I was going to add that breakfast sausage will probably come up fairly often. Bob Evans was started in Ohio.
If skinless “sausages” are allowed, then by far the most popular one here is the Israeli kebab, which is a ground beef (or rarely lamb) patty similar to the Middle Eastern Kofta, the Balkan Ćevapi or the Romanian Mititei.
WHAT? No, this is madness! Do you mean, you could order a brat and get a hot dog? Or an Italian Sausage?
No. Wisconsin knows its bratwurst. They can vary… the lighter tasting being pre-cooked, or the heartier being boiled in beer and onions, or grilled, or boiled then grilled.
But it’s a bratwurst. And now I want one, washed down with a Spotted Cow, in front of a Packer game (and they have a Bye this week… sigh…).
Not in Wisconsin! Brats can vary widely, as every different meat market and butcher store will make its own style of brat, just as they did in every different village back in Germany. Some are veal, some are pork, some are pork/veal or pork/beef mix. The more veal, the whiter looking the brat. The meat is finely ground in a brat. Casings should be natural membrane. Spice mixes vary widely, but most will contain marjoram at a minimum. Cumin, ginger, caraway, and coriander are often used. They’re all brats here in the Magikal land 'o Cheese.
Mace is also popular. My own brat recipe is marjoram, caraway, coriander, and mace. It’s been years since I’ve made sausage, though. You’ll also find mace in Chicago all-beef hot dogs. But, like you said, there is a huge range of recipes for bratwurst. It’s just, in general, a fresh non-smoked sausage that is typically grilled.
I grew up in Maryland, right between Baltimore and Washington, in the 60s/70s. A popular deli sausage that could be found pretty much everywhere in the area was a tart, intensely smokey sausage called Lebanon Bologna. I’ve lived in California since 83 and have never seen it out here.
The lingering after effects of the riots in the 60s?
In Oak Cliff, it’s almost certainly chorizo as well. In greater Dallas, breakfast sausage or smoked jalapeno/beef probably give it a run for its money.
There’s not really much of a sausage culture in the Pacific Northwest, but there’s a relatively new product based on the Seattle-style hot dog; “Kraken style” for the Seattle Kraken, a smoked sausage that’s got cream cheese, bacon, and jalapenos embedded in it.
I’ve heard of them but don’t think I’ve ever had one. They don’t look too appetizing. (I’m not even a big fan of regular wieners.)
I ate them when I was a kid. But I can tell you that I never saw anything remotely like it in all my visits to Vienna.
Chorizo is originally a spanish pork sausage with smoked paprika powder and garlic as a main condiments. It can be long and thick, for eating cut in slices with bread, or it can be short and stubby, for cooking or grilling, or anything in between. Chorizos can also be quite spicy and hot (for Spanish palates, a Mexican would only laugh at what is hot in Spain) or mild, with all gradations in between. Regional varieties can be very different.
I have been told that when the term went across the ocean to Argentina it transformed into a beef cut that we would call filete, a simple steak. I may be wrong on that one, perhpas @Frodo can confirm (I guess it is complicated anyway).
So I wonder what that sausage you keep calling chorizo is like in the USA. Are they uniform, or is there regional variety too? Here is the Spanish Wikipedia page for chorizo, it mentions a lot of varieties, also by country, but no reference is made to the USA.
Typically, it’s a fresh pork sausage spiced with garlic, chili peppers, spices like cinnamon, cloves, cumin, Mexican oregano and some amount of vinegar. Spicing will vary from place to place, but I typically expect a bit of heat, garlic, tang, and a “sweet” spice of some sort. It is most often, around here, used broken out of its casing in tacos or mixed with eggs and/or potatoes for breakfast.
So in the US, “chorizo” generally refers to the Mexican style unless context dictates otherwise.
Fresh? Not cured or smoked? That is a big difference. And no smoked paprika powder either, OK. That is not what a Spaniard would call a chorizo, funny how words travel and change along the way.
Hawaii - SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM. Portuguese sausage is the favorite with breakfast plates.
And you can get pineapple sausage. Probably not much of that in Wisconsin.
Central Jersey. We’re the most Italian-American of any state so it should come as no surprise that Italian Sausage is most popular here. Sausage and peppers subs are very popular. Or just a pan of sausage, peppers and onion. Of course on the grill or in a sauce.
Italian sausage typical comes Hot or Sweet. The meat is pork. Lots of pepper and fennel. After than it can differ quite a bit. The fennel is a very important flavor note.
.
.
Though Pork Roll/Taylor Ham if it counts as a sausage might win out over large portions of the state. Most typically used for breakfast sandwiches and the Trenton Burger. A Burger with a slice of Taylor Ham on it.
Same here in Tennessee. I’d say whole hog country sausage, like Tennessee Pride or Wamplers.
I would expect that ‘standard’ breakfast sausage (Jimmy Dean, et al) is the most common type consumed all across the US, but its not something that you would call a sausage like you could put on a grill.
With that caveat in mind, I think the most popular sausages in the Houston area would be chorizo, bratwurst, and andouille.
There’s a Currywurst stand in Darmstadt that grades its sauces according to spiciness on a scale of A to F. They make you sign a waiver for anything higher than C. (I tried B+ once and it was so hot that I couldn’t make it through the meal.)
Andouille is much loved in the New Orleans area, with Cajun country relatively close by. You’ll hear a lot about boudin, as well, but with the rice-based filling used locally, it’s kind of a different thing from sausage.
I think the most commonly-used sausage in recipes locally is just pork smoked sausage – no special name that I’m aware of. The Bryan Smokey Hollow brand is popular and representative of the type.
