Saveloy

A saveloy served with chips and curry sauce.

A saveloy is a type of highly seasoned sausage, usually bright red, sometimes fried in batter, which is typically available in British fish and chips shops. The word is believed to originate from the Swiss-French cervelas or servelat, ultimately from the Latin cerebrus; originally a pig brain sausage particularly associated with Switzerland.

Although the saveloy was originally made from pork brains, the typical ingredients from a shop-bought sausage are now pork (58%), water, rusk, British pork fat, potato starch, salt, emulsifiers (tetrasodium diphosphate, disodium diphosphate), white pepper, spices, dried sage (sage), preservatives (sodium nitrite, potassium nitrate), beef collagen casing contains colour (iron oxide). Rusk contains: wheat flour, salt. Wheat flour contains: wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin.

The taste of a saveloy is similar to that of a frankfurter or red pudding. It is mostly eaten with chips.

The saveloy is available in Australia where it is consumed at fairs, fêtes, agricultural shows and sporting events, served on a slice of bread or in a bread roll and liberally covered in tomato sauce. At the turn of the 20th century, the saveloy was described in an Australian court case as a "highly seasoned dry sausage originally made of brains, but now young pork, salted" but by the mid-century it was commonly defined by its size (a 19 inch sausage), "as opposed to a Frankfurter, 26" [inches]. This distinction may be due to the Frankfurter's popularisation (as an ingredient of hot-dogs). Despite "frankfurter" sausage makers being the target of violence in World War I, the story that saveloys were once frankfurters, renamed due to anti-Germanic sentiment is purely apocryphal, as far as Australia is concerned.

Saveloys are popular in New Zealand and Australia, where they are larger than the English type. Although they are sold at fish-and-chips shops as in England, they are commonly bought at butchers' shops or supermarkets and cooked by boiling at home. Saveloys are known colloquially as "savs". A cheerio is a smaller version, about a quarter of the size, sometimes called a cocktail sausage, baby sav or a "little boy". These are a popular children's party food in New Zealand and Australia, often served hot in a sweet, spicy tomato sauce.

Saveloys are also popular in the North East of England, where they are known as 'smokey sausages' and they can be bought from most local butchers as a cheap snack or addition to soups and stews. There may be a connection to Australia and New Zealand's enjoyment of Saveloys due to the historical link with this part of the UK.

See also

• Battered sausage
• List of sausages