Overview
Loukaniko is the broad Greek sausage family, usually pork-based and often flavoured with orange peel, wine, leek, herbs or regional spices. The plural loukanika is common in English-language menus and sources.
Where it's from
The cut
Identity and terminology
The name descends from Latin lucanica, a sausage associated in antiquity with Lucania. Modern Greek loukaniko is not one fixed national recipe, and regional branches should be described by their meat and seasoning.
Composition and characteristics
The developed variation combines pork, lamb, orange zest, garlic, allspice, thyme and wine. Other Greek forms use leek, fennel, savoury, coriander or smoke. The texture is generally coarse.
Production and process
The seasoned meat is stuffed into natural casing and sold fresh, smoked or dried depending on the regional form. The Curesmith branch is a fresh cooking sausage.
History and regional forms
The linguistic link to Roman lucanica reflects the deep history of sausage terminology in the eastern Mediterranean, while modern loukaniko developed through village pig slaughter and regional preservation practices.
Use, storage and related products
It is grilled, fried, served as meze or cooked with beans and vegetables. It differs from Cypriot loukaniko, which has its own wine-cured tradition, and from the PGI Lucanica di Picerno.
Recipe and cure
This is not a finished recipe. It is a window into how this meat is traditionally cured. Before you follow any process, run it through one of our curing calculators so the salt, cure and timings are right and safe for your own batch.
Make this — the measured Curesmith version →“Make this” opens the same cure as a measured recipe, scaled to your batch.
- Meat
- Pork shoulder
- Cut
- Pork shoulder
- Salt (%)
- 1.8
- Curing salt
- None
- Fermented
- No
- Smoked
- No
- Maturation
- Raw sausage ≤4°C for up to 2 days; freeze for longer storage
- Basis
- per 1,000 g pork shoulder
- Style
- Fresh Greek pork-and-lamb sausage; cook before eating
Ingredients
- Pork shoulder100% · 1000 g
- Skinless pork belly40% · 400 g
- Lamb shoulder60% · 600 g
- Fine salt1.8% · 36 g
- Ground black pepper0.2% · 4 g
- Fresh garlic, crushed0.35% · 7 g
- Ground allspice0.1% · 2 g
- Dried thyme0.2% · 4 g
- Dried oregano0.2% · 4 g
- Finely grated orange zest0.8% · 8 g
- Dry red wine10% · 200 g
Method
- Chill pork, lamb, wine and equipment to 0–3°C.
- Grind pork shoulder, belly and lamb shoulder through 10 mm.
- Add salt, pepper, garlic, allspice, thyme, oregano, orange zest and wine; mix evenly.
- Stuff into 32–36 mm hog casings and form 15 cm links.
- Refrigerate for 4–12 hours at 2–4°C.
- Grill, fry, bake or poach gently until the cold point reaches 71°C.
Safety. Process status varies. The fresh Curesmith branch must be refrigerated and cooked.