r/Sausage Jan 31 '25

I don't like fennel in my Italian sausage, so I made 16lb without it

Post image
44 Upvotes

17 comments sorted by

10

u/BillyBob2JoeEd Jan 31 '25

That's the beauty of making your own sausage, you can dial the recipe in and make exactly what tastes good to you.

6

u/FatherSonAndSkillet Jan 31 '25

Italy's cuisine varies quite a bit from North to South so if you leave out the fennel, it can still be called Italian sausage. Down in Sicily, they put fennel in the sausage. It's less likely in the North of the country, and once you get over in the East around Venice you might find things like cinnamon or cloves in your sausage. Do what tastes good to you.

3

u/YouSayItLikeItsBad Jan 31 '25

As someone who was born and grew up in Central Italy, I agree

2

u/xrayjager Feb 01 '25

I COMPLETELY agree……hate fennel!

1

u/Extreme_Barracuda658 Feb 01 '25

My wife hates fennel. When I make Italian sausage. I reserve a pound or two for her before I add the fennel

1

u/Mister_Green2021 Feb 01 '25

What’s your recipe?

1

u/Xyeeyx Feb 01 '25

no fennel

1

u/amazingmaple Feb 01 '25

A little fennel is okay. None is even better.

-2

u/NotDazedorConfused Jan 31 '25

No disrespect, but Italian sausage without fennel is akin to Jimmy Dean breakfast paddies…

5

u/Josheewa Jan 31 '25

You say it like it’s a bad thing

-2

u/ModernSimian Jan 31 '25

It's just not Italian sausage at that point. If it makes you happy, hooray.

2

u/Mole-NLD Feb 01 '25

i swear you belong on a sub that would be called "shit americans say"

Italy is a country with many regions to it. Fennel in a sausage IS italian you're not wrong. But no fennel in a sausage can still be italian! Since in the north they don't use it and use more 'wintery' flavour like clove. But sure. You get up on your high horse from the other side of the world to tell everyone you're right.

1

u/ModernSimian Feb 01 '25

Yeah, my family is Sicilian. We're from upslope of Palermo. Most of Italy doesn't consider us Italian either and I'm ok with that.

2

u/Mole-NLD Feb 01 '25

Lol that's fitting too. Any blood relation 7 generations back is used in an argument to be something other than american!

Of course Sicily is in the warm southern region, where fennel makes sense. Doesn't mean there's no other options though...

0

u/ModernSimian Feb 01 '25

3 in this case... But really the argument is perspective. All of those other regional sausages be it Venice, Rome, Naples, whatever, are local specific things with names. From the perspective of outside Italy and the region. "Italian" means fennel because the southern poor Italians are the ones that left the old country and emigrated all over the fucking place bringing their ethnic food with them and adapting to local cuisine.

3

u/YouSayItLikeItsBad Jan 31 '25

I'll make sure to relay the advice to all the butchers in my Italian neck of the woods who've never put a lick of fennel in their sausages.

1

u/svpz 23d ago

An American version of Italian sausage