Medisterpølse i Svøb

Medisterpølse i Svøb

Recipes with Medisterpølse

Medisterpølse wrapped in caul fat and roasted in the oven: an older preparation that predates the common pan-frying method and produces a fundamentally different result. The caul fat, the lacy membrane that surrounds the stomach of a pig, bastes the sausage from outside as it renders in the oven heat. The exterior forms a golden, crackled shell across the entire surface, not just on the two flat sides that contact a pan. This version is richer and more self-contained. It appears in older Danish cookbooks and is still served at traditional restaurants alongside pickled cucumber and boiled potatoes.

Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

45 min

Servings

4

Difficulty

Medium

Ingredients

  • 600 g medisterpølse (one coil or as links)
  • 200 g caul fat (svøb), soaked in cold water for 10 minutes
  • Salt and white pepper
  • 600 g potatoes, boiled
  • Pickled cucumber, sliced, to serve

Steps

1

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Remove the caul fat from the soaking water, drain gently, and lay it flat on a work surface. Pat dry with paper.

2

Season the sausage lightly with white pepper. Lay the sausage coil in the centre of the caul fat. Fold the fat up and around the sausage, wrapping it completely. Press to adhere. The caul fat will stick to itself where it overlaps.

3

Place the wrapped sausage in a roasting tin, seam side down. Roast in the middle of the oven for 35 to 40 minutes until the caul fat has rendered and turned deep golden. No basting is needed: the fat bastes the sausage from within.

4

Rest for 5 minutes before carving. The caul fat wrapping carves with the sausage: each slice includes the rendered outer layer. Serve with boiled potatoes and cold pickled cucumber on the side.

Tips

Caul fat is available from good butchers and from pork producers who sell whole-animal cuts. It is usually sold frozen: thaw overnight in the refrigerator and soak in cold water before use to make it pliable. If caul fat is unavailable, thin strips of streaky bacon wrapped tightly around the sausage coil produce a similar basting effect.