Culture | World in a dish

In praise of subterfuge, an underappreciated culinary skill

To see why it matters, try eating an andouillette

Andouillette sliced into rounds on a wooden cutting board French cuisine

Jul 21st 2022|PARIS

A francophile who hasn’t been to Paris in years may find himself so excited at breakfast that he orders andouillettes, the single most French thing on the menu. These subvert the old adage that warns against watching sausage being made: there is no mystery to them. They are simply pigs’ intestines stuffed into a casing, then boiled or grilled. They have a slithery, entropic texture—slice into them and little grey curlicues slide out—and smell like a urine-soaked barnyard.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Guts and glory”