The Lorne sausage, also known as square sausage, flat sausage or slice, is a traditional Scottish food item made from minced meat, rusk and spices.[1] Although termed a sausage, no casing is used to hold the meat in shape, hence it is usually served as square slices from a formed block. It is a common component of the traditional Scottish breakfast.

Slice (lower right) served with black pudding, baked beans, mushrooms and fried bread

Name

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It is thought that the sausage is named after the region of Lorne in Argyll;[2] advertisements for 'Lorne Sausage' have been found in newspapers as early as 1892.[3][4][5] This was long before comedian Tommy Lorne, after whom the sausage has been said to be named, became well-known.[6]

History

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The exact origins of the Lorne sausage remain unclear. It is often eaten in the Scottish variant of the full breakfast or in a breakfast roll. The sausage is also an appropriate size to make a sandwich using a slice from a plain loaf of bread cut in half.[2]

Preparation

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Sausage meat (beef, pork or more usually a combination of the two) is minced with rusk and spices, packed into a rectangular tin with a cross-section of about ten centimetres (four inches) square, and sliced about one centimetre (one-half inch) thick before cooking.[7] Square sausage has no casing, unlike traditional sausages, and must be tightly packed into the mould to hold it together; slices are often not truly square.[2]

Occasionally, it has a length of caseless black pudding or haggis through the middle, in the style of a gala pie.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "A history of the square sausage, including a recipe for making your own - Scotsman Food & Drink". Scotsman Food & Drink. 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
  2. ^ a b c "Lorne Sausage, Argyll". Information Britain. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  3. ^ "Grant's Store, Renton". British Newspaper Archive. Lennox Herald - Saturday 18 June 1892. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Scotslanguage.com - Lorne sausage n. square-shaped sausage meat".
  5. ^ "Results - Arbroath Herald and Advertiser For The Montrose Burghs" – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ "Lorne Sausage Scottish Square Slices Sausages". www.aboutaberdeen.com.
  7. ^ "Lorne Sausage". Dictionary of the Scots Language. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.