Rosette du Morvan is the large dry-cured pork sausage of the Morvan, the granite uplands of Burgundy long known for raising pigs. Coarsely chopped lean pork and back fat are seasoned, stuffed into a wide section of pig's intestine, and air-dried for weeks to months until firm, deep red and marbled. Sliced thick, it is eaten raw as a charcuterie starter with bread and pickles. It is a country cousin of the better-known Rosette de Lyon — same idea, but a Morvandiau sausage of the Burgundian hills rather than a Lyonnais one.
The Morvan, a wooded granite massif spanning the Nièvre and neighbouring Burgundian départements, was historically poor farming country where pig-rearing and home charcuterie were central to the rural economy, and the region has a long reputation for its hams and dried sausages. Rosette takes its name from the cured sausage's traditional casing — the wide end section of the pig's large intestine, the fuseau or rosette — which gives a fat, slightly curved sausage that dries slowly and evenly. Rosette du Morvan is the local version of this French-wide style of saucisson sec; it differs from the famous Rosette de Lyon, which is the Lyonnais sausage of the same name and casing, by its Morvan origin and farmhouse character. It remains an artisanal regional charcuterie rather than a protected appellation.
Cut into thick coins, rosette shows a coarse mosaic of deep-red lean studded with clean white cubes of fat, the texture firm and a little dense. The flavour is rich and meaty, savoury and faintly tangy from the slow cure, with the back fat melting on the tongue to carry pepper and garlic; the long drying concentrates everything. It is chewier and more rustic than a fine-ground sausage, the fat sweet and yielding against the firm lean. Eaten plainly — with country bread, butter, cornichons and a glass of Burgundy red — it is pure charcuterie, the taste of cured pork and time.
Rosette is a fermented, dry-cured sausage. The chopped pork and fat are mixed with salt, pepper, garlic and a little sugar and curing salt, stuffed into the casing, then hung in cool, humid air; over weeks lactic-acid bacteria ferment the sugars, dropping the pH and giving the tangy note while helping preserve the meat, and the sausage slowly dries as moisture escapes through the casing, lowering water activity below the spoilage threshold. Proteolysis and lipolysis during the long cure break proteins and fats into savoury, aromatic compounds, deepening flavour. The wide rosette casing dries more slowly than a thin one, which is why this sausage matures gently and stays supple in the centre. A bloom of white mould on the outside is normal and protective.
Variations
The defining comparison is with Rosette de Lyon — the same large-casing dry sausage, but a Lyonnais charcuterie rather than this Morvan one; both share the rosette casing and coarse cut. Saucisson sec more broadly covers the whole French family of dried pork sausages, of which rosette is a fat, slow-cured form. Morvan makers vary the seasoning and the curing time, longer drying giving a firmer, more concentrated sausage; some add a little red wine or extra garlic. It is distinct from the region's cooked sausages and from the cured hams of the Morvan, and is always eaten raw and thickly sliced as a starter, never cooked.
On the Palate
Where Rosette du Morvan sits in the French flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12
How it's made
6 steps · 1 hour 30 min
- 130 min
Coarsely chop lean pork and firm back fat and keep very cold.
- 210 min
Mix with salt, curing salt, sugar, pepper and crushed garlic.
- 320 min
Stuff firmly into a wide rosette (large-intestine) casing, avoiding air pockets.
Watch outPack the mince firmly with no air pockets — trapped air spoils and rots the sausage from inside during the long cure.
- 415 min
Tie and prick the sausage, then hang to dry in cool, humid air.
- 550400 min
Cure for several weeks to a few months until firm and deep red.
Watch outCure until firm all through and deep red — soft spots inside mean it hasn't dried enough to be safe to eat raw.
- 65 min
Slice thickly and serve raw as a charcuterie starter with bread and pickles.
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