Meat products (cooked, salted, smoked, etc.)

Meat (100 kg of raw material): Class I pork with a fat content of up to 15 % — 30 kg, Class IIA pork with a fat content of up to 20 % — 40 kg, Class IIB pork with a fat content of up to 40 % — 30 kg. Seasonings (per 100 kg of meat) natural pepper — 0,15 kg, nutmeg — 0,05 kg, caraway — 0,07 kg, sugar — 0,20 kg. Other additives: curing mix (based on a mixture of table salt (NaCl) and sodium nitrite (NaNO2)) — about 2 kg.

Feeding refers to fatty-meat fattening. The aim is to produce pigs with a bodyweight of up to 120 kg, characterised by a higher intramuscular fat content (more than 3 %).

Fattening is based on late-maturing breeds, and an appropriate fattening regime makes it possible to achieve the desired intramuscular fat content. The breeds used for fattening do not carry the RN gene, and the RYR 1T gene is present in 20 % of the population. Fattening should be carried out in three phases – phase I up to about 60 kg, phase II up to about 90 kg, and phase III up to 120 kg, Fattening of animals up to 90 kg bodyweight is carried out using two types of feed mixes. The feed mixes (doses) contain: — as energy components cereal middlings – wheat, barley, rye, oat, triticale or maize; maize middlings and middlings of naked oat varieties account for up to 30 % of mixes, — as protein components – lupin, field bean and pea middlings, post-extraction soya meal, post-extraction rapeseed meal, rapeseed oil cake, fodder yeast or dried green fodder. Feed mixes (doses) for animals from 90 to 120 kg contain: — as energy components wheat, barley, rye and triticale middlings. Maize middlings and middlings of naked oat varieties may not be used in mixes (doses), — as protein components middlings of leguminous crops (lupin, field bean and pea), post-extraction soya meal, rapeseed oilcake or post-extraction rapeseed meal and dried green fodder. At no point in the feeding cycle may the following be used: vegetable oils, feed of animal origin, e.g. powdered milk, dried whey or fish meal. The metabolic energy content in mixes in all phases of fattening is 12-13 MJ of ME/kg of mix. The protein content in mixes should be around 16-18 % in the first phase of fattening, 15-16 % in the second phase, and about 14 % in the final phase. Doses for fatteners may be based on nutritive mixes alone, or nutritive mixes and bulk feed, i.e. potatoes and green fodder.

Pork from pigs of late-maturing breeds fattened to a bodyweight of about 120 kg and having the genetic traits described in point 3.6 is an essential ingredient of ‘kabanosy’ which influences the specific nature of the sausage. Compliance with these requirements yields an intramuscular fat content in excess of 3 %, ensuring that the meat possesses the appropriate gustatory and technological properties that are essential for the production of ‘kabanosy’. The use of such raw materials and conformity to the traditional method of production, with special regard to the stages of mincing, curing and smoking, ensures that ‘kabanosy’ are exceptionally tender and succulent. Another characteristic of ‘kabanosy’ is the clearly audible noise they make when they are broken in two. This is the result of the meat’s tenderness and the way in which ‘kabanosy’ are prepared, in particular, drying and smoking.

Their taste and aroma are the features which set ‘kabanosy’ apart from other sausages. These features are the result of the use in the production process of appropriately selected seasonings and the proportions thereof: natural pepper, nutmeg, caraway, sugar and the specific smoking process, which further enhances the product’s flavour.

The specific character of ‘kabanosy’ is linked mainly to their unique shape. ‘Kabanosy’ are long, thin sticks of dry sausage twisted off at one end and evenly wrinkled.

Kabanosy, or thin, dried and smoked pork sausages in sheep casings, were eaten throughout Poland as early as the 1920s and 1930s. They were produced in small, local butchers’ establishments under the same name, but in different regional varieties. The main differences concerned the seasonings used, but also the quality of the sausages themselves. The cookery books and food publications of the day, like M. Karczewska’s ‘Wyrób wędlin i innych przetworów mięsnych sposobem domowym’, published in Warsaw in 1937, provided recipes and helped to standardise production techniques for ‘kabanosy’, enabling brand consolidation and quality improvements. These sausages tasted good and preservation techniques like smoking and drying meant that they could be kept for long periods.

After 1945 standardisation was introduced in an attempt to improve product quality. ‘Kabanosy’ were officially released for consumption by the Decree of the Ministers for Provisions, Industry and Commerce of 15 September 1948 (Journal of Laws 1948/44, item 334). Technological and production aspects were subsequently standardised (Standard No RN-54/MPMIM1-Mięs-56 of 30 December 1954), and in 1964 the Polish Meat Industry Headquarters in Warsaw issued a standard recipe for ‘Kabanosy’ based on traditional production methods (Internal Regulations No 21).

‘Kabanosy’ were extremely popular during Communist times (1945-89); everybody used to buy them. They graced elegant tables on special occasions and were equally suitable as picnic food for travellers, as gifts or as a snack with vodka. Together with ham and bacon, they also became a Polish export speciality.

‘Kabanosy’ are made from specially fattened hogs which used to be known as ‘kabany’. The term ‘kaban’ features in the 1834 epic poem ‘Pan Tadeusz’ by Poland’s national bard Adam Mickiewicz. Originally used to refer to wild boars, hogs and even horses, by the 19th century, according to the 1863 Encyklopedyja Powszechna, Volume 13, the term was universally used to designate a well fed, fat young hog. The hogs were specially fattened up to obtain delicate, exquisite meat with a high intramuscular fat content which gave the products made from it a strong, specific taste, tenderness and succulence. The term ‘kabanina’, derived from ‘kaban’, was also widely used. According to the definition in the Polish dictionary published in Vilnius in 1861, it usually referred to pork.

The meat of pigs kept for the production of ‘kabanosy’ must have an intramuscular fat content of more than 3 %; this is the marbling that confers on the product the desired tenderness, succulence and excellent taste. The use of such meat has a decisive influence on the quality of the final product and its specific character, and is in keeping with the traditional method of production.

Checks on the abovementioned stages must be carried out once every 2 months. If all these stages are proceeding correctly, the frequency of the checks may be reduced to two per year.

If irregularities occur at any stage, the frequency of checks on that stage must be increased (to once every 2 months). Checks on other stages may be carried out once every 6 months.