Morteau Sausage with Green Lentils
A thick pork sausage, slowly smoked over resinous wood, poached in simmering water and served on a bed of green lentils stewed with vegetables — a hearty winter dish.
A thick pork sausage, slowly smoked over resinous wood, poached in simmering water and served on a bed of green lentils stewed with vegetables — a hearty winter dish.
Do you see that wooden peg at the end of the sausage? That's the mark of a true Morteau, smoked for weeks in the *tuyé*, up there, under the great soot-blackened chimney. You never boil it hard, you wretch — it would burst! You let it simmer gently with the lentils, and the fir smoke perfumes the whole pot. When I returned from Ornans to Paris, I always took some in my luggage: it was my country that I put on the plate.
- •Minced pork shoulder and belly — for one large sausage (sausage meat)
- •Large pork casing — 1 (casing)
- •Salt, pepper, garlic — to taste (curing and flavor)
- •Fir and juniper smoke (*tuyé*) — several weeks (preservation and flavor)
- •Lentils, onion, carrot — according to household (stewed garnish)
Morteau Sausage with Green Lentils
A thick pork sausage, slowly smoked over resinous wood, poached in simmering water and served on a bed of green lentils stewed with vegetables — a hearty winter dish.
Why this dish? Morteau is in the Doubs, a few leagues from Ornans. The large sausage smoked in the *tuyé*, recognizable by its wooden peg, was the quintessential preserved charcuterie of the farms in Courbet's country: it was smoked for weeks to keep all winter. True to his terroir, the painter was fond of these Franche-Comtois charcuteries.
Do you see that wooden peg at the end of the sausage? That's the mark of a true Morteau, smoked for weeks in the *tuyé*, up there, under the great soot-blackened chimney. You never boil it hard, you wretch — it would burst! You let it simmer gently with the lentils, and the fir smoke perfumes the whole pot. When I returned from Ornans to Paris, I always took some in my luggage: it was my country that I put on the plate.
Ingredients (period version)
- Minced pork shoulder and belly — for one large sausage (sausage meat)
- Large pork casing — 1 (casing)
- Salt, pepper, garlic — to taste (curing and flavor)
- Fir and juniper smoke (*tuyé*) — several weeks (preservation and flavor)
- Lentils, onion, carrot — according to household (stewed garnish)
Ingredients
- Morteau sausage IGP — 1 large (about 400 g) (main piece)
- Green lentils — 250 g (garnish)
- Onion — 1 (aromatic)
- Carrot — 1 (aromatic)
- Bay leaf and clove — 1 + 1 (flavor)
- Smoked bacon lardons — 100 g (smoky reinforcement)
Method
- Prick the sausage very lightly (or not at all) and plunge it into a large pot of cold water without piercing it; bring to a very gentle simmer and poach for 35 to 40 minutes, never boiling.
- Meanwhile, sauté the sliced onion and lardons, add the diced carrot and rinsed lentils.
- Cover with water (or a little of the sausage cooking liquid), add bay leaf and clove, and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes until lentils are tender.
- Drain the sausage, slice thickly, and serve on the well-flavored lentils.
How it was made : The pig was slaughtered on the farm in autumn; everything was processed to last the winter. The Morteau sausage was hung in the *tuyé*, that pyramidal chimney where sawdust and resinous wood burned slowly. Smoking dried and preserved it for months; the wooden peg was used to hang it and marked its origin.
The contemporary twist : Served warm in a salad with the lentils, a Burgundy mustard vinaigrette, and finely chopped shallots.
Sources : IGP Saucisse de Morteau
Gustave Courbet · Charactorium