I concur with this sentiment.
I like Italian sausage with fennel.
That’s pretty much what Italian sausage is. (I mean, as sold in the US. Fresh sausage with fennel is not, to my knowledge, known well in Italy. There is something called finnochino, but that’s a cured fennel sausage, like a salami.) Very occasionally I’ll see Italian sausage without fennel being labeled as such here in the US, but I’m pretty sure all the commercial versions are with fennel.
That’s definitely what most Americans think of as Italian sausage and what you’ll find in national brands and big box grocery stores, but get to a decent mom & pop Italian grocery, or even a Caputo’s and you’ll find several varieties. One of my favorites (the name escapes me) is a slightly sweet thin rope sausage with red wine in it. When we used to have big parties I’d throw a couple coils on the grill right before everyone got there and cut it into bite sized pieces drizzled with good olive oil and just a touch of balsamic to pass around as an app.
Sure, I know of those, but I typically remember them going by more specific names like Barese sausage.
That’s it, Barese - thank you
Hah. I wasn’t even trying to guess the one you were describing–I just remember seeing Barese sausage over at Bari’s on Grand, and that’s the only name I could remember.