A coarse fresh pork sausage from Toulouse and the wider southwest, made of nothing but roughly chopped pork, fat, salt and pepper, packed loose in a wide natural casing and coiled into a flat spiral. It is sold uncooked and either grilled, pan-fried, or simmered into bean stews — it is the working sausage of the region and the canonical meat of a Toulouse cassoulet. The grind is the whole point: knife-cut or coarse-plated, never the fine paste of a Frankfurter.
Toulouse and the surrounding Haut-Garonne built a sausage tradition on the pig and on locally milled coarse cuts rather than the emulsified fine sausages of the north and east. The IGP "Saucisse de Toulouse" was registered in 2016, codifying a minimum lean-meat content and a coarse grind of at least 8 mm, and excluding fillers, colourings and binders. The same coil is the building block of cassoulet de Toulouse, the duck-confit version of the dish over which Toulouse, Castelnaudary and Carcassonne have long argued.
Out of the pan the casing is taut and lightly blistered; the cut face shows distinct pink grains of meat and white pebbles of fat, not a smooth pink wall. The texture is juicy and a little rough on the tongue, seasoned with little more than black pepper. Grilled over vine cuttings it picks up smoke; dropped into a cassoulet it gives up fat to thicken the beans.
The coarse grind keeps muscle fibres in recognisable pieces, so the sausage stays juicy where a fine emulsion would go rubbery; salt at roughly 1.5 percent dissolves enough myosin to bind the loose mince just enough to hold its coil without becoming a paste. Because nothing is cured or smoked into it, it is a fresh sausage and must be cooked through. Pricking the casing before grilling lets steam escape so it does not burst.
Variations
The plain coil is the standard; a version with garlic is common, and a thinner-stuffed chipolata-style is made for grilling. Saucisse de couenne folds in pork rind. Across the Pyrenees the same coarse coil reappears spiced with the local red pepper as the Basque and Béarn fresh sausages, and the cured, air-dried cousin is the saucisson sec of the southwest.
On the Palate
Where Saucisse de Toulouse sits in the French flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
5 steps · 30 min active + 15 min waiting
- 115 min
Coarsely chop or coarse-plate (8 mm) pork shoulder and back fat at roughly 70/30, keeping everything cold.
- 25 min
Season with salt, plenty of black pepper, and a little crushed garlic; mix briefly until just tacky.
Watch outMix just until the coarse mince turns tacky and holds — salt develops enough myosin to bind the loose grind; overwork it into a paste and the sausage eats rubbery instead of juicy.
- 310 min
Stuff loosely into wide hog casing, taking care not to overpack, and coil into a flat spiral pinned with two crossed skewers.
- 415 min
Rest the coil chilled for 15 minutes so the casing sets and the spiral holds.
- 518 min
Prick the casing in a few places and grill, pan-fry, or roast over moderate heat until cooked through and golden, about 15-20 minutes, turning once.
Watch outPrick the casing before grilling — it lets steam escape so the coil doesn't burst; it's a fresh sausage, so grill until cooked through and golden.
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