Pork and fennel sausages

Method

1. Remove the skin and trim any excess fat and sinew from the pork shoulder. Cut the meat into strips and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
2. Cut the pork back fat into 1 cm cubes and also chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
4. Put the garlic bulbs on a baking tray and roast them for 20 minutes or until soft. Peel and set aside.
5. Heat a dry frying pan over medium heat. Add the fennel seeds and cook until fragrant. Keep half of the seeds whole and set them aside. Transfer the other half of the seeds to a spice grinder and finely blend them with the black peppercorns, table salt, saltpetre and rosemary. Add the roasted garlic to the spice mixture and stir to combine.
6. Coarsely mince the pork shoulder and back fat together – ensure the pork remains cold.
7. Combine the spice mixture, whole fennel seeds, white wine and pork by hand, keeping the mixture as cold as possible. (It may be necessary to refrigerate the mixture during the process to maintain the temperature.) Let the mixture marinate for a day in the refrigerator.
8. Tie one end of the sausage casing and feed the casing onto the sausage funnel of your mincer. Fill the casing, tying in 15 cm lengths, and hang in the refrigerator for 2 days to firm and dry.