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1
Place the pork shoulder and hard back fat in a single layer on a tray and refrigerate until each piece reaches -2°C — semi-frozen but not solid. Pass both through a 10-mm die. The cut surfaces should be clean and distinct: each particle of lean and each particle of fat stands separate. Any smearing or greasy amalgamation means the fat was too warm; the batch must be chilled again before proceeding.
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2
Weigh the combined forcemeat. Scale all seasonings precisely to the weight: 28 g sea salt, 3 g curing salt #2, 3 g dextrose, 5 g cracked black pepper, 0.25 g starter culture, and 30 ml dry red wine, all per kilogram. Mix the salt and curing salts through the forcemeat first, then add the remaining seasonings and work the mass until the mixture just begins to bind and pull away from the sides of the bowl — a coherent, slightly tacky paste that holds a fingerprint without slumping.
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3
Prepare the hog casings by soaking and rinsing. Dip each casing in a Penicillium nalgiovense slurry to ensure even mold colonization across the finished surface. Stuff the forcemeat into the casings without overpacking — the casing should be firm but not taut, leaving no air pockets. Tie at 30-cm intervals. Weigh each link and record the weight: this is the benchmark against which all subsequent weight loss is measured.
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4
Hang the sausages in a fermentation chamber held at 22–24°C and 85–90% relative humidity for 48–72 hours. This is where the dish lives or dies: the starter culture must drive pH from an initial 5.8 down to 4.8–5.0 within this window. Too little acid and pathogenic Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus retain conditions in which they thrive; the batch cannot safely proceed. At the close of fermentation the sausages will have firmed perceptibly and carry a faint, clean sour note.
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5
Transfer the sausages to a drying chamber at 12–14°C and 75–80% relative humidity. Weigh each link daily, targeting a loss of 1–1.5% of starting weight per day. Continue drying for 4 to 8 weeks. The chamber should smell clean and faintly mushroomy as Penicillium nalgiovense colonises the casings. Any ammonia, putrid, or rancid odour indicates spoilage and the batch must be discarded.
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6
Monitor the developing white mold bloom. It should be even and continuous across the surface — not patchy, black, or wet. Even coverage signals that the mold is regulating the drying rate correctly and protecting the casing from undesirable organisms.
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7
The saucisson is finished when it has lost 35–40% of its initial stuffed weight. Press the link firmly between thumb and forefinger: it should be firm throughout with no soft or yielding interior zones. Any give at the centre indicates residual moisture and drying must continue — a soft core means case hardening may have formed a dried exterior shell trapping moisture inside.
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8
Slice across the sausage with a sharp blade. The cut face should show a clean mosaic of distinct lean and fat particles. The chew is firm but yielding; the flavour is tangy, nutty, and deeply savory. A greasy or homogeneous cross-section indicates fat smear from the grind; a crumbly, mealy texture indicates over-acidification during fermentation.