Andouille de Guémené chitterling sausage
Every year at the end of August, the Pays Pourleth
area in central Morbihan celebrates one of the oldest
stars of the Breton pork trade along with the Confrérie
des Goustiers de l’Andouille deGuémené-sur-Scorff chitterling
brotherhood! And believe it or not, it's not just
the chitterling sausages that attract over 20,000
people to the ancient town of Rohan on this particular
Sunday. Visitors can also enjoy a parade, Breton
musicians in traditional costume and of course the
famous andouille de Guémené,
which is very different from its cousin from Vire
in Normandy. Guémené chitterlings are
made from the large intestine of pigs – 20
to 25 guts are required for one andouille – which
is wound around itself and then around gut chopped
into fine strips. The andouille, easily
recognised with its concentric circles, is finally
wrapped in beef casing.
Once formed, andouille chitterling sausages are smoked for between one
week and six months using beech or oak wood (thorny trees are banned), and then
dried (sometimes for up to nine months) before being cooked slowly in stock flavoured
with hay. It is best eaten straight away, accompanied by potatoes still in their
skins or, even better, mashed potato made with good old Breton salted butter.
Many festivals, school fetes and village gatherings serve such a dish to visitors,
who lick their lips at the thought of tucking into hot andouille on
a bed of mashed potato.
Andouille was also enjoyed cold in the past because there was always
some left over and people have now got into the habit of buying it and eating
it as it is. You'll find it served on a slice of bread and butter, as an appetizer
(it goes down well with a small glass of Muscadet) or in salads. It can also
be heated and eaten with herrings or warm potatoes and a vinaigrette. Andouille makes
a perfect filling for buckwheat pancakes and is now combined with fish and shellfish,
as demonstrated by several great Breton chefs who instigated this union between
land and sea.
