Fuet
Fuet is one of the most popular sausages and cold cuts in Catalonia. Catalonian Fuet is an elongated, tender sausage, made with minced pork and seasoned with garlic and pepper. Fuet weights 12 oz. (0.75 lb.) and its diameter is about a finger wide, which makes it ideal for sandwiches or eating sliced. Born in Catalonia and nearby Pyrenees, Fuet is one of the most preferred meat products in this area and among sausage consumers everywhere.
With Roman tradition, as historians trace the emergence of Catalonian Fuet to Roman customs established by farmers in northern Catalonia, others state that it comes from France, where a dry sausage called fouet is made, and some others consider it native to Catalonia. Truth is that fuet in Catalonian language is the name of a string used as a whip, so we will describe it as the whip of raw sausages – Catalonians cured.
For years long, Fuet is the most produced and consumed sausage in Catalonia, by children and adults alike. First cousin of llonganissa which is considered the Rolls Royce of Catalonian cured sausages (some authors and specialists consider Fuet among the aforementioned llonganissas), made with minced pork, salt and pepper and some other products depending on the producer, Catalonian Fuet is a delight to taste it raw, with bread or in sandwiches, and added to meals makes for a magnificent dish.
Whether to remove or not the skin before eating Fuet is up to each consumer. Some argue that the skin contains bacteria due to curing, others state that by removing the skin the Fuet loses some of its peculiar taste, and some others base their decision only in whether the skin is natural or synthetic. The fact of the matter is that the Catalonian tradition prefers to keep the skin because it is what gives the Fuet its taste, odor identity and maintains its texture.