Garlic sausage

Many garlic sausages are cured or cooked and can be eaten cold, sliced into sandwiches or served on a cheeseboard. Check the packet: raw garlic sausage needs cooking before you eat it.

For a ready-to-eat sausage, slice it and fry over medium heat for a few minutes until browned and hot, or add it near the end of a stew. If it is sold raw, cook it through; the centre should reach 70 °C for 2 minutes.

Its savoury garlic flavour works well with mustard, sauerkraut, pickles and rye bread. Add slices to lentil soup, bean stew, fried potatoes or a savoury tart.

Wrap it or seal it in a clean container and refrigerate it promptly, keeping it separate from raw meat. Follow the packet’s use-by guidance; freeze portions you will not use in time.

Use smoked sausage for a deeper smoky flavour, or Toulouse sausage for a less garlicky, herb-seasoned alternative. For a similar sliceable texture in a cooked dish, frankfurter sausage works, though it is usually milder.

Garlic sausage is seasoned prominently with garlic, but the name can describe fresh, cooked or cured sausage, so it does not always mean a particular style. Compared with the listed ordinary sausage, it has 15 g protein per 100 g versus 17.4 g.

Look for wording such as “ready to eat”, “cooked” or “cured”; raw sausage will need thorough cooking. If the packaging gives no clear preparation instructions, ask the seller rather than tasting it raw.