A sausage is a food usually made from ground meat, often pork, beef or veal, along with salt, spices and breadcrumbs, with a skin around it. Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made from intestine, but sometimes synthetic. Sausages that are sold uncooked are cooked in many ways, including pan-frying, broiling and barbecuing. Some sausages are cooked during processing and the casing may be removed after.
Sausage making is a traditional food preservation technique. Sausages may be preserved by curing, drying (often in association with fermentation or culturing, which can contribute to preservation), smoking or freezing.
There is a huge range of national and regional varieties of sausages, which differ by their flavouring or spicing ingredients, the meat(s) used in them and their manner of preparation.
