'Asban
Region: Tunisia
Category: Sausage, Grilled Sausage, Mixed
Season: Winter
Difficulty: Labor Intensive
In Islam, as in Judaism, the
name of God is invoked when an animal is slaughtered. It is a sacramental act and the blood, which
 (Tunisia) (2)CRLO.jpg)
is the essence of life given by God, must be returned to the earth. For this reason there are no blood sausages
nor very rare steaks in the Muslim world. Lamb was the most common meat in Tunisia centuries ago as well as
today and when the animal was slaughtered, every portion was used except the
blood. The innards were often used by
the poor, who rarely could afford the better, tenderer cuts of meat, to make a
variety of sausages and preserved meats such as this sausage called 'aṣbān (pronounced us-BAAN)
transliterated sometimes as osban or usban in French cookbooks. It is an offal sausage that the French call andouillette, and it is made from dawwāra, the viscera of lamb or kid. The sausages are sometimes stuffed in a small
section of reticulum, the second stomach of ruminants, cud-chewing
animals. 'Aṣbān always contains some grain, usually barley,
couscous, rice, or, rarely, coarse bulgur.
My recipe uses hog casing rather than stomach. Although pork products would never be used by
a Muslim sausage-maker in a Tunisian recipe, I call for pork caul fat and
casing only because it is very difficult to find lamb caul fat or casing,
unless you have a kosher/halal butcher in your neighborhood. Then again, all the lamb products called for
in the recipe are most likely to be found at an ethnic butcher. Sausages freeze very well. See the entry all about making sausages
before beginning.
[photo: Clifford A. Wright]
Yield: Makes 5 to 6 pounds
Preparation Time: 2 hours
5 pounds lamb or mutton tripe, rinsed well, very tough portions cut out
10 ounces lamb or pork caul fat, chopped
6 ounces lamb kidney, with any fat that is attached
6 ounces lamb tongue, gristly portion cut off
6 ounces lamb liver, trimmed of arteries
½ pound lamb heart, trimmed of arteries
½ pound liyya (mutton or lamb fat)
Leaves from 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
Leaves from ½ pound Swiss chard, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1/3 cup short-grain rice, such as Arborio rice
2/3 cup (about ¼ pound) canned chickpeas, drained and rinse
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon harīsa (see link below), dissolved in a few tablespoons water
1 tablespoon tābil (see link below)
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon ground red chile pepper, any variety
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground dried rose petals (optional)
½ teaspoon dried mint leaves
3 tablespoons salt
20 feet lamb or hog casing
1. Place the cleaned tripe in a large pot with water to cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook just below a boil until softened but not completely tender, about 3 hours. Drain. Place the tripe in a food processor and process in 4 or 5 short pulses, so it looks chopped. Remove to a large bowl and toss with the caul fat. Process the kidney, tongue, liver, heart, and lamb or mutton fat, one at a time, with the same short bursts, transferring each to the same bowl as you finish.
2. In another large bowl, put the parsley, Swiss chard, onion, rice, chickpeas, olive oil, harīsa, tābil, black and red chile, cinnamon, rose petals, mint, and salt and mix together well. Add to the processed lamb and toss the mixture with your hands until very well blended. Transfer the sausage mixture to a large colander, place over a bowl, and leave to drain of excess liquid in the refrigerator overnight.
3. Open one end of the casing, fit it over the faucet in your kitchen sink, and place the remainder of the casing in a medium-size bowl in the sink. Turn the water on gently to wash out the casings. The casings are sold cleaned, you are merely washing away preserving salts and residue. Now you are ready to start stuffing.
4. Affix one end of the casing over the funnel attached to the sausage stuffing attachment of a stand mixer or meat grinder. Push the entirety of the casing onto the length of the funnel (it will contract and fit fine), leaving about 2 inches dangling from the end. Tie this end in a double knot.
5. Turn the grinder or mixer on and as the sausage stuffing begins to flow into the casing, it will push the casing off the funnel. Have a large bowl or platter ready to catch the sausages. Twist or tie off with kitchen twine in 3-inch segments to make links. Do not over-stuff the sausage, otherwise it will burst, either then and there or during cooking. Also be careful that the sausage stuffing enters the casing continuously and evenly and that no air bubbles develop. If air bubbles do occur it is better either to cut the sausage at that point and start a new one, by tying the end off, or to prick the air bubbles with a toothpick.
6. If you are going to use these sausages for couscous, then poach for 10 minutes in water to cover that is just shimmering on the surface and then freeze or use for couscous. If you are going to consume them as is, then poach gently for 40 minutes.
Variation:
Note:
Posted: 10/25/2015
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