Luganega / Luganiga
Fresh sausage from northern Italy, presented coiled in a spiral and cut to the requested length. Its name derives from the Latin lucanica, whose Roman diffusion gave rise to the linguiça, the longaniza, the loukaniko and a dozen other specialities on three continents.
| Lean pork shoulder | 750 g |
| Pancetta | 250 g |
| Fine salt | 18 g |
| Ground black pepper | 2 g |
| Grated nutmeg | 1 g |
| Ground cinnamon | 0.5 g |
| Dry white wine | 50 ml |
| Grated Parmesan (optional) | 20 g |
| Sheep casing or, failing that, narrow hog casing (Ø 24–28 mm) | — |
- Preparation: The luganega is traditionally made from pigs from northern Italy. Cut up and chill well.
- Mincing: Mince through the 5 to 6 mm plate for a fine texture.
- Seasoning: Add all the spices, the wine and, if using, the Parmesan. Mix well.
- Stuffing: Stuff into the narrow casing, forming one long continuous sausage. Do not divide. Coil into a flat spiral for presentation.
- Storage: Fresh luganega keeps for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator.
- Cooking: Cut to the desired length. Pan-fry, grill or crumble into risotto alla luganega.
The luganega is one of the few fresh sausages in this book sold by the metre. The butcher displays it coiled in flat spirals on the counter; the customer states the desired length, and the sausage is cut to order. This continuous form, never divided at stuffing, is the trait that identifies it at once.
Its name derives from the Latin lucanica, the sausage of Lucania (see the chapter ‘The circulations’), whose diffusion through the Roman Empire engendered a family of sausages with related names: the Portuguese and Brazilian linguiça, the Greek loukaniko, the Spanish and Philippine longaniza, the Bulgarian lukanka. Several of these sausages are described in this book. In the Veneto, a local tradition proposes a different itinerary: Venetian merchants are said to have brought the sausage back from Rhodes around 1100, already transformed into loukaniko. The hypothesis cannot be verified, but it is compatible with Venice’s role as a crossroads between East and West.
One variant is the luganega monzese, produced at Monza, in Brianza, enriched with grated Grana Padano, reduced meat stock and a touch of Marsala. Nicknamed ‘the rope of Monza’, it is the central ingredient of risotto alla monzese, a winter variant of risotto alla milanese in which the sausage is crumbled and cooked with the rice. The plain all-pork version is produced throughout Lombardy and the Veneto without a product specification. It is found at the neighbourhood butchers of northern Italy, where it remains one of the most commonly bought fresh sausages of everyday cooking, as well as in Italian grocers abroad, often sold coiled, in spiral form, as in Italy.
The book
All 144 recipes and their histories, gathered in a single volume.