Bookmagic LLC.

I have had this book well over a year now and after referring to it time after time I must give the authors their due respect.

I am a novice in sausage making to say the least but the step by step instructions make sausage making easy and understandable. This is a terrific book for authentic Polish sausage. Some of the ingredients may be hard to find but well worth the search.

My hat is off to Adam with his persistence in retrieving the manuals to present us with the recipes.

Great job and thanks.

"Polish Sausages" gives an english translation of many recipes from the "Official Polish Guide to Making Meat Products and Sausages". It is an excellent book. It offers photos, drawings, and illustrations of cuts of meat, and methods of preparing different types of Polish sausages. Also, the book gives very complete directions of each step of each recipe.

I have been hoping for a Polish sausage cookbook, ever since learning of the official polish guide.

In the late 1960s, I lived in Passaic, NJ, for a while. There were two or three Polish butcher shops and it was wonderful to see that each had several types of sausages available. These days I live in Utah and, while the local supermarkets carry American commercially prepared "Polish Sausage", it isn't anything like the real thing. In New Jersey, I could go into a small Polish food store and smell the Kielbasa (one of the most used forms of Polish Sausage) as soon as I was inside the door. The big companies make weak imitations that are better than nothing, but not the same, not at all.

Now, the directions given in this book are most suitable to someone getting into the sausage making business, but are adaptable to family sized lots. Further, if you are going to make the real thing, please understand that your cost for ingriedients will be about the same as buying those better than nothing, finished, commercial brands. So, when you sell your sausage, you will have to charge, about, double the price of the large commercial outfits. Also, for those who want to start a business, please remember that there are government regulations that you MUST obey.

This book is a must have for any serious home-sausage maker as well as any commercial producer who is looking to produce sausages of quality, not quantity. To my understanding no book of such authenticity on the formulation of Polish sausages has ever been published for the non-commercial sausage maker. It begins with a brief history of Polish sausages and the customs associated with their consumption, but is far more than a history lesson. From a discussion of curing, grinding mixing, smoking, etc. the book proceeds how to make a series of the most accurate, authentic recipes--I should say "formulations" for over 70 Polish sausages. Now, these are NOT your typical "Polish Kielbasa" found in the U.S. supermarkets, but the traditional, authentic, old-times recipes from master sausage makers. These recipes are standardized by the Polish government, after the demise of the USSR, to maintain the quality and consistency in these products that the people came to demand. Those of you looking for the "supermarket" varieties need to look else ware. Presented in this work are over 70 of the Polish sausage recipes covering fresh, smoked, emulsified, semi-dried and dried products. There are a number of Krakowska types, beer sausage, ham sausage, link sausage, white sausage, head cheeses, liver and blood (kiszkas). The formulations begin with the exact quantities of type and class of meat, the correct amount of cure, the additional ingredients (flavors, etc.0 and a detailed step by step production method. Formulations are given for 100 kilogram and five kilogram recipes. The advantage of the 100 kg formulation is that the values can quickly be converted to percentages and therefore any size batch can be calculated.

Growing up Polish/Lithuanian (2nd Generation in the US) my fondest memories are around Christmas & Easter and helping my Dad making keilbasi (fresh) & Boilo during the holidays. I still remember the finished product drying on a broom stick near a radiator. Naturally the recipes were never written down and I kept the tradition going with my children. It may be forced but they'll remember it when my age. For years my bible on keilbasi was Rytek Kutas (see page 20). I was thrilled that the authors acknowledged the man. The book is excellent on the authentic version of Polish "sausage" keilbasi. The intro is great on history and since I prepare mine from scratch I like the sections on meat classes. I've yet to try this reference but for years of "hit & miss" and using just pork [...] I'm hoping this will "refine" my finished product. The book is a must have for the true keilbasi enthusiast. Throw a section in on Boilo. As for "by Tom", buy a book on Margaritas. The recipes are the same but the slight variation makes a different drink to a connoisuer.