saucisse de Morteau

A smoked pork sausage available all across France, saucisse de Morteau is from the Haut-Daubs in Franche-Comté. It often finds its way into choucroute garnie, petit-salé, bean dishes and is just often eaten on its own. It has to be cooked, usually boiled for at least minutes.

Nicknamed ‘la bonne saucisse,’ saucisse de Morteau go back to the 16th century, when people began to settle in the dense fir and spruce forests. It is closely related to France’s other famous smoked sausage, the smaller Saucisse de Montbéliard, although the pork is less finely ground and it doesn’t include cumin.

The sausages are smoked in a special tall buildings with 12m plus wooden hoods called tuyés (several in the area are open for visits). These allow for very slow smoking over spruce or fir, especially important when making the large version, the Jésus de Morteau (or Jésu de Morteau), so named because it’s often served at Christmas... and can weigh up to a kilo. Both kinds are designated IGP and Label Rouge.

Surprisingly, it’s not the only sausage named after Jesus—see the saucisson Jésus de Lyon.