[Suzanne F]

Our friend who was just in India brought us back two kinds of sausage from Goa. We tried them the other night (along with some RG beans and various homemade chutneys). Pork sausage, since Goa used to be Portuguese. I have a recipe for one type, that includes vinegar and a lot of garlic and chiles. One (reddish) smelled like it might be similar. The other (dark brown) just smelled slightly salami-ish. The report:

Both were in natural casings, and both were tied with thread at about a 1-inch interval, giving an unfortunate resemblance to a nonedible human byproduct, especially the dark brown one. Since I wasn't sure how fatty they might be, I started them with a little water in the skillet. The lighter one plumped up nicely, the other didn't. The one that plumped also started giving off some bright deep orange fat; the other gave off nothing. Both spilled out bits of filling from the open ends (I had removed the thread before cooking). The bits of filling from the lighter one were quite spicy and a bit chewy; the other was much chewier and less spicy.

The lighter one did indeed taste like the recipe I have: meaty, spicy, garlicky, slightly tart. I detected cinnamon in it, and possibly some asafoetida (just a hint). The meat was coarsely chopped, meaning that it required extra chewing -- not bad, since it brought out more flavor.

The darker one turned out to be filled with small cubes (about 1/4-inch or 50mm) of pork rind. Some spices, too, but basically just pork rind. Or maybe ear? or snoot? Whichever, no amount of chewing could break it down. Interesting, but not to be repeated.