Our garlic saucisson: what happens between the meat and the cellar

The garlic saucisson is our best-seller. It's also one of the simplest products on paper — pork, salt, garlic — and one of the most demanding to do well. Here are the steps every piece that leaves our laboratory goes through.

The matter

It all starts with the choice of pork. We work with a few local farmers who raise their pigs outdoors, on feed we've vetted. The fat is firm, white, fragrant — and without good fat, no good saucisson. It's that simple.

On arrival, we bone, we partly trim the fat (but not too much: fat carries the flavour), then we coarse-grind. Fine grinding is for fresh sausages; dry saucisson asks for a grain you can see on the cut.

The seasoning

Our recipe is deliberately minimalist: salt, pepper, fresh garlic peeled and crushed that morning, a little sugar for balance. No added flavourings, no preservatives beyond what's technically required for food safety.

Fresh garlic is what separates us from an industrial saucisson. Garlic powder gives a flat taste that fades during drying. Fresh garlic evolves, gains depth, melds with the pork. You just have to accept that it takes a bit longer.

The stuffing

The seasoned mass rests for 24 hours in the cold room so the aromas spread. The next day, we stuff — meaning we fill the natural casings by hand, avoiding the air bubbles that would cause defects in drying.

This step is slower than what a machine would do, but it lets us control the calibre, the firmness, the regularity. Each saucisson is tied one by one.

The drying

This is where time does the real work. Our saucissons rest in the cellar for six to eight weeks depending on calibre. Temperature and humidity are checked every day. If the air is too dry, the skin contracts too quickly and the paste no longer dries to the core — a "case-hardening" defect. If the air is too humid, surface mould can tip from craft into defect.

Drying is a slow art. That's why it's become rare.

By the end of drying, the saucisson has lost about 30% of its initial weight. The paste is firm, slightly springy, the smell is clean, the garlic is integrated. That's what we're after.

The final check

Before a batch goes out, we taste. Always. One slice per calibre, eaten cold, no accompaniment. If the texture, the salt or the garlic isn't where it should be, the batch doesn't leave.

It isn't paranoid — it's the only way to guarantee consistent quality when working artisanal. A recipe isn't enough. You need someone who tasted yesterday, and remembers.

How to serve it

Garlic saucisson likes simplicity. A 3 mm slice, no more, no less. A lightly toasted country bread, fresh butter, and that's it. For an apéritif, you can pair it with gherkins and a glass of light red wine.

And if you have a little patience, take it out of the fridge ten minutes before serving. Cold hides aromas that room temperature brings back. Small detail, real difference.