Moldova loves sausage: for breakfast, in a sandwich, in a salad, for the road. And we often choose it by colour or by price per kilogram. Meanwhile the most useful information is hidden on the label in small print. Let us learn to read it.

The kinds of sausage

Cooked sausage: ground meat in a casing that has been boiled. It is soft, even and tender, and slices thin. This covers the "doctor's" and "milk" sausages and frankfurters. It keeps for a short time.

Semi-smoked sausage: baked first, then smoked. Firmer than cooked, with a strong taste and the smell of smoke.

Cooked-smoked sausage: smoked after cooking. It keeps longer than plain cooked sausage.

Dry-cured sausage is not cooked but dried slowly in the air. It is firm and dry, slices thin and has the longest shelf life.

Liver sausage and sausages for frying are a separate group. Sausages for frying are sold raw and are fried or baked, as in the recipe for mici.

How to read the ingredients

The main rule: ingredients are listed in descending order of share. What stands first is in the sausage in the largest amount. If meat comes first, good. If it is water, starch or plant protein, there is noticeably less meat.

Look at which meat is named. "Beef", "pork", "poultry" are clear words. "Mechanically separated meat" means the meat was taken off the bones by a machine, it is cheaper and softer in structure. "Offal" means there is liver, heart and the like inside. That is not bad, but it is not the same as muscle meat.

If the pack states the meat content, compare. Where there is no figure, choose by the order of the ingredients.

What else is in there

Besides meat, sausages contain salt, spices, sugar, soy, starch, milk protein, stabilisers and additives with an "E" number. Additives on their own do not mean a bad product; they are there so the sausage keeps its shape and colour.

But the longer the list and the more meat substitutes in it, the less meat the sausage really holds. A simple short list is meat, salt, spices and a little sugar.

If the label says "sausage product" or "meat-containing product", it is not sausage in the strict sense, and you should not pay for it as sausage.

Here is what the catalogues have on sausages right now:

In the catalogues now: sausages and cold cuts

All offers

How to choose on the shelf

Look at the pack: the vacuum should fit tightly, with no bubbles, liquid or puffing. A puffed pack means the sausage has spoiled.

Look at the cut, if it can be seen. It should be even, without holes, spots and slime. In cooked sausage the colour is soft pink, in smoked darker, in dry-cured dark red with flecks of fat.

If the sausage is sold by weight, look at the casing: it should not be sticky, wrinkled or mouldy, although a white bloom on dry-cured sausage can be normal. Ask for it to be sliced in front of you and smell it at once.

Compare the price per kilogram. On sliced packs you also pay for convenience.

How to store sausage

Sausage must be kept in the fridge. Keep cooked sausage in its casing or in tight packaging, and eat it sliced within a few days. Smoked keeps longer, dry-cured longest of all.

Wrap the cut in paper or parchment, not only in film: that way the sausage breathes and does not turn slimy. Put it cut side down or wrap the cut separately.

Do not keep sausage next to strong-smelling food. After opening, move vacuum slices into a container.

If the sausage has turned slimy or smells sour, do not try to trim it: throw it away.

Sausage in cooking

Cooked sausage goes into Olivier and other salads, smoked into solyanka, onto pizza, into bakes and hot sandwiches. Dry-cured is sliced thin and served as a starter with cheese and wine.

Sausage goes well into mămăligă, into beans, into stews and into ghiveci. Smoked gives the dish aroma, and you need only a little.

For Olivier you need more than sausage, see the whole basket:

What it costs: Olivier salad ingredients: where to buy them cheaper

The whole set at the best prices142.54 leiFound 5 of 7 items

Where to get the set

  • Kaufland5 of 7 itemsMost items
    147.20 leiMissing: Eggs, Pickled cucumbers
  • METRO5 of 7 items
    444.60 leiMissing: Eggs, Pickled cucumbers
  • Alvi Market3 of 7 items
    131.80 leiMissing: Potatoes, Carrots, Eggs, Pickled cucumbers
  • Rogob3 of 7 items
    162.80 leiMissing: Potatoes, Carrots, Eggs, Pickled cucumbers
The whole basket

Checklist

  • Meat should be first in the ingredients, not water or starch.
  • Look for the meat content on the pack and compare.
  • Vacuum without bubbles, an even cut.
  • The price per kilogram, not per pack.
  • At home keep it in the fridge, with the cut covered in paper.
  • A sour smell or slime means throw it out.

And where sausage is cheaper right now is shown by a comparison across stores:

Where it is cheaper: sausages and cold cuts

All offers