field guide to kielbasi!

Time Out Chicago provides a description of several kinds of kielbasa here. [Is 'kielbasi' even the right plural, or am I trying to Italian-ize the word?]

I have long wanted an explanation of what was what at the various Polish delis, but never had much success by myself given how hopelessly monolingual I am. I love 'most all encased meats, and wondered what I was missing out on. Cookie Monster once offered to go with me to Andy's and help me ask questions, but we'd never gotten around to it. Heather Shouse has published this list, complete with a helpful picture. ["The Kabanosy pikantne is distinguished by a white wing bar noticeable in flight . . ." oops, getting my field guides mixed up.]

Thanks, Heather, for doing this. I hope you're somewhere in our community to feel my appreciation.

Giovanna

Giovanna wrote: [Is 'kielbasi' even the right plural, or am I trying to Italian-ize the word?]

In Polish, the plural would be kiełbasy. Kielbasas is fine, though.

If you ever get the kabanos, be sure to try some of the drier varieties, too, if they have them in the deli (they'll sometimes have kabanosy in various stages of dryness) or--what our familes did--get a fresh one and hang it near the furnace for a week or two, until it gets dry enough to break without any twisting or aid of a knife. (You'll see it start "sweating" over the week or so as it dries and the flavors concentrate and intensify.) Think about halfway to jerky dryness. With some Polish rye bread, I really can't eat kabanos any other way.

Binko wrote:get a fresh one and hang it near the furnace for a week or two, until it gets dry enough to break without any twisting or aid of a knife.

Really? Next to the furnace? I would have thought somewhere a little cooler. You learn something new every day.

Those interested in sausage taxonomy will also want to consult "Help for the Kielbasa Conundrum" in last October's Sun-Times. In that article Leah A Zeldes covers twenty varieties of Polish sausages. Also see her companion article, "'Tis the Seasonings" in the same issue.

Thanks for the link to LAZ's article. I missed it in October.

Giovanna

Binko wrote:Really? Next to the furnace? I would have thought somewhere a little cooler. You learn something new every day.

My "next to" may be your "a safe distance from," so, to put it in quantitative terms, we would hang the kabanos about 1-2 feet from the furnace. The main heating duct ran maybe two inches from the top of the sausages. Our cellar gets to about 55 in the winter. I'm not sure what the temp is by the furnace, but it's not the cool, dark place you'd probably expect to hang sausages for a period of time. I'm guessing no more then 70/75, though. I imagine this speeds the drying process, but this is how it's been done in my family, at least, for at least 30 years. Some people just let it hang to dry in the kitchen, but, while it's aroma is wonderful, you don't necessarily want to be smelling it all day.