The Society is a c 3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account. Following on from Maragret Pilgrim's thread here is one to discuss Andouillette, the fabulous french offal sauasages. Hot or Cold and sliced? Frites or Puree? Where not? It was late,and we had just got in.
The Andouilette were fragrant, deeply meaty. However they poisoned me, and I spent the next three days, although surrounded by delicious things, feeling quesy, and not able to eat Hot, crisp on the outside, with mustard sauce and frites. A signature and their product is based on the traditional Troyes Andouillettes recipe.
Generally speaking andouille are large and eaten cold, sliced thin. I think they are all smoked, but I may be wrong on that count. Many cities in France are known for their andouille. The best looking and most expensive ones are rolled in concentric rings and look much like a tree trunk when sliced. Of course some just consider that a bit of esthetic affectation. Andouillettes are smaller, and eaten hot. They may be nicely formed like a professional sausage or they may be rather course misshapen objects.
They may be pork or calf. Them may reek of the barnyard so much as to disturb your tablemates, or not have that much of an aroma. They may be simply grilled and served with a bit of mustard or they may have a rich cream sauce. Fries or mashed, your choice. I am probably more of an aficionado than a connoisseur as I've enjoyed all I've had, with the possible exception of the first one.
I wasn't quite sure I was enjoying it until I realized I had almost finished it. After the first few bites, I thought I'd just have a few more tastes out of curiosity. In fact it had all the charm of road kill at first, but by the time I was finished, I learned that one taste was really not enough to form a meaningful opinion.
