The story behind the recipe
A campfire in Poland is primarily a place for gatherings. As Polish Wikipedia states, campfires are especially important for youth and scouting, which treats them as a ceremonial element, and the campfire, or watra, is also a symbol of the wandering movement. The tradition of roasting sausages over a campfire was captured by Józef Burszta in the archival photo "Roasting Sausages at the Campfire – Błękitna Polana," available on Wikimedia Commons.
The term "roasted sausage" is now associated with the Krakow stand selling sausages near the Hala Targowa. However, we couldn't find sources confirming that sausages were traditionally roasted on a rotating spit in Polish homes, which is why this recipe focuses on sausages from a campfire or grill.
According to Polish Wikipedia, Silesian sausage is a cooked sausage made from cured pork (ham, shoulder, and bacon), stuffed into pork casings, twisted every 12–15 cm, cooked at 74–75°C for 20–30 minutes, and smoked with hot smoke. Polonist, a Polish cuisine service, recommends Silesian, Podhale, Toruń, regular, and country sausages for grilling, and in summer, also white sausage. Krakow sausage is not grilled; it is eaten cold. According to English Wikipedia, none of the typical grilling sausages have EU name protection, and in Poland, sausages are often served with onions, also as a snack with beer or vodka.
Ingredients
For the grill or campfire
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8 pcs Silesian or Podhale sausage (1–2 per person; cooked, in edible casing)
Abroad: USA: Polish sausage or kielbasa labeled "fully cooked"; Canada: kolbassa; best from a Polish store
For serving
- mustard
- ketchup
- bread or rolls
- cucumbers and tomatoes (not necessarily)
Pan-fried variant
- 2 pcs onion (sliced into feathers)
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) oil
Method, step by step
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Choose cooked sausage, labeled "cooked" on the packaging, with the highest meat content and a short ingredient list. Check if the casing is edible: sausages in inedible casings are not suitable for grilling.
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If you have raw sausage, such as white sausage, first blanch it: place it in boiling water, remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let it sit for 10 minutes. Do not score raw sausage.
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Light the grill or campfire in a permitted location and wait for the wood or charcoal to turn to embers. Over flames, the sausage will burn on the outside before heating through.
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Decide whether to score. Leave good, artisanal sausage whole to retain its juices. You can score store-bought sausage diagonally or in a crisscross pattern, which will allow fat to render out and brown better.
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On the grill, place the sausage on the grate directly over the embers and grill for about 2–3 minutes on each side until browned. Grill blanched raw sausage until browned, and unblanched sausage for at least 20–25 minutes.
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Over the campfire, skewer the sausage on a long, clean stick and hold it over the embers, not in the flames, continuously turning it slowly until the skin browns and begins to sizzle.
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Check raw sausage with a thermometer: it should reach at least 71°C internally, and poultry sausage should reach 74°C. Cooked sausage just needs to be heated through.
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Without a grill or campfire: heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan and brown the whole sausage over low or medium heat on all sides. Brown thicker sausage over lower heat or under a slightly open lid. Remove the sausage, and in the same pan, sauté the onion uncovered for about 20 minutes, stirring until browned and softened.
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Set the sausage aside for a moment and serve with mustard or ketchup, with bread or rolls, and the pan-fried sausage with onions.
Photos
