Meats and Sausages
Ossenworst (Ox sausage)
Ossenworst is a smoked raw beef sausage that is said to originate in Amsterdam. It is widely available in the Netherlands, but while you can find factory-made versions in Dutch supermarkets, these bear little resemblance to the real thing as they are often neither smoked nor aged. This Amsterdam specialty has its origins in the seventeenth century, when oxen were imported large-scale from Denmark and Germany.
| Meats | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| Beef | 1000 g | 2.2 lb |
Ingredients per 1000g (1 kg) of meat
| Salt | 25 g | 4 tsp |
| Cure #2 | 2.5 g | 1 tsp |
| Sugar | 5.0 g | 1 tsp |
| Pepper | 3.0 g | 1-1/2 tsp |
| Nutmeg | 0.5 g | 1/4 tsp |
| Mace | 0.5 g | 1/4 tsp |
| Cloves, ground | 0.3 g | 1/8 tsp |
Instructions
- Cut beef into 2” (5 cm) cubes. Mix with salt, cure #2, sugar and pack tightly in a container, covering the meat with a clean cloth to prevent discoloration of the top layer of the meat. Hold in a refrigerator for 10 days.
- Grind the meat through 3/8” (8 mm) plate.
- Mix the ground meat with all ingredients.
- Stuff into beef middles. Hold in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
- Apply a thin cold smoke at 18º C (64º F) for 1 day. Oakwood or beech wood is used.
Notes
Ossenworst is a nearly raw sausage and it must be consumed within a few days. Like steak tartare, it is soft and tender and goes well with beer, bread, mustard and pickled gherkin or pearl onion.
