Planes, trains, automobiles, boats and sausages

A busy weekend. Arrived in France and, as mentioned yesterday, bought some sausages for a barbeque, just to see what the country had to offer. My ignorance was such that I had no idea of you could, in fact, purchase sausages in France. Black pudding, 'Bourdin Noir', white pudding, 'Bourdin Blanc' and 'Saucisson Porc', although I have no idea what that was (I know what it means but I had no idea what was in it). All the basic fare and nothing special sought for. I did pop into the local butchers in St. Yrieix La Peche but he only had a limited offering. I knew that Intermarche had their own butchers so went there instead. I do realise that this exercise is equivalent to a foreigner visiting the UK to rate our wide and varied selection of sausages and buying some walls bangers and an Asda value pack then judging the entire British pork industry on the results so, please rest assured there was no judgement.

I think it is fare to say that I now know the lowest common denominator for the sausages sampled and will hopefully ask advice prior to returning in the near future. There is an annual farmers market near to my parent's house in a quaint, stereotypical French village, Segur-le-chateau, where all manner of local produce is sold, from meats and fish to sausages, bacon and vegetables. After they have been purchased from the local farmers at their stalls it is then possible to cook them on the charcoal fires and barbecues that fill the land behind the auberge in the village centre. This takes place every Monday in July, I believe, and will be more representative of what is on offer in France.

The 'Sausage Trail' begins in earnest in July with a visit planned to, in and around the South-East of England. I have nominally pencilled in a few visits and will endeavour to expand on these with any help offered gratefully received.

As I write I'm sitting waiting for the ferry to slip and proceed back to Portsmouth. There is no power on earth that would be able to force me to sample the food currently on display in the canteen.

Update:

Just realised that I didn't give a basic summary of my sausage experience. As I promised I won't judge on the basis of a bag of supermarket sausages but what is clear is that the French like their 'Bourdin Noir' somewhat softer in texture and with more blood than our domestic variety, there were also less juicy lumps of fat and a more solid skin. The 'Bourdin Blanc' was bland with a spongy texture and seemed to contain more rusk than anything. The French 'banger' was pretty good, not a very high meat content I would guess but I liked it.

One day I will learn how to rate a good sausage!!