Mysliwska – A Polish Hunter’s sausage

Mysliwska – A Polish Hunter’s sausage

I was recently at Park Avenue Quality Meats and thought I would buy some mysliwska which I hadn’t previously tried. This sausage is in the kielbasa style, lightly smoked and dried. It is a traditional Polish pork sausage made with pepper, garlic and juniper berries that is often called the hunter’s sausage.  Some sources say this is because it is popular with hunters and fishermen, others say a hunter would use juniper berries to add flavour to a boil up they were cooking in the forest. Juniper berries are evidently very common in the woods in Poland. In the long run they both sound like good explanations, but the key question is what does the mysliwska taste like?

 

I cooked this stew that icluded mysliwska, chicken thighs and vegetables. Yams are now in season, I love cooking yams, I like them well cooked, nice and mushy. So I added yams, mushrooms and carrots to the casserole dish. I did sample a mysliwska prior to cooking the stew. My parents-in-law were present and they liked it. My father-in-law is not keen on highly spiced food, and he made positive comments about the taste. The others in house said they were looking forward to dinner.

 

The mysliwska has both coarsely ground meat and finely ground meat inside the casing. The fine grind is predominant. It has a mild taste and the smokiness comes through, the flavours of garlic, pepper and juniper are present, but subdued. My daughter said she thought it was very good and preferable to chorizo criollo. My sons said they preferred chorizo criollo, see link. I agreed with the boys. However it was a very good stew, a feed that after a day’s hunting you would enjoy. This is another high quality sausage made by Park Avenue Quality Meats. If you visit the shop you are spoilt for choice when it comes to choose your favourite sausage.    

Cost per kilo: $28.99